ATTITUDE

An enduring disposition to
consistently respond in a given
manner
 Is a learned disposition to respond in a
consistently favourable / unfavourable
manner with respect to a given object.
 Object= Ideas
Events
People
Issues
 An attitude is a dispositional readiness
to respond to certain situations, persons,
objects in a consistent manner, which
has been learned and has become
one’s typical mode of response.
Freeman
It is related to values, personality,
motives and emotions
3 COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE
 Cognitive- knowledge and beliefs
 Affective- the Feelings or Emotions
Toward an object
 Behavioral- predisposition to action
– Intentions
– Behavioral expectations
 Components
 Cognitive-perceptions and beliefs about
the object of the attitude, the persons
perception of distinguishing features of
the object.
 Affective-evaluations & feelings about the
objects of an attitude: a person’s feeling
of like or dislike for the object.
 Behavioral- Intentions how the person
wants to behave and what the person
says about his behavior towards the
object.
 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance—unpleasant
state resulting from inconsistency
between attitudes and behavior
 Ways to reduce dissonance (e.g., “a dieter
binges”)
– Change attitude to be consistent with behavior
• “Diets don’t really work anyway”
– Acquire supporting information
• “Many overweight people live long healthy
lives”
– Trivialize the behaviors in question
• “Looking thin is not all that important”
– Restore positive self-evaluations
• “I like the way I look, regardless of my
weight”
 Attitude Formation
 Social Learning -acquire attitude from
others
 Classical conditioning -learning
based on association
 Subliminal conditioning- without
awareness
 Instrumental conditioning- learn to
hold the “right” views
 Observational learning- learning by
observing others
 Social comparison - compare
ourselves to others
– Attitudes are shaped by social
information from others we like or respect
 Genetic factors- inherited general
dispositions
– Highly heritable attitudes and gut-level
preferences (music, food) are especially
influenced
 Formation
 A person’s belief about an object
 Type of information a person has
 Embedded in a social context and
affected by the norms or standards
held by the social groups
Change in attitude
 Congruent-a movement in the same
direction.
An idle worker to a productive
worker
 Incongruent- a change resorted to the
other end of the continuum.
dislike-like
Factors influencing change
1. Characteristics of the communicator-
status, prestige, honesty
2 Method of communication-
persuasive, easy
3 Character of the target- degree of
commitment of the person
4 Situational factors- environment
 Measurement
 Scales-Thurston's Technique of scaling
Likert’s Method
 Methods
1 Impressionistic- non statistical based on
observation of behaviour and attitudes
2 Guided interview- purposeful
conversation
3 Unguided interview-non directive
4 Questionnaire
 Projective Techniques
 Means projecting one’s own thoughts,
ideas and attitudes to others.
 Projective tests are expected to elicit
responses involving not only cognitive
factors but also affective factors.
 Eg, Inkblot, TAT, Arrangement Test,
Sentence completion Test, WAT
 Attitude Scales
 Attitude scales are carefully constructed
sets of rating scales designed to
measure one or more aspect of an
individual’s or groups attitude towards
some objects.
Eg Thurston's Equal appearing Interval
scale
Likert’s summated scale
Guttman’s cumulative scale
Osgood’s semantic differential scale
 Functions of Attitude
 As per Katz
1 Adjustment function- based on
hedonistic principle. People strive
to maximize the rewards and
minimize the penalties in their
external environment.
2 Ego Defensive Function- serves the
function of defending self image.
We spend a great deal of our energy
in the process of learning to live
with ourselves.
3 Value Expressive function- gives
clarity to the self image and also
brings that self image closer to the
heart’s desire.
4 Knowledge Function- based on the
need for understanding and
making sense of the world.