Attitude meaning, components, formation and change in psychology

Attitude meaning, components, formation and change in psychology

ATTITUDE  can  be defined  as a tendency to respond positively or negatively toward a certain idea, person, object, or situation ( Triandis, 1971). This tendency, developed through people’s experiences as they live and work with others, can affect the way they behave toward those ideas, people, objects, and situations and can include opinions, beliefs, and biases. Attitudes influence the way people view these things  before they’ve actually been exposed to them (Petty et al., 2003).

THE  ABC MODEL OF  ATTITUDES

Attitudes are actually made up of three different parts,  or components,

AFFECTIVE  COMPONENT  The  affective component  of an attitude is the way a person feels toward the object, person, or situation.  Affect is used in psychology to mean “emotions” or “feelings,” so the affective component is the emotional component. For example, some people might feel that country music is fun and uplifting.

BEHAVIOUR  COMPONENT  The  behavior component  of an attitude is the action that a person takes in regard to the person, object, or situation. For example, a person who feels that country music is fun is likely to listen to a country music station, buy country music MP3s, or go to a country music concert.

COGNITIVE  COMPONENT  The  cognitive component  of an attitude is the way a person thinks about himself or herself, an object, or a situation. These thoughts, or cognitions, include beliefs and ideas about the focus of the attitude. For example, the country music lover might believe that country music is superior to other forms of music.

ATTITUDE  FORMATION

 Attitude formation is the result of a number of different influences with only one thing in common: They are all forms of learning.

DIRECT  CONTACT One way in which attitudes are formed  is by direct contact with the person, idea, situation, or object that is the focus of the attitude. For example, a child who tries and dislikes brussels sprouts will form a negative attitude about brussels sprouts.

DIRECT  INSTRUCTION  Another way attitudes are formed is through direct instruction, either  by parents or some other individual. Parents may tell their children  that smoking cigarettes is dangerous and unhealthy, for example.

INTERACTION WITH  OTHERS  Sometimes attitudes are formed because the person is around  other people with that attitude. If a person’s friends,  for example, all hold the attitude that smoking is cool, that person is more likely to think that smoking is cool as well (Brenner, 2007; Eddy et al., 2000; Hill, 1990; Shean et al., 1994).

VICARIOUS  CONDITIONING (OBSERVATIONAL  LEARNING)  Many attitudes are learned through the observation of other people’s actions and reactions to various objects, people, or situations. Just as a child whose mother shows a fear of dogs may develop a similar fear.

ATTITUDE CHANGE:  THE ART OF PERSUASION

The art of persuasion : the process  by which one person tries to change the  belief, opinion, position, or course of action of another person through argument,  pleading, or explanation.

    Persuasion is not a simple matter. There are several factors that become important in predicting how successful any persuasive effort at attitude change might be. These factors include the following:

• Source: The  communicator  is the person delivering the message. There is a strong tendency to give more weight to people who are perceived as experts, as well as those who seem trustworthy, attractive, and similar to the person receiving the message  (Eagly & Chaiken, 1975; O’Keefe, 2009; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986, 1996; Priester & Petty, 1995).

• Message: The actual message should be clear and well organized (Booth- Butterfield, 1996). It is usually more effective to present both sides of an argument to an audience that has not yet committed to one side or the other (Crowley & Hoyer, 1994; O’Keefe, 2009; Petty & Cacioppo, 1996; Petty et al., 2003). Messages that are directed at producing fear have been thought to be more effective if they produce only a moderate  amount of fear and also provide information about how to avoid the fear-provoking consequences (Kleinot & Rogers, 1982; Meyrick, 2001; Petty, 1995; Rogers & Mewborn, 1976). More recent research suggests that fear messages with a higher amount of fear may be very effective when they not only provide information about how to avoid the consequences but also stress the severity of those consequences, particularly among women (Tannenbaum et al., 2015).

• Target  Audience: The characteristics of the people who are the intended target of the message of persuasion are also important in determining the effectiveness  of the message. The age of the audience members can be a factor, for example. Researchers have found that people who are in  the young adult stage of the late teens to the mid-20s are more susceptible to persuasion than are older people (O’Keefe, 2009; Visser & Krosnick, 1998).

• Medium: The form through which a person receives a message is also important. For example, seeing and hearing a politician’s speech on television may have a very different effect than simply reading about it in the newspaper or online. The visual impact of the television coverage is particularly important because it provides an opportunity for the source of the message to be seen as attractive, for example.

THE  ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL  OF PERSUASION : assumed that people either elaborate (add details and information) based on what they hear (the facts of the message), or they do not elaborate at all, preferring to pay attention to the surface characteristics of the message (length, who delivers it, how attractive the message deliverer is, etc.).Two types of processing are hypothesized in this model:

CENTRAL ROUTE PROCESSING type of information processing that involves attending to the content of the message itself.

PERIPHERAL ROUTE PROCESSING type of information processing that involves attending to factors not involved in the message,  such as the appearance of the source of the message, the length of the message, and other non content factors.

COGNITIVE  DISSONANCE:  WHEN ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR CLASH

cognitive dissonance sense of discomfort or distress that occurs  when a person’s behavior does not correspond to that person’s attitudes.(Dissonance  is a term referring to an inconsistency or lack of agreement.)

        When people experience cognitive dissonance, the resulting tension and arousal are unpleasant,  and their motivation is to change something so that the unpleasant feelings and tension are reduced or eliminated. There are three basic things that people can do to reduce cognitive dissonance:

1. Change their conflicting behavior to make it match their attitude.

2. Change their current conflicting cognition to justify their behavior.

3. Form new cognitions to justify their behavior.