Attitudes

Attitudes in everyday life

Attitudes in everyday life

Attitudes in everyday life

NATURE OF ATTITUDES
ATTITUDES ARE LEARNED
ATTITUDES INDICATE FEELINGS AND
BELIEFS OF PEOPLE
FEELINGS AND BELIEFS OF PEOPLE POINTOUT
ONES PREDISPOSITIONS ABOUT
OBJECTS,PEOPLE AND SELF
ATTITUDES CONTINUE TO REMAIN SAME UNLESS AN
INFLUENCE OCCURS

ATTITUDES CAN BE FAVOURABLE OR UNFAVOURABLE

TOWARDS , SELF, PEOPLE, WORK AND INSTITUTIONS

What is an attitude?
A mental and neural state of readiness, organised through
experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence
upon the individuals response to all objects and
situations with which it is related
Allport, 1935

An attitude is a psychological tendency that is expressed

by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of
favour or disfavour
Eagly & Chaiken, 1998

Attitude structure
COGNITIVE

AFFECTIVE
ATTITUDE

BEHAVIOUR

ABC Model

Attitude structure
1. AFFECTIVE: An emotional component consisting of

emotional reactions toward, or feelings about the object.

People arrive at an attitudinal position after consideration of
the relevant facts.

2. A cognitive component
consisting of thoughts and beliefs about the attitude object.

People form an association between some emotional

state and the attitude object e.g., conditioning, familiarity
3. A behavioural component (Psychomotor)

consisting of actions toward the attitude object.

People infer and think by reflecting on what they do.

Cognitive ( C ) ,Affective (A) Psychomotor (P)

Domains of behaviour-CAP

ATTITUDE FORMATION
1.Direct experience
2.Classical Conditioning

People develop association between objects and

Emotional reactions. Eg; Tenalirams Cat and hot milk

3.Operant Conditioning
Adverse action by others curbs an attitude

4.Vicarious learning
5.Family and Peers
6.Social class
7.Mass media

Attitude formation contd. . .

Some attitudes seem to reflect stable, internal
dispositions of the individual
i.e., ways of seeing the world
Broad attitudinal dispositions might have a
shared genetic basis (Tesser, 1993)
This is most likely for gut-preferences:
For example, feelings of disgust at certain smells or
foods

Explicit V. Implicit Attitudes

Once we have developed an attitude (an
orientation to some object), this attitude can
exist in a number of states:
1. Explicit attitudes:
The evaluations we consciously express.

2. Implicit attitudes:
Involuntary responses to the attitude object.

Explicit

How much do you like the monarchy?

Not at
all

Very
much

Implicit

Implicit

Explicit V. Implicit Attitudes

Our explicitly expressed attitude and our
implicit reactions can be the same thing.
But, there can also be a difference between
what people say and what they think or
believe
Raises questions about attitude measurement
Raises possibilities for studying attitudes

FUNCTIONS SERVED BY
ATTITUDES
Stimulus
events
Food Aromas
Music, Voices
Laughter

Personal
Reactions

Functions of
Attitudes

Could be a party
I need some
fun!

Frame of
Reference

Perception/
Cognition

Ill meet some

nice people

Reinforcement
Function

Concept of
a PartyAttitudes
toward Parties

Parties give
you a chance
to relax

Express
Values

It was unfair
to call the
police

Ego
Protection

Shouldnt drink
and drive, but
no problems

Reconcile
Contradiction

A MODEL OF ATTITUDES

Values held
as important

Attitudes about
an object or
a referent

Beliefs about
an object or
a referent

Intentions
to
behave

Behavior

Good potential
in current job

Parents never
missed work

Parents involve
child in work
projects
Mother wins
award at
work
Positive
work
experiences
Socializing with
successful
people

Values
and
Beliefs

ATTITUDES
Strong
positive work
attitude

An Example of Learning and

Expression of Attitudes
Toward Work

A CLUSTER OF
RELATED ATTITUDES

ATTITUDE
TOWARD
WORK

ATTITUDE
TOWARD
POLITICS

ATTITUDE
TOWARD
FAMILY

ATTITUDE
TOWARD
RELIGOIN

Attitude Clusters

For example.
work

Coworkers

The
firm

Politics

Your
city
Hobbies

Local
Officials

Attitude function
Attitudes will fluctuate in order to serve our current needs.
Four major functions (Katz, 1960) and Smith et al. (1956):

1. Utilitarian function
- Helps person to achieve rewards and gain approval from others
(e.g., Nienhuis, Manstead, & Spears, 2001).

2. Knowledge function
- Attitudes can be used as a frame of reference for organizing the
world so that it makes sense (Katz, 1960).
- For example, we perceive knowledge that contradicts our views with
suspicion, thus forming a negative impression of that source of
information (Giner-Sorolla & Chaiken, 1997).

Attitude function
3. Ego-defensive function
- Helps to cope with emotional conflicts and protect and enhance
ones self-esteem.
- E.g., ones job not going well, can blame colleagues or his boss,
this negative orientation towards the people he or she blames
protects one from acknowledging painful truths. A conflict in office
may be expressed asoutcomeofangeragainstspouse

4. Value-expressive function

-Help to express core aspects of self-concept.

-Helps express central values in products they buy.
- Helps express group identity
- For example, if you are a person who firmly believes in
fair treatment and equality towards others, youll most likely
have a positive attitude towards particular political parties
and a negative attitude towards others.

So, why are social psychologists

interested in attitudes?
People like to evaluate things. Attitudes are an
important aspect of individual psychology.
The ways in which people evaluate their social
world (e.g., other people) has important
consequences for their relationships with and
actions toward others.
The attitudes people have, guide the decisions
that they make, and therefore have important
implications for the self.

Attitudes + behaviour
Part of the interest in attitudes is due to the assumption
that people act in accordance with their attitudes:
Companies spend ridiculous amounts of money on
advertising campaigns designed to change peoples
attitudes toward their products.
Political parties closely monitor opinion polls to try and
gauge the mood of the community and the likely
outcome of elections.
Do attitudes really predict behaviour?

Attitudes + behaviour
A CASE OF INTERVIEW
In a medical admission interview a candidate
was asked ,what is the reason to choose
medical profession- He replied, I want to treat
disease of the poor and help our people.
Do you have any relative who is a doctor ?
Candidate Yes my uncle is doctor in gulf .He
earns a lot. He only suggested me , I can go
there after I become a doctor.
This indicate a gap between attitude and behaviour

Attitudes + behaviour
Later research confirmed the gap:
E.g., Wicker (1969) reviewed research on the
attitude-behaviour link
Although the two were usually positively related, the
relationship was typically small (average r = .15).
Evidence for weak relationships between attitudes and
behaviour prompted 2 responses:
1. Attitudes are a load of rubbish!
2. Attitudes are related to behaviour, but the
relationship is more complex

Attitudes + behaviour: The full story

1. Not all attitudes should be related to
behaviour:
Specific attitudes should predict behaviour
better then general attitudes
Strong (accessible) attitudes should predict
behaviour better than weak attitudes.
2. Other variables are involved in the attitudebehaviour relationship

The theory of planned behaviour

(Ajzen, 1989)
Attitude

Intention
Subjective
Norms
Perceived
behavioural control

Behaviour

Attitudes + Behaviour: The full story

Research using more complete models have provided a
better account of the attitude behaviour relationship:
Attitudes are related to behaviours but not directly.
Attitudes affect behaviour - in combination with norms,
control beliefs, and intentions.
In addition to being a theoretical improvement, this
approach has also proven to be very practical.

 Attitudes are evaluations

Attitudes guide peoples behaviours
sometimes
Attitudes can change
but the same technique wont work the
same way for all people all of the time

Changing the attitudes

Barriers to change
1.Prior commitments and unwillingness to change
2.Cognitive dissonance
3. Insufficient Information

The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

ANY INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN TWO OR MORE ATTITUDES
OR BETWEEN BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

Why to to reduce dissonance ?

Attempts to reduce dissonance :
Depends on ;
Importance of elements creating dissonance
Degree of individual influence over elements
Rewards involved in dissonance
Ways to reduce dissonance;
Denial of information
Ague that all that is being told is not true
Look for opposite information to disprove information
Surrender

Ways for Changing the attitudes

Changing ones own attitudes
1. Watch ones own attitude and how it affects
performance
2. Develop oneself based on others input- with care

3. Discover the adverse effects of having negative attitudes

4. Keep an open Mind
5.Build Positive self esteem
6. Keep onself away from negative influences

Ways for Changing the attitudes

Changing attitudes of employees
1. Give feedback
2. Create Conducive and pleasant working conditions
3. Positive role model
4. Provide new information-ensure adequate information
5. Assess how much to use fear component
6. Persuade peer influence
7. Co-opting approach

ATTRIBUTION THEORY -ATTITUDES

OBSERVATION
DESCRIPTION

UNDERSTANDING

EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOUR
OCCURS

ATTRIBUTIONS
ARE MADE TO
SITUATIONAL
FACTORS.

FUNCTIONAL ?
DYSFUNCTIONAL ?

CONSISTENCY
DISTINCTIVENESS
CONSENSUS

PRDICTION/
CONTROL
FUTURE BEHAVIOR
IS PREDICTED;
METHODS TO
ASSURE They ARE
IMPLIMENTED

Measuring the A-B Relationship

Recent research indicates that the attitudes (A)
significantly predict behaviors (B) when moderating
variables are taken into account.

Moderating
ModeratingVariables
Variables
Importance
Importanceof
ofthe
theattitude
attitude
Specificity
Specificityof
ofthe
theattitude
attitude
Accessibility
Accessibilityof
ofthe
theattitude
attitude
Social
Socialpressures
pressureson
onthe
theindividual
individual
Direct
Directexperience
experiencewith
withthe
theattitude
attitude

An Application: Attitude Surveys

Sample Attitude Survey

Job Satisfaction
Measuring Job Satisfaction
Single global rating
Summation score

How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs?

Job satisfaction declined to 50.7% in 2000
Decline attributed to:
Pressures to increase productivity
Less control over work

The Effect of Job Satisfaction on

Employee Performance
Satisfaction and Productivity
Satisfied workers arent necessarily more productive.
Worker productivity is higher in organizations with more
satisfied workers.

Satisfaction and Absenteeism

Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable absences.

Satisfaction and Turnover

Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
Organizations take actions to cultivate high performers and to
weed out lower performers.

Responses to Job Dissatisfaction

How Employees Can Express

Dissatisfaction

Job Satisfaction and OCB

Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship
Behavior (OCB)
Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by and
are trusting of the organization are more willing to
engage in behaviors that go beyond the normal
expectations of their job.