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AT T I T U D E s

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WHAT is ATTITUDE?> is an expression of favoror disfavor toward a

person, place, thing, orevent (the attitudeobject).> An attitude can be definedas a positive or negativeevaluation of people,objects, event, activities,ideas, or just aboutanything in your

environment,

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Prominent psychologist

Gordon Allport once

described attitudes "the

most distinctive and

indispensable concept incontemporary social

psychology.".Attitude can

be formed from a person'spast and present. Attitude

is also measurable and

changeable as well asinfluencing the person's

emotion and behavior.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Allporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Allporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Allport

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COMPONENTSof

ATTITUDES

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Cognitive component: thisinvolves a persons belief /

knowledge about an attitudeobject. For example: I believespiders are dangerous.

Affective component: this

involves a persons feelings /emotions about the attitudeobject. For example: I am scaredof spiders.

Behavioral (or conative)component: the way the attitudewe have influences how we act

or behave. For example: I willavoid spiders and scream if I seeone.

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The

Functionof

Attitudes

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Knowledge. Attitudes provide

meaning (knowledge) for

life. The knowledge function

refers to our need for a world

which is consistent and relatively

stable. This allows us to predictwhat is likely to happen, and so

gives us a sense of control.

Attitudes can help us organize

and structure our

experience. Knowing a persons

attitude helps us predict their

behavior. For example, knowingthat a person is religious we can

predict they will go to Church.

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Self / Ego-expressive. The

attitudes we express (1)

help communicate who we are

and (2) may make us feel good

because we have asserted our

identity. Self-expression ofattitudes can be non-verbal too:

think bumper sticker, cap, or T-

shirt slogan. Therefore, our

attitudes are part of our identify,

and help us to be aware through

expression of our feelings, beliefs

and values.

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Adaptive. If a person holds and/or

expresses socially acceptable

attitudes, other people will rewardthem with approval and social

acceptance. For example, when

people flatter their bosses or

instructors (and believe it) or keep

silent if they think an attitude is

unpopular. Again, expression can

be nonverbal [think politiciankissing baby]. Attitudes then, are

to do with being apart of a social

group and the adaptive functions

helps us fit in with a social group.People seek out others who share

their attitudes, and develop similar

attitudes to those they like.

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The ego-defensive function refersto holding attitudes

that protect our self-esteem or thatjustify actions that make us feelguilty. For example, one waychildren might defend themselvesagainst the feelings of humiliation

they have experienced in P.E.lessons is to adopt a stronglynegative attitude to allsport. People whose pride hassuffered following a defeat in sport

might similarly adopt a defensiveattitude: Im not bothered, Imsick of rugby anyway. Thisfunction has psychiatric

overtones. Positive attitudestowards ourselves, for example,have a protective function (i.e. anego-defensive role) in helping usreserve our self-image.

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PREDICTING BEHAVIORFROM ATTITUDES Most research which attempts to

predict action from attitudes has done

so by assessing attitudes toward some

issuefor example, discrimination in

employmentwith less than notablesuccess. This study demonstrates that

improved prediction is possible if

attitudes toward action for example,

signing a protest petition againstdiscriminationare also assessed.

Although knowledge of attitude toward

action alone did not significantly

predict behavior, it did reduce thenumber of prediction errors when used

in conjunction with attitude toward

issue.