ATTITUDES

• Attitudes cannot be observed directly.

• Attitudes are hidden variables.
• They are reflected on our behavior or they are expressed in oral terms.

Definition:

Attitude is a prejudgement (predisposition) attributed to an object, a person or an event

that ifluence our feelings and behavior. Attitudes are about tendencies to behave in a
specific way.

COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES

• COGNITIVE: People collect information interacting with their environment. As

a result of learning by personal experience(directly) or learning by other people’s
experience(indirectly), they reach to a belief system about the attitude object.
Beliefs define the attitude obeject and represent the content of the attitude. If the
collected information reflects the truth, attitude becomes more perminant. When
people collect new information, they compare it with the previous one.
Consequently, they come to an overall judgement which shape their belief
systems.
• EMOTIONAL(AFFECTIVE): In relation to the information that is collected
about the attitude object, people develop emotions depending on what the
information or cognitions mean to them. If the meaning is consistent with their
values, they develop positive emotions. Negative emotions are developed when
there is inconsistency between the information and individual’s expectations and
values.
• BEHAVIORAL: After collecting information, forming beliefs and developing
negative and positive feelings, the individual is prepared to behave accordingly.

There is a strong relationship between attitudes and behavior. The attitudes may
influence the occurance of the behavior.

Beliefs → Attitudes → Behavior

↑
External factors

Sometimes the behavior may not be consistent with the attitude simply because of
the interference of environmental or external factors. For instance, a person may
dislike his boss so his attitude toward the boss rather negative. Since the person
wants to remain in the same company he doesn’t demonstrate a negative behavior
toward his boss.

ATTITUDE FORMATION

▪ PHYSIOLOGICAL CIRCUMSTANCES
▪ EXPERIENCE
▪ PERSONALITY
 ▪ SOCIALIZATION
▪ GROUP MEMBERSHIP
▪ SOCIAL STATUS

FUNCTIONS OF ATTITUDES
- Analysing attitudes may help estimate the behavior that is about to ocur.
- To learn someone’s attitudes means to know about that person’s preferences and
feelings.
- By changing attitudes of people, their behavior can also be altered.
- Marketing research people examine consumer attitudes to estimate their
tendency toward purchasing a product.

WAYS OF CHANGING ATTITUDES

Attitudes are located on a continuum from negative to positive and their place may
change from one end to another.

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▪ CHANGING INTENSITY: Without changing the direction, enhancing the

intensity of the attitude through more positive or more negative way.
Example: To begin to like someone even better as a consequence of your experience
with the person.

▪ CHANGING DIRECTION: This time, the attitude’s direction is changed from

negative to positive or from positive to negative.
Example: You may not like a course at your university in the begining of the term
but gradually you may start enjoying it through the end of the term.