The psychology of

attitudes
 The Hawthorne Study
 The intensive research program carried on by the Western Electric Company, Hawthorne
Works, Chicago, clearly demonstrates the effect of employee attitude on production. the
experiments began as an attempt to investigate the effects on production of such factors
as temperature, humidity, lighting rest pauses and length of workday. an experimental
room was designed in which standard operation could be performed under varying
conditions without disrupting the work of the remainder of the plant. the results of the
preliminary studies revealed that the factors under investigation could not explain many
of the results obtained. Although the introduction of rest periods of varying lengths, rest
periods with lunches, different lengths of work periods show the trends in production
which indicated their beneficial effects, a general upward trend in production also was
apparent. the general trend became very clear when it was found that removal of the
above-mentioned favourable conditions did not return production to its previous level.
Analysis of the data revealed that a more favourable work attitude had gradually
developed. Since the experimental room was in charge of an observer rather than a
supervisor, the employees felt more free.
Definition of Attitude
 In psychology, an attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular
object, person, thing, or event.
 It is an expression of a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of a person, place, thing, or event.
 How much we like or dislike something that determines our behavior towards that thing.
 We tend to approach, seek out, or be associated with things we like; we avoid, shun, or reject
things we do not like.
 According to Gordon Allport, “An attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, organized
through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to
all objects and situations with which it is related.”
 Frank Freeman said, “An attitude is a dispositional readiness to respond to certain institutions,
persons or objects in a consistent manner which has been learned and has become one’s typical
mode of response.”
 Thurstone said, “An attitude denotes the total of man’s inclinations and feelings, prejudice or
bias, preconceived notions, ideas, fears, threats, and other any specific topic.”
Factors influencing attitude formation
Relations between attitudes, emotions and logic:

 Attitudes usually are associated with likes and dislikes and consequently have an
emotional content. Thus any condition which influences emotion is likely to influence
certain attitudes.
 Our moods will influence our attitudes.
 The logic of feelings respects attitudes and in so far as behavior depends on attitudes ,
this kind of logic must be respected when dealing with behaving analysis.
Personality differences and attitude:
 Personality differences are highly important in determining the type of attitude formed.
 Some individuals are inclined toward radicalism, other toward conservatism and still others
avoid extremes.
 These tendencies seem to be so general that they are sometimes regarded as personality
differences.
 Also differences in social dependability, decisiveness and emotionality may influence attitudes
on specific topics.
 Other factors such as sex and intelligence, have also been shown to have rather specific effects
on opinion.
 Differences in personality makeup and intelligence must account for the individual variations
which occur when experiences are comparable.
Origins of attitude:
 It is impossible to determine all the factors that influence formation of attitudes .
 Various experiments influence people’s attitude by the attitudes or opinions of others.
 As like, Kelley and woodruff found that students were more influenced in the direction of
speech heard from outside the lecture room.
Attitude Formation
 Several factors can influence how and why attitudes form, including:

Experience
 Attitudes form directly as a result of experience. They may emerge due to direct personal
experience, or they may result from observation.

Social Factors
 Social roles and social norms can have a strong influence on attitudes. Social roles relate to how
people are expected to behave in a particular role or context. Social norms involve society's rules
for what behaviors are considered appropriate.

Learning
 Attitudes can be learned in a variety of ways. Consider how advertisers use classical conditioning to
influence your attitude toward a particular product. In a television commercial, you see young,
beautiful people having fun on a tropical beach while enjoying a sports drink. This attractive and
appealing imagery causes you to develop a positive association with this particular beverage.
(Discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning is a type of unconscious or
automatic learning. This learning process creates a conditioned response through associations between
an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus)
Conditioning
 Operant conditioning can also be used to influence how attitudes develop.
Imagine a young man who has just started smoking. Whenever he lights up
a cigarette, people complain, chastise him, and ask him to leave their
vicinity. This negative feedback from those around him eventually causes
him to develop an unfavorable opinion of smoking and he decides to give
up the habit.
(Operant conditioning is a method of learning that employs rewards and
punishments for behavior.)
Observation
 Finally, people also learn attitudes by observing around them. When
someone you admire greatly espouses a particular attitude, you are more
likely to develop the same beliefs. For example, children spend a great
deal of time observing the attitudes of their parents and usually begin to
demonstrate similar outlooks.
Why Attitudes Change?
 While attitudes can have a powerful effect on behavior, they are not
set in stone. The same influences that lead to attitude formation can
also create attitude change.
Learning Theory
 Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning
can be used to bring about attitude change. Classical conditioning can
be used to create positive emotional reactions to an object, person, or
event by associating positive feelings with the target object.
 Operant conditioning can be used to strengthen desirable attitudes and
weaken undesirable ones. People can also change their attitudes after
observing the behavior of others.
Elaboration Likelihood Theory
 This theory of persuasion suggests that people can alter their attitudes in
two ways. First, they can be motivated to listen and think about the
message, thus leading to an attitude shift.
 Or, they might be influenced by the characteristics of the speaker, leading
to a temporary or surface shift in attitude. Messages that are thought-
provoking and that appeal to logic are more likely to lead to permanent
changes in attitudes.
Dissonance Theory
 As mentioned earlier, people can also change their attitudes when they
have conflicting beliefs about a topic. In order to reduce the tension
created by these incompatible beliefs, people often shift their attitudes.
Functions of Attitudes

 The most important function of an attitude can only be ascertained by

considering it concerning the person who holds it and the environment in
which they operate.
 Daniel Katz outlines 4 functions of attitude areas:
 Adjustment Function.
 Ego-Defensive Function.
 Value-Expressive Function.
 Knowledge Function.
Adjustment Function
 Attitudes often help people to adjust to their work environment.
 When employees are well treated, they are likely to develop a positive attitude
toward management and the organization.
 When employees are criticized and given a minimal salary, they are likely
to develop a negative attitude toward management and the organization.
 These attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and are a basis for
future behavior. The adjustment function directs people toward pleasurable or
rewarding objects and away from unpleasant, undesirable ones.
 It serves the utilitarian concept of maximizing reward and minimizing
punishment.
 Thus, the attitudes of consumers depend to a large degree on their perceptions
of what is needed satisfying and what is punishing.
Ego-Defensive Function
 The ego-defensive function refers to holding attitudes that protect our self-
esteem or that justify actions that make us feel guilty.
 This function involves psychoanalytic principles where people use defense
mechanisms to protect themselves from psychological harm.
 Mechanisms include denial, repression, projection, rationalization, etc.
 For example; an older manager whose decisions are continually challenged by a
younger subordinate manager may feel that the later is brash, cocky, immature,
and inexperienced.
 In truth, the younger subordinate may be right in challenging the decisions.
 The older manager may not be a very effective leader and may constantly make
poor decisions.
 On the other hand, the older manager is not going to admit this but will try to
protect the ego by blaming the other party.
Value-Expressive Function
 Whereas ego defensive attitudes are formed to protect a person’s self-
image, value-expressive attitudes enable the expression of the person’s
centrally held values.
 Central values tend to establish our identity and gain us social approval
thereby showing us who we are, and what we stand for.
 Some attitudes are important to a person because they express values that
are integral to that person’s self-concept.
 Therefore consumers adopt certain attitudes to translate their values into
something more tangible and easily expressed.
 Our value-expressive attitudes are closely related to our self-concept.
 One whose central value is freedom, the individual may express very
positive attitudes towards the decentralization of authority in the
organization, flexible work schedules, and relaxation of dress standards.
Knowledge Function
 The knowledge function refers to our need which is consistent and relatively
stable.
 This allows us to predict what is likely to happen, and so gives us a sense of
control.
 Some attitudes are useful because they help to make the world more
understandable.
 They help people ascribe causes to events and direct attention towards
features of people or situations that are likely to be useful in making sense of
them.
 Consequently, they help to make the world more understandable, predictable,
and knowable. Knowing a person’s attitude helps us predict their behavior.
 For example- people who are not familiar with nuclear energy may develop an
attitude that is dangerous and should not be used as an energy source.
Barriers to Change Attitudes

Barriers to Change Attitudes are:

 Prior Commitment.
 Insufficient Information.
 Balance and Consistency.
 Lack of Resources.
 Improper Reward System.
 Resistance to Change.
Prior Commitment
 When people feel a commitment towards a particular course of action
that has already been agreed upon, it becomes difficult for them to
change or accept the new ways of functioning.
Insufficient Information
 It also acts as a major barrier to change attitudes. Sometimes people do
not see why they should change their attitude due to the unavailability
of adequate information.
 Sometimes people do not see why they should change their attitude due
to the unavailability of adequate information.
Balance and Consistency
 Another obstacle to a change of attitude is the attitude theory of
balance and consistency.
 Human beings prefer their attitudes about people and things to be
in line with their behaviors towards each other and objects.
Lack of Resources
 If plans become excessively ambitious, they can sometimes be
obstructed by the lack of resources on a company or organization.
 So, in this case, if the organization wants to change the employees’
attitude towards the new plan, sometimes it becomes impossible
for the lack of resources to achieve this.
Improper Reward System
 Sometimes, an improper reward system acts as a barrier to change attitude.
 If an organization places too much emphasis on short-term performance and
results, managers may ignore longer-term issues as they set goals and
formulate plans to achieve higher profits in the short term.
 If this reward system is introduced in the organization, employees are not
motivated to change their attitude.
Resistance to Change
 Another barrier is resistance to change.
 Basically, change is a continuous process within and outside the organization
to achieve the set goal.
 When the authority changes a plan of the organization, the employees have
to change themselves.
 But some of them do not like this. If their attitude regarding the change of
plan cannot be changed, the organization will not be successful.