ATTITUDE

INTRODUCTION

 Hypothetical concept that dignifies an Individual’s degree of like or

dislike for an item.
 Positive or negative opinion of an individual about the people,
place, things or events etc.
 Definition

 ‘An attitude is a readiness to respond in such a way

that behaviour is given a certain direction’ :
Travers
 “An attitude is defined as a predisposition or
readiness to respond in a predetermined manner to
relevant stimuli” : Robert Whittaker
 Nature of attitude
 Attitude have a subject-object relationship. It is related to specific
objects, persons, groups, institutions and values etc.
 Attitude is a complex combination of things. Its refers to personality,
beliefs, values, behaviour and motivation.
 Attitude is learned as we grow. Its not an inherent. It depends on life
training and circumstances.
 An attitude exists in every person’s mind. its helps to define our
identity, guide our actions.
 Attitude provides us with internal cognitions or beliefs and thoughts
about others.
 COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

 ROSENBERG, EAGLY AND CARL

HOVLAND.
 1. Cognitive component (ideas, facts,
information) (example orange)
 2. Affective component ( liking or disliking)
 3. Behavioural component ( acting of individual
towards an object)
 Types
 Positive Attitude (lead a positive life and lead us out of dark
times)
 Negative Attitude ( Not constructive, co operative or optimistic)
 Neutral Attitude
 Sikken attitude ( Dangerous attitude) The Sikken attitude has
the caliber to destroy every image that comes in connection
with the positive image.
 Factors Affecting Attitude
1. Social Factors:
 Social roles and social norms
2. Direct Instructions
3. Family
4. Prejudice
5. Personal experience
6. Media
7. Educational and religious institutions
8.Economic status and occupation
9. Intellectual development
 Attitudinal change
 Process of bringing desired changes in opinions and values. If a person has a negative
attitude about the caste or religion or having false beliefs, he should be educated with proper
education to change his attitude.
 How to change the attitude:
1. Change perception by new experience and factual knowledge
2. Control and express our emotions
3. Proper education can change
4. Use of propaganda for false messages ( sometimes used to increase the ratings of
organizations)
5. Using fear – inducing mechanisms( Punishments, rules, legal aspects make the person to
change his attitude.
6. Modelling Techniques
7. Direct personal experiences
 Barriers to changing attitude

1.Cognitive dissonance
2. Prior commitment
3. Insufficient information
 Role of attitude in health and sickness

1. Great prognosis
2. Negative attitude depletes the emotional state of individual, which lowers the self esteem and leads
to poor sleep
3. Facilitates solutions to the problems
4. Attitude related to relaxation therapies makes them to be optimistic
5. PA--Reduce stress, depression
6. Improve immune system
7. Positive attitude able people to cope up with the sickness and adopt coping strategies that help in
fast recovery.
 Psychometric Assessment
 Direct method( Questions and interview techniques, checklist and attitude scale)
Attitude Scale:
Thurston’s attitude scale:
 Different opinions of the individual are collected to the various statements mentioned in the list.
 It is categorized in to favorable to unfavorable statements.
 Examples of the Thurstone scale
 A Thurstone scale survey is a series of related, dichotomous statements. There are many examples of dichotomous
statements in the Question Bank; here’s a series of questions to help you understand the concept more concretely:
 I am inspired to meet my goals at work.
• Agree
• Disagree
 I feel completely involved in my work.
• Agree
• Disagree
 I am often so involved in my work that the day goes by quickly.
• Agree
• Disagree
Likert attitude scale:
Its an 5 , 7 or 9 point scale.
Scores given from 1 to 5 depends on the type of questions

Indirect method
Personality assessment tests