Attitudes

Attitudes
Attitudes

Attitudes Cognitive component

The opinion or belief segment
Evaluative of an attitude.
statements or
judgments Affective Component
concerning The emotional or feeling segment
objects, of an attitude.
people, or
events. Behavioral Component
An intention to behave in a certain
way toward someone or something.

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An attitude is a
predisposition to act or
feel a certain way
towards a person or
thing.
 Attitudes
Attitudes Situation
 have an emotional charge + or
– Attitude
 occur within a situation
 can not be measured directly
– self reporting or inference
 are learned
 not temporary - more or less
enduring

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 Attitudes
Attitudes are
are learned
learned

 In the absence of existing attitude we are open to

suggestion

Something
Positive result
(object of attitude)
Goal achievement

Formation of a + attitude

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 Communicator
Communicator effect
effect
 highly respected source helps
formation of an attitude
 an inept attempt to teach an
attitude can lead to a negative
reaction eg. anti drug ads

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 Attitude
Attitude stability
stability depends
depends on
on

 how closely it's linked

with other attitudes
 knowledge - cognitive
aspect
 degree of
liking/disliking -
affective aspect

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 Peanut
Peanut butter
butter example
example
 Cognitive (Knowledge)
– larger jar for the money
– less oil on top
– creamier and easier to spread
 Affective (Emotional)
– pretty label
– I like those teddy bear presenters
 2 component model: sum of cognitive X affective
leading to a goal

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 Attitudes
Attitudescan
canbe
beformed
formedto
topreserve
preservebalance
balancein
inour
our self
self
image
image

 Have to fit with other

attitudes, values,
Knowledge information accepted, what
we do
 Changes in these may cause
Opinion a readjustment of an attitude
– eg. Johnny Cash for Ripple
Attitudes Wine
– Billy Jean King for sports
clothes
Values

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 Attitude
Attitudeto
toobject
objectvs
vsattitude
attitudeto
toaabehaviour
behaviour

 The attitude-toward-object model

– Attitude is function of evaluation of product
-specific beliefs and evaluations
 The attitude-toward-behavior model
– Is the attitude toward behaving or acting with
respect to an object, rather than the attitude
toward the object itself
 Object: Rolls Royce car
 Behaviour: purchasing a Rolls Royce

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 Tricomponent
Tricomponent Attitude
AttitudeModel
Model(ABC)
(ABC)

– Affect (How I feel

about it)plus
– Behavioural tendency
(Conative), plus
– Cognitions (what I
think or know) about AFFECTIVE Behaviour
likely consequences (Feeling) CONATIVE
of behaviour

COGNITIVE
Knowledge

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 The
The Theory
Theory of
of Cognitive
Cognitive Dissonance
Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance
Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes
or between behavior and attitudes.

Desire
Desireto
toreduce
reducedissonance
dissonance
• •Importance
Importanceofofelements
elementscreating
creatingdissonance
dissonance
• •Degree
Degreeof
ofindividual
individualinfluence
influenceover
overelements
elements
• •Rewards
Rewardsinvolved
involvedinindissonance
dissonance

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 Measuring
Measuring the
the A-B
A-B Relationship
Relationship
 Recent research indicates that 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

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 Self-Perception
Self-Perception Theory
Theory

Attitudes are used after the fact to make sense

out of an action that has already occurred.

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 Types
Types of
of Attitudes
Attitudes

Job Satisfaction
A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that
an individual holds toward his or her job.

Job Involvement
Identifying with the job, actively participating in it,
and considering performance important to self-worth.

Organizational Commitment
Identifying with a particular organization and its
goals, and wishing to maintain membership in the
organization.
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 3–15
 Types
Types of
of Attitudes
Attitudes
Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
Degree to which employees feel the organization cares
about their well-being.

Employee Engagement
An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and
enthusiasm for the organization.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 3–16

 An
An Application:
Application: Attitude
Attitude Surveys
Surveys

Attitude Surveys
Eliciting responses from employees through
questionnaires about how they feel about their jobs,
work groups, supervisors, and the organization.

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 Sample
Sample Attitude
Attitude Survey
Survey

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 Attitudes
Attitudes and
and Workforce
Workforce Diversity
Diversity
 Training activities that can reshape employee
attitudes concerning diversity:
– Participating in diversity training that provides for self-
evaluation and group discussions.
– Volunteer work in community and social serve centers
with individuals of diverse backgrounds.
– Exploring print and visual media that recount and
portray diversity issues.

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