Electronegativity is the tendency of an element to attract the bonded electrons towards itself. In a group, as the atomic radius increases electronegativity decreases as the outermost electron is far away from the nuclear attraction. In a period, the atomic size decreases. So, the effective nuclear charge experienced by the outermost shell increases. Therefore, across a period the electronegativity increases as the increased effective nuclear charge leads to the attraction of bonded electrons with greater ease.
Therefore the correct answer is <u>c</u>, electronegativity tends to increases across a period.
