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UNIT 3

Attitude

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ATTITUDE
Meaning & Concept of Attitude

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Attitude refers to the feeling and behaviour of an individual towards any object or situation.
Behaviour is of two types, i.e., positive or negative, which can be identified by observing the actions
of an individual.
The proper functioning of an individual can be easily determined either by his behaviour or by his

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personality. Thus, it can be said that an attitude refers to outlook or point of view of a person
regarding any object. In simple words, thinking, feeling and reaction of an individual towards
various aspects of environment is known as his

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attitude.
Experience plays a very crucial role in defining the attitude of an individual. With experience, an

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individual becomes mentally prepared that how he can influence others with his attitude and how he
must react to both certain as well as uncertain circumstances. By this, he not only tries to make his
own viewpoint correct in front of others, but also develops a social relationship with other people
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around him, thereby giving him a specific identification.
For example, if an individual is performing the job responsibility of a manager, he must be aware
that the attitude of a person has a great influence on his performance and thus, he must know the
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attitude of his subordinate well in advance.

Today, attitude has become the demand of most of the organisations. The attitude of an individual
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not only influences one‟s own performance but also affects the behaviour of others. That is why
most of the managers are facing severe challenges in coordinating the attitudinal changes with the
strategic changes of the organisation.
According to Bern, “Attitudes are likes and dislikes”.
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According to Allport, “Attitude is learned predispositions to respond to an object or class of object

in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way”.
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According to Engel, “Attitudes are an overall evaluation that allows one to respond in a consistently
favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object or alternative”.
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Nature of Attitude
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1) Attitudes have an Object: Attitude should be focused to some objective, i.e., must be
purposeful. The „objective‟ to be focused can either be a single person or a social group, a
physical object or a product or even an action. The object to be focussed can either be intangible
item, such as “moral behaviour” or a concrete item, such as a car. If there is no focal point, an
attitude of an individual cannot be acknowledged.
2) Attitudes have Direction, Degree and Intensity: Feelings that an individual expresses by his
attitude are as follows:
i) Direction: Attitude determines the orientation of an individual, i.e., whether he is in favour

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of the object or against it.
ii) Degree: The extent to which an individual is in favour or against the object.

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iii) Intensity: Degree and intensity are related to each other, but they are not identical. Intensity
means how strongly and confidently an individual is able to express his viewpoint about the
particular object or situation.
3) Attitudes have Structure: Attitudes are a way of exhibiting an organisation. Attitudes are very

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important for every organisation as they are internally reliable. Sometimes these attitudes are
firm and specific, sometimes they are silent and sometimes they are universal in nature. Human
attitude is just like a „Tinker Toy‟. The centre of this toy depicts the core values and self-

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concepts of the individual. Attitude closer to the centre is more important than those attitudes
which far away from the centre.
4) Attitudes are Learned: Attitudes develop from experience, i.e., they are learnt. Attitude has a

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great impact on one‟s life irrespective of the age group. Especially, in the childhood, the attitude
of a child is greatly influenced by his family members, which continues till the entire life. For
example, a positive attitude of a family towards a business and their negative attitude towards a
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service will be transmitted to the child as well.

Components of Attitude
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An attitude comprises of following components:

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1) Cognitive Component: The cognitive component means the actual knowledge of an individual
about an object. In simple words, the concept of a person regarding any situation or any person
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or any topic is known as cognitive component. For example, a cognitive component of a

computer operator is his knowledge about computers and its related operations.
2) Affective Component: Those components of human attitude that reflect one‟s feeling of
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contentment, sadness, excitement, likes, dislikes, etc., are known as affective components. In
other words, it is a way in which an individual responds emotionally towards an object or an
individual. For example, an affective component of a computer operator is the amount of
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interest or degree of excitement he has while working on computers.

3) Behavioural Component: Behaviour of an individual towards an object is known as a
behavioural component of his attitude. For example, a behavioural component of computer
operator is based on his experience with the computers and how much he has worked on it. More
the individual is allowed to use the computer freely, more positive attitude he would have
towards the computers.

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Thus, it can be said that all these components are interrelated and provide an organised framework or
mental structure for the construction of attitude.

Types of Attitudes
The employee‟s positive and negative thinking regarding his job and working environment is known
as work- related attitude. According to behavioural scientists, there are three types of work-related
attitudes:

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1) Job Satisfaction: Most of the people feel that job satisfaction and attitude of an employee are
synonymous. But, actually they are closely related to each other. The job satisfaction of an
employee determines the attitude of that employee towards his job. For example, an employee

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who is highly contented with his job will have a positive attitude towards his job, superiors, and
fellow workers. He will be punctual and regular, which will increase his performance as well.
On the other hand, an individual who is not contented with his job will surely have undesirable
attitude towards his job as well as the organisation. He will remain absent frequently, which will
adversely affect his performance.

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Methods Used for Measuring Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction can be measured by using various methods. Some of them are as follows:

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i) Survey: Most of the organisations use survey method to determine the job satisfaction of an
individual in the field of compensation, promotion, management, performance and working
environment. These surveys are classified into t\yo categories, i.e., standard surveys and

standardised surveys.
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customised surveys. Surveys readily available for the organisations are known as

However, organisations prefer customised surveys as they are conducted as per

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organisation‟s own requirement and hence are more effective.
ii) Interview: Another way by which an organisation can measure the work satisfaction of the
employees and can also improvise its relationship with its employees is interview method.
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Unlike survey methods, organisations using interview methods are able to understand the
problems more easily as they are available in a more refined manner and are able to receive
honest responses from the employees. But this can happen only if the employees have faith
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in the organisation and its management.

iii) Monitoring Performance Targets: Under this method of measuring job satisfaction,
organisation actively observes the various aspects that contribute to the satisfaction of an
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employee. In this method, the performance of an employee is monitored in the form of

promotions, bonus received by the employee, his participation in various organisational
programmes and the effort applied by him in order to achieve organisational goals
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However, combining this method with survey and interview methods can prove to be more
effective in analysing the major cause of low job satisfaction of the employees. Though, the
information provided by this method is not direct, but atleast it alarms the organisation
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regarding various job satisfaction related problems.

2) Job Involvement/Engagement: The engagement of an employee in his present job also
determines the attitude of an employee. It is obvious that if an employee is cognitively occupied
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in a job, then, he is satisfied with his job, depicting low absenteeism and positive attitude.
More the people are concerned about their present job, more positive attitude they build up
towards their work. Individuals having high job involvement level are very specific about the job
they are performing and try to give out their best performance.
Besides estimating the absenteeism rate, level of work engagement also determines the rate of
turnover that may decrease if the employee is satisfied with his job. However, this turnover may

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increase if the employee is dissatisfied. Thus, it can be said that job involvement not only creates
a positive attitude of an employee towards his job, but is also important for motivating and
satisfying the employees.
3) Organisational Commitment: Organisational commitment is another important job-related
attitude that reveals the behaviour of an employee. Organisational commitment helps an
employee to maintain his relationship with the organisation for a longer duration and prioritise
the organisational goals.

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The employees having the attitude of organisational commitment are generally proud of being a
part of that organisation and are identified by the organisation under which they are working and
the goals for which they are working.

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It is generally said that organisational commitment is a good indicator of estimating the turnover
rate as compared to other commonly used forecasters. Employee‟s commitment towards the
organisation reduces the absenteeism and turnover rate.
It is not compulsory that the employee who has high job involvement will always remain

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committed towards the company and the one who is committed towards the organisation will be
highly involved in his job. But once an employee becomes dissatisfied with his organisation, it

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finally results in resignation of that employee.

Sources of Attitude

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The feelings, tendencies, emotions, etc., are developed over a period of time under the attitude
formation process. Following are the sources from where attitude is learned or acquired:
1) Direct Personal Experiences: Attitudes are formed through direct contact with an
attitude object. When a person starts working for an organisation, he develops an
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attitude towards desired job, salary, working environment, and administration.
Attitudes towards job design, groups, appraisals, management competencies, and
affiliation are also developed. Attitudes such as determination, commitments, loyalty,
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etc., and the differences between them are influenced by the prior work experience.
These differences are considered by many managers worldwide.
2) Association: The associations and groups of which the individual is a part are a major
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source of attitude. The impact on attitudes is higher, if the association is nearer. The
demographic, geographic, and physiological features of individuals also influence
attitudes.
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3) Social Learning: Sources of social learning are as follows:

i) Family: Family members like mother, father, siblings, etc., influence an
individual‟s attitudes initially. The early attitude patterns of an individual are a
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result of this primary group, i.e., family.

ii) Peer Groups and Society: The approvals from an adult‟s peer-groups play a
major role in shaping his attitude. The judgements of others determine an
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individual‟s image and desire to seek approval. Affiliation to a religion or society

is another source of attitude formation.
iii) Models: An individual develops certain attitudes by following or imitating a
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model. He notices the behaviours of someone and tries to inculcate that behaviour
in him as an attitude or belief.
iv) Institutional Factors: The institutional factors are generally the religious factors,
which act as a source of attitude. Watching people to pray irrespective of their
religions imbibes a religious belief or attitude in an individual.

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Functions of Attitudes
According to Katz, functions of attitude can be classified as follows:
1) Adaptive Function: Attitude helps the individuals in adapting themselves as per the
changing environment. Such attitudes not only prepare the people to recognise their
goals and achieve them, but also protect themselves from unwanted situations.
Having a positive attitude towards a situation can help an individual to avoid all the
negative consequences of that situation. An individual might be rewarded for

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adopting a specific kind of attitude. For example, if an individual wants to be a part of
any group, he should start the conversation on topic of common interest like movie or
cricket. This will help him in gaining the attention of group members. Thus, attitude

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helps people to fulfil their desire by adapting themselves as per the changing
requirement.
2) Knowledge Function: Certain attitudes help an individual to understand the world, to
know about their surroundings, to know about the causes of various events and to
make a viewpoint about these situations and the related people. Those attitudes that

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make the world understandable and predictable to an individual are said to perform
knowledge function. These attitudes are a source of information. The best example of
the attitude performing knowledge function is „stereotyping‟. Stereotyping refers to

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making a common image regarding the characteristics (usually a wrong perception)
of all members of a group. For example, a person who likes to read magazines
related to hi-fi system, visits various scientific exhibitions and talks about the latest

electronic systems. C
products and gadgets in the market, will be characterised as a person who is fond of

3) Value-Expressive Function: Attitudes also help in expressing values. For example,

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a religious person can express his religious value by supporting regular assembly
prayers in the school. These values are inbuilt in an individual that actually depicts
the personality and nature of that individual. These attitudes express the self-
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concepts, ideas, beliefs, viewpoints, etc., of an individual. The attitudes performing

value expressive function cannot be changed frequently because they are intrinsic by
nature and are present in the form of self-concepts within an individual.
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4) Ego-Defence Function: Some attitudes act as an ego-defensive tool that helps an

individual in protecting or preparing himself psychologically against those events that
can harm his ego or his self-respect. Situation creating biasness can adversely affect
the self-respect of an individual, but such situations can be conquered by developing
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positive attitudes.
For example, usually when a child is humiliated in front of his friends during any
sports class, he develops a negative attitude towards all sports. Similarly, people who
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have damaged their pride after losing in any sports will also develop a defensive
attitude. But having a negative or defensive attitude cannot protect the self-respect of
an individual in future. Thus, an individual should have a positive attitude towards
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himself so that he can defend his self-worth.

Importance of Attitude in an Organisation

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Attitude is important in an organisation due to following reasons:

1) Determines Meaning of Environment: Attitude helps an individual in judging the
environmental circumstances by creating either a favourable behaviour or a non-
favourable behaviour towards it. An individual having a positive attitude towards the
other person will always appreciate the good work done by him. Whereas, an
individual having a negative attitude towards the other person will always oppose his
point of view and will never acknowledge him.

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2) Rationalises the Actions: Different people have different opinions based on their
particular attitude. Sometimes attitudes help in resolving the contradictions created
due to different opinions. People with appropriate attitude can easily understand and
interpret these differences. For example, if a supervisor of a company observes that a
worker is sleeping during the working hours, his positive attitude will make him
understand that the worker is relaxing for some time as he is tired. On the other hand,
worker having a negative attitude thinks negatively, i.e., he feels that the supervisor is
spying on him.

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3) Organises Facts: Attitudes help in organising relevant facts. Variety of opinions
received by different people give an idea about the goal to be achieved. For example,
in organisations, union leaders influence the worker‟s attitude by providing them with

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certain facts that are later organised and utilised for their personal benefit.
4) Facilitates Selection of Facts: Positive people always focus on the positivity of
others. Attitude helps in selection of positive facts which lead to maintenance of
cordial working environment. Managers focussing on the positive activities and

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behaviour of its employees remain happier than those who observe only negative

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behaviour of their employees.

For example, managers generally have a negative attitude towards unions, hence, at
the cost of negative behaviour such as misconduct and damage, positive behaviours
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such as voluntary wage reduction and new policies of productivity suffers. This is
because, while observing the negative behaviour, managers ignore the positive
aspects of the union.
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Attitude Measurement
Attitudes are the human tendencies which are formed either on the basis of sensible thinking or
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concrete evidences. Each individual can be distinguished based on various aspects of attitude.
Following are a few important methods used to measure attitudes:
1) Thurstone Type of Scale: This Method was developed by L.L. Thurstone and E.J
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Chave. Numerous statements (both favourable and unfavourable) pertaining to

attitudes which are to be measured are collected and kept in 11 piles. The most
favourable statement is kept on pile 1 and the least favourable on pile 11. Each
statement has a numerical value. These scales are then offered to respondents. The
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respondents are required to choose among the statements to which they agree. After
that their attitude score is calculated on the basis of scale of statements selected by
them.

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2) Likert Scales: In Likert scale, the respondents are provided with statements
pertaining to attitude measurement. The respondents are then asked to select one of
the following five degrees of approval or disapproval
i) Strongly approved,
ii) Approved,
iii) Undecided,
iv) Disapproved, and
v) Strongly disapproved.

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The points given above determine the level of approval or disagreement by the
respondent. An advantage of Likert scale is that a single statement can have positive
as well as negative degrees of approval.

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3) Semantic Differential: Developed by C.E. Osgood, P.H. Tannenbaum and GJ.
Suci, this scale uses polar adjectives (opposite terms) for an object or person on
both ends. Scale values from 1 to 7 are given to the adjectives on which the
respondent marks his/her choice. The scales chosen by respondents show their

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attitude towards an object or person. The sum of all the values chosen by the
respondent is the total score.

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4) Repertory Grid: This technique is based on the personal constructs theory of
personality and was developed by George Kelly in 1955. It is used widely in
comparative studies of attitudes in marketing and is also useful in studying
perception, attitude, and personality. It depends on the fact that people give

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meaning to their experiences in the form of „constructs‟. They have an urge to know
more about the world and explain it through these constructs or concepts. The
constructs are then measured and used to anticipate future happenings and infer
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attitudes.
5) Opinion Surveys: The attitude scales are helpful in quantifying the morale and
attitude of the employees but they do not reveal the forces which lead to
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dissatisfaction and discontentment among the employees. Management can conduct

opinion surveys through questionnaires to know the degree of agreement or
disagreement of employees for work environment, policies, amenities, rules, etc.
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These agreements or disagreements are collected when employees are asked for
their opinions on each point separately.
6) Interviews: Attitudes can also be measured through interviews. Third party
organisations such as consultancies and universities should be called to interview
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the employees. These interviews can be either guided or unguided. In the former
type, the interviewer asks questions which can be answered in single words, either
„yes‟ or „no‟. On the other hand, generalised questions are asked in the unguided
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interview to give opportunities to employees to put his views forward and express
the degrees of organisational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction.
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7) Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The term self-fulfilling prophecy is referred mostly in

negative terms. It says that an individual starts taking necessary actions when he/she
anticipates something wrong. For example, a manager taking retention steps when
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he anticipates high employee turnover.

In positive terms, it refers to transforming attitudes and beliefs into reality. In other
words, it means ensuring that something happens if it is expected to happen. For
example, a farmer works harder in his fields, if he expects increased yield.

Importance of Attitude Measurement for Management

While measuring job satisfaction, employee engagement, organisational commitment or

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a variety of other retention-related issues, the measurement of attitude is very important.

In order to show the changes in the attitude, continuous measurement is required. On the
other hand, the measurement of attitude is very important for selecting the potential
employees and future managers.

Therefore, informal measures of observations are used frequently. The numerical score
provided by the researchers to the people‟s responses are summarised by the attitude
scales, so as to provide qualitative measurement of attitude, values and opinions. With

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the help of employee attitude surveys, the employee of the company is given an
opportunity to provide confidential feedback on their views regarding the company.
These surveys acts as an important tools for business to assess the job satisfaction,

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employee motivation level, attitudes and opinions. The ultimate goal is to enhance
employee morale, productivity and figure out those the areas where the organisation can
make improvement.

Attitude Theories and Models

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The three classical theories of attitudes based upon the consistency principle are as follows:
1) Balance Theory: Heider’s balance theory is based on perception theories. It

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believes that attitude change does not result from eliminating cognitive dissonance,
but an individual modifies his own attitude by observing the behaviour of other
people and by realising what are the consequences of their attitude. According to
Balance theory, individuals try their best to keep a balance between the things they
like and the things they dislike.
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Thus, more balanced is the liking and disliking of the individual, more stable is the
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structure. Whereas, imbalance can result in unstable structures which increases the
demand for attitudinal change in order to maintain the balance. The liking or
disliking among person (P), another person (O), and an object (X) can either be
balanced or imbalanced. In case of imbalanced relationship, changes can be made in
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any one of the relationship so as to attain balance or else anyone can move back
from the situation.
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For example, if a person (P) likes O and O likes X and P also likes X, there will
exist a balance between the relationships. But if P likes O and O likes X but P does
not like X, this will create an imbalance between the relationships. Thus, to retain
balance in this situation, either P can move back from the situation or he can change
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his attitude from negative to positive towards X or he can even change his attitude
towards O from positive to negative.
According to balance theory, a person views himself on the basis of three elements,
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i.e., person, ideas, and things. These either have a positive relationship among each
other or they have a negative relationship. Unlike congruity theory, this theory is
not based on calculating the numerical value to identify the degree of attitude but is
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based on sentiments. In simple words, negative relation between the three elements
describes the imbalanced relationship. However, the relationship is balanced if the
elements are positively correlated.
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2) Congruity Theory: Congruity theory is one of the most reliable theories and was
established by C.E. Osgood and P.H. Tannenbaum. This theory was also
considered as an extension of balance theory given by Heider. The main focus of
this theory is to measure the attitude of the people towards an object or a situation
by considering both direction and strength of the attitude and ranking that attitude
between -3 to +3. Here -3 is considered as the highest degree of non-fr.vourability

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and +3 is considered as most favourable rating.

This theory is communication-oriented and is based on the persuasion given by an
individual. According to this theory, the source giving the persuasive message is
considered as O, the object towards which attitude is developed is X and the person
influenced by the persuasive messages of O is considered as P. Now, suppose O
makes a statement about any concept X. Audience already have a specific attitude
towards the source O and the concept X. The assertion made by the source O about

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the concept X is either negative or positive during the entire process. Any kind of
incongruity (like imbalance) during the process will change the attitude of the
audience. Thus, according to congruity theory, it is the communication skill and

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persuasiveness of source O that is responsible for the attitudinal change of the
audience.
3) Cognitive Dissonance Theory: In 1957, Leon Festinger introduced cognitive
dissonance theory. According to this theory, when an individual starts believing that
two similar cognition or thoughts regarding any object cannot be put together and

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will always contradict with each other, irrespective of the fact that both the
cognitions are true, then arousal of a psychological state takes place. This arousal is
known as cognitive dissonance. Sometimes, the dissonance produced by this

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difference between the thoughts, motivates the individual to harmonise the
contradictory elements in order to minimise the tension.

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Having different cognitions at the same time create an uncomfortable situation for
an individual, thereby adversely affecting his psychological state of mind. Having
contradiction between two thoughts regarding an object creates dissonance.
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Sometimes this cognitive dissonance is positive in nature as different thoughts
depict different ideas regarding that particular object, but when these cognitions
become a cause of psychological discomfort, they are considered as negative. Thus,
individuals are motivated to eliminate cognitive dissonance as its eradication helps
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in satisfying the individual‟s mind. Besides this, once the dissonance is sorted out,
the cognition continues for a long period of time, which has a long lasting impact on
attitude, behaviour, and beliefs of an individual.
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Attitude Formation
When an individual starts evaluating the objects and creates judgements about it in the
form of likes and dislikes, this process is known as attitude formation. Individual
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forming an attitude is either in favour of that object or is against it. For being in favour
or against, an individual needs to have some feelings and some information about that
object. Attitude formation is not an on-the-spot process. In fact, it is a life-long process
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which needs a lot of experience. Once an individual develops a specific attitude

towards any particular object, he carries that attitude with himself throughout his life.
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Process of Attitude Formation

Attitude formation is a process of social learning. Parents, friends, neighbours,
communities and other sources play the most crucial role in the formation of human
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attitude. This process of attitude formation is classified into three phases:

1) Childhood Phase: In this phase, a child starts developing attitude by observing the
behaviours of his elders, imitating them and thus, tries to bring change in his own
behaviour. It is the starting point of attitude formation and is not in a crystallised
form, i.e., this attitude may change with the age of the child.
2) Adulthood Phase: In this phase, the attitude of the children becomes a bit

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crystallised as they follow certain standards to determine their experiences. Since in

this phase, most of the children give priority to their emotions, hence, other sources
such as attachment, loyalty, safety, etc., greatly influence their attitude. This leads
to several modifications in their behaviour until they reach their maturity level.
3) Maturity Phase: As soon as, the children reach the maturity phase, they start
adapting themselves with the social environment. Though the typical attitude of
children in this phase is almost similar to that of their parents, but they try to

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modify their attitude according to their friends and other people who are of the
same age group.

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Factors Influencing Attitude Formation
The factors influencing the formation of attitude are as follows:
1) Media: Media in the form of television, radio, computers, etc., helps in developing
cognitive attitude towards an object. The information provided by various sources
of media not only shapes the viewpoints and beliefs of the people, but also helps

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them in evaluating and developing a specific attitude towards a particular situation
or person.
2) Educational and Religious Institutions: Educational as well as religious institutes

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play a very crucial role in the development of respective attitude in an individual
towards various activities. The activities to be performed and that not to be
performed are some common teachings that are provided by these institutes. The

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moral concepts given by these institutes not only help in attitude formation, but also
enhance an individual‟s understanding to differentiate between right and wrong.
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3) Emotional Factors: There are several environmental and personal factors that
influence the attitude formation of a person. But, there are certain attitudes that are
constructed on the basis of emotional factors. These attitudes generally focus on
frustration level and egoistic level of an individual. Sometimes these attitudes are
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temporary in nature and just vanish away as soon as the frustration is under control,
but sometimes these attitudes become persistent and long-lasting with the passage
of time. Such emotional attitudes often lead to biased results.
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4) Economic Factors: Economic factors of a country also help in shaping the attitude
of an individual towards various economic issues. These economic factors may
include economic policies followed by the government, inflation rate of an
economy, economic condition of a country, and economic status of that individual
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in the society.
For example, at the time of Gulf Crisis, several campaigns were introduced by the
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Indian government in order to save oil. The main motive of these campaigns was to
develop a positive attitude among people towards saving oil and to develop a
negative attitude towards wastage of natural resources in the form of pleasure trips.
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5) Political Factors: The last most important factor that influences the attitude of the
entire population of the country is political factor. The principle followed by a
political parties and the behaviour of various politicians not only controls the entire
country, but also the behaviour of the people.
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Changing Attitude
Attitude is a process of social learning that continues for the entire life of an individual.
Once the attitude is formed in an individual, it cannot be changed easily and frequently.
However, attitudes can be changed when people are young but as soon as they enter their
maturity age, they start resisting all those factors that intend to change their attitude.
Since they become egoistic, they believe that whatever they think and do is absolutely
correct and hence, they ignore other‟s viewpoints. The best way by which attitude can be

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changed to a certain extent is „education‟. Besides this, leadership is also an effective way
by which attitudinal changes can be made. The one, who influences others and changes
their attitude, is known as a leader and the one, who is influenced by the perception of the

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leader, is known as a follower.

Theories of Attitude Formation and Attitude Change

The theories which describe attitude formation and change are established on the
elementary understanding of the psychological or emotional processes. The different

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theories are as follows:
1) Cognitive Consistency Theories: These theories involve the inconsistencies that emerge
amongst the correlated beliefs. Inadequate information and assessment about an entity or a

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subject create inconsistency and confusion. These theories assume that when inconsistency
arises, it is brought to the state of equilibrium either by modifying the attitude or developing
a justification for the conflict. Consistency theories are of various kinds like Balance theories

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established by Heider and Newcomb. Heider explained balanced state as a state in which
every single thing adjusts with each other‟s compatibly without any f tension. Pressure
and stress arise as a result of deficiency of balance. Newcomb emphasises on balance for
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reducing stress because balance relates to communication between individuals. The role
played by persuasion in modifying the attitude of an individual can be comprehended with
the assistance of Newcomb’s theory. Though several consistency theories differ in various
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aspects, every theory has a central idea that the stress caused by these inconsistencies
stimulates the attempts for decreasing them.
2) Congruity Theory: Congruity theory suggested by Osgood and Tannenbaum is same as
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the balance theory. The changes in the assessment of a source and a concept which are
connected by an associative or dissociative declaration are the major points of this theory.
Congruity refers to a stable state and incongruity refers to an unstable one. Consequently,
incongruity leads to attitude change.
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3) Affective-Cognitive Consistency Theory: The theory of affective-cognitive consistency

deals with the consistency among an individual‟s comprehensive attitude or influence on an
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entity or problem and his faith about its association with his basic values. This theory says
that changes in affective component lead to changes in cognitive component. Thus, to bring
consistency among the components, there should be changes in the affective component to
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generate changes in the cognitive component. In addition, the dissonance theory also takes
into account a third component, and supposes that unsettled cognitions lessen this unstable
state by altering attitudes.
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4) Functional Theories: This theory was propounded by Katz. According to him, social
behaviour is facilitated by attitudes. He advised that an individual possesses attitudes for
various purposes (functions). These attitudes are defined by his motives. The various
functions are knowledge (for order, structure, or meaning), utilitarian (to interact with' the
world and acquire the desired things), value-expressive (to solidify and express those values
which are important to oneself), and ego-defensive (for self-protection). Under this theory,
either the aspirations of individual are increased or the satisfaction level which was provided

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earlier by the related attitude is no more available. Therefore, the attitude needs to be
changed when new and inconsistent behaviours bring satisfaction.
5) Kelman’s Functional Theory: The kinds of social relationships which emerge in the
circumstances of social influence are the focus of Kelman’s functional theory. The three
processes of attitude formation and change, i.e., compliance, identification, and
internalisation were distinguished by Kelman. In order to recognise the situations that impact
the maintenance and consistency of attitude change, the contribution of this approach is very

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significant.
6) Reinforcement Theory: This theory lays stress on the change in individual‟s attitude as a

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result of the reinforcement to change the attitude of the individuals. The change which takes
place as a result of learning is brought about by the reinforcement.

Barriers to Changing Attitude

There are certain barriers that resist an individual to change his attitude within an

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organisation. Some of them are as follows:
1) Prior Commitment: Once the prior commitment is made by an individual regarding
any situation, it becomes really difficult for him to change. For example, one of the

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MBA holders having a degree in management is asked to join the company just
because he belongs to the same university from which the president of that company
had received his doctorate degree. This person, after his recruitment by the president

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of that company starts performing poorly. When this issue is brought into
consideration of the president, he ignores all the allegations that are put against that
person and does not take a single step against him. This happens because in this
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situation, the president wants to defend his ego and want to believe that the person he
has chosen can never perform poorly as he belongs to the same university as his own.
2) Insufficient Information: Sometimes lack of accurate information about a particular
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object also obstructs the path of changing attitudes towards that object. For example,
a programmer did not want to work with a particular company since he had developed
a negative attitude towards it. But, when his supervisor asked him that if he does not
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follow his order, this may adversely affect his career and increment. As a result, the
programmer had no other option than to change his attitude.
3) Lack of Alternatives: When the employees are not given the freedom of choice or
freedom to express their ideas about any plan within an organisation, this lack of
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freedom obstructs the attitudinal change. But when the organisation provides its
employees the right to choose, negotiate and give advice on certain issues, this result
in attitudinal change. Therefore, organisations should try to develop a sense of
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ownership among the employees to change their attitude in a positive direction.

4) Mistrust: Lack of trust between any two parties also acts as a barrier for attitudinal
change. Usually in organisations, this type of barrier is very common between the
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management and the employees. Once the conflict between the workforce and
management occurs and they develop negative attitude against each other, it becomes
really difficult for the organisation to overcome the enmity amongst them. However,
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a change in attitude may get affected by the motives of change. If any of the party
observes an attitudinal change in the other party and this change is beneficial for it,
then it will positively affect the attitude of the first party as well. But if the first party
realises that the motive of attitudinal change is a signal of dishonesty on the part of
other party, this will make no change in the attitude of first party.
5) Unequal Status in Outcomes: If the employees are unable to receive the desired
outcomes even after giving their full efforts, this may develop negative attitude

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among employees towards the management. Thus, it can be said that if the inputs
made and the benefits received are unequal, this imbalanced status in outcomes can
prove out to be a barrier to an attitudinal change.
6) Absence of Institutional Support: Lack of institutional support also obstructs the
attitudinal change. In order to develop a positive attitude in the employees, the
organisation must be supportive in nature. The organisations which focus on
maintaining a long-term relation with its employees can only generate the attitude of

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organisational commitment in its employees. Diversity management also helps in
building commitment and positive attitude among employees. Hence, diversity
management must be a part of organisational approach.

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Overcoming Barriers to Changing Attitude
Various methods by which the above mentioned barriers to attitudinal change can be
reduced are as follows:
1) Providing New Information: Sometimes providing new and correct information to

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the people can change their attitude towards a particular situation. For example,
some of the employees are having a negative attitude towards the higher authority of
the company. Authority decides to promote some of these employees to higher

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positions. This step taken by higher authority in the interest of these employees may
change their attitude from negative to positive. Thus, the information of promoting
some employees improvises their attitude towards the management.

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2) Making Use of Fear: Fear can be used as an effective tool to modify the attitude of
an individual. The degree of fear should neither be too strong nor should to be too
mild. Thus, moderate degree of fear is effective for changing the attitude of a
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particular individual. For example, the instruction given on a cigarette packet
regarding anti-smoking is ignored by most of the people as it is just a form of mild
fear.
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Whereas, threatening advertisement showing that smoking can lead to cancer might
be horrifying for the people. In both the cases, there is hardly any change in the
attitude of the people. Thus, such a method should be adopted so that moderate fear is
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aroused in the people which helps in changing their attitude.

3) Influence of Friends or Peers: The opinions, advices, viewpoints, etc., given by
friends and people of the same age group have a great influence on the attitude of an
individual. Suppose a company asks its employees to either choose pension scheme or
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PF-cum-gratuity scheme and most of the employees opt for the pension scheme.
Suppose, one of them first opt for second option but later after taking advice from his
fellow workers, he develops a positive attitude towards the option of first scheme.
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However, when personal interest of an individual is involved, then he is not affected

by other‟s opinion.
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4) Removing Inconsistency: Once the individual understands the difference between

attitude and behaviour, he can easily modify his attitude towards various objects. For
example, a candidate gets confused while choosing the best job among the three job
options, but he finally selects a job which according to him is best suited. After some
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time, when he starts working on a particular job, he simultaneously develops a

positive attitude and behaviour towards his current job and negative attitude towards
the other two jobs. This happens because he believes that the choice made by him was
correct.
5) Co-opting Approach: It is observed that when an individual has a negative attitude
towards any issue and if he is involved in any discussion related to that issue, some

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attitudinal change may occur. For example, an employee is not in favour of fringe
benefits provided by the company. Observing his negative attitude, management asks
him to offer suggestions on how these benefits can be diverted towards the interest of
employees. When that employee is co-opted for making this important decision in
front of the entire committee, he may change his attitude positively, especially, when
he observes that certain steps are taken by the organisation after considering his
suggestions.

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Attitude and Workforce Diversity
Workforce diversity means having a wide range of individuals in the organisation. It
includes workers from different groups such as physically challenged persons, ethnic

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groups, personnel retired from defence services, women, backward classes, etc.
Workforce diversity focuses on the dissimilarities among individuals in the same country,
whereas globalisation refers to dissimilarities between employees coming from various
countries.

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There is a need to manage workforce diversity by the management. The managers should
not apply same techniques in treating all the employees. Instead they should identify
differences among them and then formulate and implement such programmes and

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policies which can enable them to increase their productivity, eliminate any kind of
discrimination and decrease labour turnover. After proper management of the workforce
diversity, there will be good personnel relations, pleasant work culture and effective
communication in the organisation.
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Importance of Managing Workforce Diversity
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The various advantages which can be obtained from workforce diversity management are
explained as below:
1) Facilitates Improved Appearance: If an organisation does not follow the equal
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employment opportunity norms and affirmative action legislation, it can face heavy
penalty and/or the government departments can cancel contracts to such an
organisation. Thus, having a diverse manpower will create good business
opportunities under the view of these legislations. The demographic composition of
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the market is reflected by the appearance diversity which constitutes the gender
composition and ethnic representation. The organisations which have the
appearance/ethnic diversity are able to utilise the market opportunities in a great deal
than the organisations which do not have any similarities with their market
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appearance.
2) Promotes Cultural Intelligence: The concept of “social inclusion” can be adopted
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by the organisations by having the diversity in workforce as most of the individuals

who are benefited by the good practices of diversity belong to the „disadvantaged‟
segment of the society. The individuals get the chance to earn their livelihood and
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accomplish their goals with the help of those organisations, which promote diversity
in their workforce. By using these practices, the organisations can offer innovative
products, services and delivery mechanism to the regional markets by having a better
understanding of local market, having enhanced credibility and local expertise.
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3) Results in Higher Performance: When the individuals having diverse background

learn to live together, they can learn a lot from one another. It was reflected in a study
that when the medical scientists have a good relationship with the other colleagues,
having large diversity in terms of experiences, disciplines and values, they have
improved performance. However, the performance of these scientists has reduced in a
great deal, when they are in contact with the colleagues having same background.

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4) Enhanced Quality: In some other studies, it was found that the solution of a problem
was found effectively by a team having mixed gender composition in comparison to a
team having same gender members. It was observed that the quality of the problem
solving skills improves in a great deal when there is a difference in perceptions
among the group.
5) Improved Problem-Solving: In some of the studies, it is reflected that the group
having heterogeneous background and knowledge comes up with the innovative and

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creative alternatives of an ill-defined or complicated problem.
6) Controlling Turnover and Absenteeism: With the help of diversity, the absenteeism
and turnover of employees can be reduced significantly and it creates an image of a

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fair employer.
Managing Workforce Diversity Effectively
Be it public or private, profit or non-profit, small or large organisation, the effective
management of workforce diversity should be the prime concern of all the managers in

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the organisation. The proper management of diversity includes the following aspects:
1) Increasing Awareness: By acknowledging that diversity is an integral part of the
organisation, the awareness can be improved among the manpower. To have a better

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understanding of other‟s behaviour, experiences and attitudes, it is important to have
compassion towards others. The main focus of most of the programmes associated
with diversity awareness in any organisation is to improve the workforce‟s and

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manager‟s awareness about the following two aspects:
i) Attitudes, biases, and stereotypes of managers and workforce, and
ii) Managers, subordinates, co-workers, and customers varying viewpoints.
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The following objectives are required to be fulfilled through a diversity awareness
programme:
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i) Providing reliable inputs on diversity to the members of the organisation.
ii) Removing stereotypes and personal biases.
iii) To determine the individual‟s values, learning, beliefs, attitudes and values towards
other‟s opinions.
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iv) To eradicate incorrect stereotypes and beliefs about other members of the
organisation.
v) Creating an organisational environment which motivates individuals to share their
varying viewpoints and perspectives freely,
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vi) Enhancing the understanding of other individuals who are different.

2) Improving Diversity Skills: The main concentration of all the attempts which are
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made to improve the diversity skills is on enhancing the skills of managers, and their
subordinates to feel comfortable while working with other individuals and improving
the way they interact with each other. The managers and their subordinates must be
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educated about the reasons for having the diversity among various individuals in the
way they communicate, think and their approach to various issues and situations.
This will help in creating respect for the diversity among the individuals and creating
mutual understanding among the employees.
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3) Cultural Diversity: Globalisation has given rise to the cultural diversity in the
organisations. The individuals of different national origins such as Indian, American,
Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Swedish, etc., work together as a team for the
accomplishment of mutual goals in the same organisation. The difficult task of
utilising the benefits provided by the cultural diversity rests on the OB specialist. The
biggest threat which can hamper the organisation in utilising the benefits of diversity

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is lack of harmony among the managers and subordinates due to stereotypes and
prejudices.
Following methods can be adopted for proper management of cultural diversity:
i) Providing language training to the employees of the organisation.
ii) Motivating employees to go for non-home-country work assignments.
iii) When any employee goes for non-country assignment, providing a transition
counselling to him and his family.

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iv) Increasing the cross cultural diversity sensitivity among the employees through
training.
4) Gender Diversity: The participation of women has increased significantly in the

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workplace. However, the rewards which the women are receiving for their contribution
are not according to the extent of their participation in the organisation.
Various methods can be used for effectively managing the gender diversity. One of the
common methods is to acknowledge that both genders may have different strengths.

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Women can learn to be more precise and firm and being less delicate particularly while
giving the directions, on the other hand by establishing a proper relationship with their
women counterparts in the organisations, men can learn the managerial skills. It is very

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critical to have complete knowledge about the apparent differences between men and
women at workplace and social circles. In addition to that, it must be noted that the
genders can play a significant role in understanding the other individuals in certain

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situations. At last, it is very significant to neglect those actions, behaviours and
languages which can create adverse or negative opinion and to have the knowledge of
cultural gender stereotypes.
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Challenges of Workforce Diversity
Organisations face many challenges related to workforce diversity. Some of them are as
follows:
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1) Conflict: Workforce diversity has an inbuilt challenge in the terms of conflict among
different ages, societies, and genders. The reason for conflict is pre-conception, lack of
trust, and lack of confidence among group members.
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2) Time Consumption: People follow instructions given to them in different ways.

Sometimes, it is an annoying experience of accomplishing the task by
employees/workers coming from various cultural backgrounds. There is lot of time
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consumption on management as well as employees‟/workers‟ side. The supervisor

should be well trained in order to deal with diverse workforce. He should have
thorough knowledge of his behavioural patterns, language, expectations and customs.
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The workforce has varied expectations in various countries. So, a lot of time and
energy is required in managing these expectations.
3) Differences in Preferences: An organisation becomes successful when its products are
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sold. Sales directly depend on the customer‟s choice, and these choices are influenced
by the advertisements. The advertising plan should be in accordance with people‟s
priority in relation to their language, message, messenger, and media.
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4) Communication: Unproductive communication of important goals leads to low

morale, misunderstanding, and absence of co-ordination. For successful completion of
diversity programmes cultural, perceptual and language obstacles should be resolved.
5) Resistance to Change: Some employees will always show some rigidity in accepting
the present changes in their social and cultural surroundings. The mental state that “we
have always done it this way” overshadows fresh ideas and hinders progress.

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6) Implementation of Diversity in the Workplace Policies: It can be the overruling

challenge in advocating the workforce diversity. A tailored strategy should be made
with the help of outcomes of the employee assessments and research data, in order to
increase the impact of diversity in the organisation at the workplace.
7) Successful Management of Diversity in the Workplace: An organisation‟s plan of
diversity management will not be effective, if there is only diversity training. A culture
of diversity which invades in every section and function of any organisation should be

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created with the help of well-planned strategy by implementing it.
8) Discrimination: Discrimination is due to the unacceptability of diversity in an
organisation. There are several kinds of discrimination like disability, gender, race,

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financial status, sexuality, cultural background or religion.
9) Stereotypes and Pre-Conceptions: Sometimes, people do not judge each member of
the group according to their individual capabilities; instead they allot a particular
character to the whole group. It creates a challenge in managing diversity as these ideas

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are built on unjust concepts.
10) Harassment: It is done by the persons who have destructive approach towards other

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persons having dissimilarities in terms of social background, culture, language, etc.
11) Exclusion: An organisation‟s workforce diversity management can only prosper when
there is complete inclusion of all and exclusion of none while accomplishing objectives
of the organisation.
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12) Other Challenges: Workforce diversity management programme is very important to
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overcome following problems like:
i) High Turnover Rate: This condition arises when employees of the organisation
start leaving the company. It results in financial as well as time loss of the
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organisation as a lot of time and money is invested in recruitment, selection,

training, and development of the personnel.
ii) Absenteeism: Companies which do not have proper diversity management
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programmes face this challenge. Due to improper diversity management, the morale
of the employees decrease, so there is decreased productivity and increased
absenteeism.
13) Lawsuits: There are many laws in different countries to resolve the problems of
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harassment and discrimination of employees within the organisation. But end results of
these lawsuits are neither beneficial for employees, nor the organisation.
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Effects of Employee Attitude

Behaviour of an employee can be easily judged through his/her attitude. The actions and
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conduct of an individual show a specific attitude. Both productive and undesirable

behaviours can be predicted through positive and negative attitudes respectively. Varying
levels of employee attitude, i.e., job commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction in
an organisation have following effects on behaviours of an employee:
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1) Employee Performance: Greater the organisational commitment, job involvement, and

job satisfaction, higher is the performance of employees. These three factors determine
an employee‟s readiness to perform. However, these factors impact employee‟s
performance positively or negatively when tied up with other factors and do not work in
isolation.
2) Employee Turnover: The number or percentage of employees who leave the

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organisation and are replaced by new ones during a given time period is known as
employee turnover. There are many factors which influence employee turnover. These
factors may include organisational factors as well as personal factors. But among these,
the factor which greatly influences employee turnover is employee attitude. The
organisations which have employees with positive attitudes towards organisational
commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction witness a very low employee
turnover rate. The rate is high when the attitudes are negative.

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3) Absence and Tardiness: The long and short duration absence of employees from work
is known as absenteeism and tardiness respectively. While absenteeism is a full day
absence, tardiness may last for a few minutes and even for hours. Employees opt for
these practices in order to avoid physical involvement at the workplace. These practices

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are motivated and encouraged when employees possess negative attitudes for
organisational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction.
4) Violence: Low levels of organisational commitment, job involvement, and job
satisfaction lead to verbal or physical violence. The dissatisfied employees use the

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frustration which is the outcome of violence, as a means to get rid of dissatisfaction. On
the other hand, there is no violence noticed in satisfied employees who have high levels
of organisational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction.

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5) Other Effects: Other than the above mentioned effects, positive employee attitudes also
influence behaviours like organisational citizenship which are based on personal choice
of employees and are crucial for a successful organisation. Organisational citizenship

outcomes.
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includes voluntary efforts, willingness to help, taking initiatives, and productive

The negative attitudes of employees can be transformed into positive attitudes, if their
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causes are analysed and the attitudes are managed efficiently.

Managing Employee Attitudes

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In order to maintain coordination between subordinates, suppliers, clients, and customers,

behavioural issues pertaining to attitude must be managed instantly in an effective manner.
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The manner in which individuals approach their jobs instead of the outcome can be
influenced greatly by effective actions of managers. Employee attitudes need to be managed
to achieve greater effectiveness and strong corporate culture.
Following are some of the strategies:
1) Focus Only on Goals and Efforts: The contemporary managers need to emphasise
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only on their objectives and efforts instead of the outcome. This is because outcome is
driven by numerous factors most of which cannot be forecasted or beyond our control.
In this way, the attitudes of employees towards the job and organisation can be
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influenced.
2) Principle of Cause and Effect: When the principle of cause and effect is applied in the
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organisation, the employees become accountable for their activities. They develop an
attitude of adopting a time-taking strategy rather than a short-term strategy which might
prove detrimental at later stages. Also, when these „short-cuts‟ result into failed
expectations, knowledge of this principle minimises the dissatisfaction level.
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3) The 3 ‘A’ and the 1 ‘E’: Healthy attitudes of employees are badly affected by Anger,
Self-Centred Ambition, Anxiety, and Ego, i.e., 3 „A‟ and the 1 „E‟. Just the technical
know-how is not enough. In order to be more productive, employees must also possess
the required skills to deal with their 3 „A‟s and the 1 „E‟.
4) ASK Principle of Success: Here, „ASK‟ refers to attitude, skills and knowledge.
Positive attitude, adequate knowledge, and unique skills should be necessarily possesses

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by each employee to excel in all tasks.

5) Define Organisation Attributes: The desirable form of organisation based on its
attributes and competencies must be clearly defined in order to shape and influence the
employee attitude. The attributes and competencies can be customer focus, flexibility,
result-orientation, innovation, etc. The next step is to elaborate these competencies in a
more comprehensive manner. After the desired attributes and competencies are
communicated, the organisation needs to share their importance in being successful with

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the employees.
6) Link ‘Attitude’ to Observable Behaviours that Impact Productivity: The impact of
employees‟ attitudes on work needs to be demonstrated to manage them. Following are

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a few methods:
i) Observe and record about six instances of obvious attitude.
ii) List the observable effects such as resistance, delayed decisions, defensiveness, etc.
iii) Define their impact on group productivity.

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iv) Interact with employees to discuss performance and willingness to train them for
their improvement.
v) Spread awareness about the issue of attitude through recent occurrences alongwith

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dates and circumstances.
vi) Elaborate the observations and seek the employees‟ viewpoints.
vii) Convey the present and potential impact of attitudes on the output of the group in a
specific manner.
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viii) Ask what efforts they are ready to put in for improvement and in what manner they
can be assisted in doing so.
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EXERCISE
1) Discus the concept and importance of attitude.
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2) Explain the types and components of attitude.

3) Elaborate the functions and importance of attitude.
4) Discuss various methods which are used to measure attitude. Highlight the importance
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of attitude measurement for management.

5) Elaborate the process of attitude measurement. Explain the factors influencing the
6) formation of attitude.
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7) Describe various theories of attitude formation and attitude change.

8) Enumerate attitude and workforce diversity. Elaborate the importance of managing
workforce diversity.
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Write short notes on:

i) Effects of employee attitude
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ii) Challenges of workforce diversity

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