CBSE Board Psychology Syllabus for Class 12

                                                        Class XII (Theory)
One Theory Paper

Units Marks

Psychology, Self and Society

I. Intelligence and Aptitude
II. Self and Personality
III. Human Strengths and meeting the Life Challenges
IV. Psychological Disorders
V. Therapeutic Approaches and counselling.
VI. Attitude and Social Cognition
VII. Social Influence and Group Processes
VIII. Environmental and Social concerns
IX. Applied Psychology
Practicals (Psychological testing, Case Profile etc.)
Psychology, Self and Society

Unit I : Intelligence and Aptitude
The unit aims at studying how people differ with respect to intelligence and aptitude.
Individual differences in intelligence: Theories of Intelligence; Culture and Intelligence; Emotional
intelligence; Aptitude: Nature and types: Assessment of psychological attributes.

Unit II : Self and Personality
This unit focuses on the study of self and personality in the context of different approaches
in an effort to appraise the person. The assessment of personality will also be discussed.
Aspects of self: self concept: Self-esteem and Self-regulation; Culture and self; Personality:
Concept; Approaches to Personality: Type and Trait, Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Behavioural
and Cultural; Assessment of Personality: Self-report Measures, Behavioural Analysis, and Projective Measures.

Unit III : Human Strengths and Meeting Life
This unit deals with the nature of stress and how responses to stress depend on an
individual’s appraisal of stressors. Strategies to cope with stress will also be dealt with.
Life challenge and adjustment; Concept of adaptation; Human strengths and virtues: Nature,
types and effects on psychological functioning; Coping with stress; Concepts of health and well-being;
Life style, health and well-being.

Unit IV: Psychological Disorders
This unit discusses the concepts of normality and abnormality and the major psychological
disorders.
Concepts of abnormality and psychological disorder, Causal factors associated with abnormal
behaviour, Classification of disorder, Major psychological disorders: Anxiety, Somato-form Dissociative, Mood, Schizophrenic, Developmental and Behavioural Substance Related.

Unit V : Therapeutic Approaches and counselling
This unit discusses the goals, techniques and effectiveness of different approaches to treat
psychological disorders.
Nature and process of therapy; Nature of therapeutic relationship; Types of therapies: Psychodynamic,
Humanistic, Cognitive, Behaviour; Alternative therapies: Yoga, Meditation; Zen; Rehabilitation
of mentally ill people. Counselling.

Unit VI : Attitude and Social Cognition
This unit focuses on the formation and change of attitudes, cultural influences on
attributional tendencies and conditions influencing pro-social behaviour.
Explaining behaviour through attributions; Social cognition; Schemas and stereotypes; Impression
formation; Nature and components of attitudes; Attitude formation and change; Behaviour in the
presence of others: Pro-social Behaviour; Prejudice and discrimination; Strategies for handling prejudice.

Unit VII : Social Influence and Group Processes
The unit deals with the concept of group, its functions and the dynamics of social influence
process like conformity, obedience and compliance. Different conflict resolution strategies will
also be discussed.
Influence Processess: Nature of Conformity, Obedience, and Compliance: Cooperation and
Competition; Groups: Nature, formation and types; Influence of group on individual behaviour; Social
identity; Inter-Group Conflict; Conflict Resolution Strategies.

Unit VIII: Environmental and Social Concerns
This unit focuses on the application of psychological understanding to some important
social issues.
Human- environment relationship; Environmental effects on human behaviour. Noise, pollution,
crowding, natural disasters, social issue: Aggression and Violence; Social Inequality and Poverty; Media
and human values; Promoting pro-environmental behaviour, Human rights and citizenship; Peace.

Unit IX: Applied Psychology
 This unit introduces some of the important areas of application of psychology.
Application of psychology to following areas :
1. Sports
2. Education
3. Communication
4. Organisation
Psychological testing Practicals
The students shall be required to prepare one case profile and conduct 2 practicals related to the
topics covered in the course. The case profile will include developmental history of the subject, using
both qualitative (observation, interview) and quantitative (Psychological testing) approaches. Practicalswould involve using standardised psychological assessment devices in different domains (e.g. intelligence, personality, aptitude, adjustment, attitude, self-concept, and anxiety).