MODULE 4
BUILDING POSITIVE ATTITUDE
MEANING OF ATTITUDE:
Attitudes are evaluations of objects, issues, or persons. Social psychologists use the term
attitude to refer to people’s evaluation of virtually any aspect of the social world.
People can have favorable or unfavorable reactions to issues, ideas, specific individuals,
entire social groups, and objects.
Yet attitudes in many domains are not always as uniformly positive or negative as they
are for same-sex marriage; on the contrary, our evaluations are often mixed, consisting of both
positive and negative reactions. By definition, ambivalent attitudes are easier to change than
those that reflect a uniform position on an issue; as a result, behavioral responses tend to be
unstable when attitudes are mixed.
For example, consider the dilemma of a friend of mine who went for car shopping, she
had limited funds and had “pre-decided” to purchase a modestly priced vehicle. However, at one
car dealership, she saw a HYUNDAI TUCSON on the lot and decided to just take it out for a test
drive. It was love on the first drive! In this case, can you guess which component of her attitude
towards autos won out – her feelings about affordability or her desire for this luxurious car! Like
many people in the market for a new car, my friend convinced herself that she could manage the
large monthly payments that this purchase would entail, and she ended up taking the HYUNDAI
TUCSON home. Although I pointed out to my friend that there were many very nice, less
expensive vehicles that she might consider, she was convinced that the TUCSON was the car for
her (and the financial sacrifices she would be making for several years by purchasing it were
already seen as “not so bad”).
The point, is when attitudes are ambivalent, they are more susceptible to change,
compared with when they are uniformly positive or negative. In contrast, attitudes that lack
ambivalence are indeed difficult to change – and, like the issue of same-sex marriage, may only
be altered in response to behavioral changes across time or among those who are younger and
lack a life-long commitment to a particular attitude position. Thus, strong attitudes tend to be
better predictors of behavior in domains to which they are relevant than are ambivalent attitudes.
NATURE OF ATTITUDE:
1. Attitudes are evaluations of any aspect of the social world. Often, attitudes are strong and
unambivalent, which makes them resistant to change. Other attitudes are ambivalent, which
means that they are based on conflicting beliefs – we evaluate the attitude object both
positively and negatively – and such attitudes are less likely to predict behavior consistently.
2. Attitudes are learned. Attitudes are often acquired from other persons through social learning.
One important means by which our attitudes develop is through the process of social
learning. In other words, many of our views are acquired in situations in which we interact
with others or simply observe their behaviors. Such learning occurs through several
processes. For example, a young child sees her mother frown and show other signs of
displeasure each time the mother encounters a member of a particular ethnic group. At first,
the child is neutral toward members of this group and their visible characteristics (e.g., skin
color, style of dress, accent). She has not yet learned to categorize this particular variation in
people in terms of group membership. After these cues are paired repeatedly with the
mother’s negative emotional reactions on exposure to members of that group, classical
conditioning occurs, and the child comes to react negatively to members of this particular
ethnic group. This reaction can occur without the child having conscious access to the role
that her mother’s subtle facial changes have had on what attitude she forms. The result is that
the child acquires a negative attitude toward members of a particular group – an attitude that
may form the core of prejudice.
3. Attitudes influence our thoughts, even if they are not always reflected in our overt behavior.
In fact, growing evidence suggests that attitudes, as evaluations of the world around us,
represent a very basic aspect of social cognition. The tendency to evaluate stimuli as positive
or negative – something we like or dislike – appears to be an initial step in our effort to make
sense out of the world.
4. Attitudes do often affect our behavior. This is especially likely to be true when attitudes are
strong, well established, and accessible. For example, we may like or dislike particular
groups; as a consequence, we may be positively or negatively predisposed to act in particular
ways toward them. Clearly, then, attitudes can play a crucial role in our behavioral responses.
COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE:
Attitudes are based on affective, behavioral, and cognitive information (the “ABCs” of
attitudes).
The affective component consists of the person’s emotions and affect toward the
stimulus, especially positive or negative evaluations.
The behavioral component consists of how the person tends to act regarding the stimulus.
The cognitive component consists of the thoughts the person has about that particular
attitude object, including facts, knowledge, and beliefs.
TYPES OF ATTITUDE:
Attitudes are of three types:
(a) Positive:
A favorable attitude – liking people, objects, situation, etc.
(b) Negative:
An unfavorable attitude – does not like people, objects, etc.
(c) Neutral:
Neither favorable nor unfavorable.
IMPORTANCE & RELEVANCE OF POSITIVE ATTITUDE:
The benefits of being positive:
an increased chance of needs being met
greater confidence in yourself
greater confidence in others
taking more initiatives
greater self-control and worth
a saving in energy
no see-sawing of emotions
more options
This all leads to:
- reduction in stress
- better personal health and increased efficiency
There are many benefits to being positive not least of which is improved health. In
addition, positive people attract positive people and indeed as a result are more successful in
their professional and personal lives.
And, if you’re still not convinced, positive people will suffer less stress and gain the
cooperation of others; work colleagues, friends and family members, and lead more contended
lives.