Understanding Attitudes – Meaning | Components | Functions

Attitudes are learned predispositions or tendencies to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner toward a particular object, person, idea, or situation. They reflect how individuals think (cognitive), feel (affective), and intend to behave (behavioral) in relation to something.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Meaning of Attitudes
3. Features of Attitudes
4. Components of Attitudes
5. Functions of Attitudes
6. Factors Affecting Attitudes (Sources of Attitudes)
7. Changing Attitudes
8. Methods of Attitude Change
9. Measurement of Attitudes

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1. Introduction

Though rationally our likes and dislikes for any object, event or person should be based on judgment and evaluative analysis, we often are prejudiced and give biased opinions about them. This reflects our attitude—a feeling about something. When our attitudes are influenced by prejudice, it can result in misconceptions and misunderstandings. Removing prejudices and adopting an independent viewpoint is essential to treat people fairly.

To truly understand others, we must engage in direct contact and learn more about them. This changes our attitude and brings us closer to reality of situations which is important for individual and organisational development.

2. Meaning of Attitudes

Attitude is a psychological phenomenon closely related to human beings and their beliefs towards objects, people, or events. These beliefs may be favourable or unfavourable. Attitudes show how we behave towards those things or situations.

Though our attitudes become strong over time, they can still change unless we strongly believe in them. For example, someone might really like their job, coworkers, and workplace, so they do not want to find a new job  but as time goes on, they might change their mind and decide to take a new job, feeling happy about it. Thus, by knowing about attitudes, we can understand ourselves and others better.

People hold attitudes, learn about others’ attitudes, change their opinion about others or others’ opinion about them to make their actions go in the direction they want. Attitudes play a big role in how we interact with the world.

Attitudes generally come from our experiences, but they can be changed depending upon future expectations. Attitudes, thus, have a past, present and future. They affect what we do now, and they can guide what we will do in the future. It is, thus, important to understand attitudes because they influence how we see the world and how we act in different situations.

Past	Present	Future
(Life Experience about work and family)	(The way we behave at work and off work)	(How we need to change in response to changing requirements to job people and events)

“Attitudes are evaluative statements – either favourable or unfavourable about objects, people or events.”

“Attitudes represent beliefs, feelings and action tendencies towards objects, ideas or people.”

“An attitude is a mental state of readiness, learned and organised through experience, exerting a specific influence on person’s response to people, object and situations with which it is related.”

Attitudes can be complex because different people can feel differently about the same things. For example, while some people may like a certain job, others may not like it at all.

Thus, naturally people have different attitudes towards the same situations, guided by different thoughts and experiences. Understanding that everyone’s attitudes are different helps us respect and appreciate each other’s perspectives.

3. Features of Attitudes

1. They reflect behaviour of a person to respond favourably or unfavourably to his surroundings.
2. They are learned through experiences and guide our present and future behaviour.
3. Everyone has attitudes irrespective of their status or nature of work.
4. Attitudes lie on the continuum of favourableness or unfavourableness. Feelings cannot be extremely favourable or unfavourable. They can be a mix of both, with some parts feeling more positive and others more negative.
5. They are a psychological phenomenon and, therefore, intangible. We can understand them, but cannot measure them with numbers.

4. Components of Attitudes

There are three components of attitudes:

4.1 Cognitive Component

This component reflects the opinion, belief or feeling about something, like the object, people, or event. Opinion is the expression that a person forms of the facts known to him. It is, thus, response to a limited stimulus (the facts presented). Belief is a broader component that covers a person’s perception about the object, facts, or the situation, whether presented or not. It determines how a person perceives an object in general.

For example, “It is wrong to tell lies” is a belief.

“It is wrong to tell lies, but in that situation, it was necessary to lie, and it didn’t harm anyone, so it’s okay to hide the truth,” is an opinion that justifies a specific situation.

Opinions are, thus, changeable but beliefs are stronger than opinions. They are based on experience, learning from others or what we learn from information.

Both opinions and beliefs shape a person’s attitudes. The cognitive component can be both favourable and unfavourable.

For example, the work culture in the office is ethical is a favourable attitude.

The work culture in the office is unethical is an unfavourable attitude.

Cognitive component is, thus, “the opinion or belief segment of an attitude.”

Our thoughts and feelings about things, whether good or not so good, affect our attitudes. Understanding this helps us see how attitudes help us in how we view the world.

4.2 Affective Component

While cognitive component expresses the opinion or belief about an object or situation, the affective component expresses the feeling or sentiment about that object or situation. It is about how we evaluate a situation and the emotions we have about it, , good or bad, pleasant, or unpleasant. It gives emotional expression to cognitive component. It is “the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.” It is about how “I Feel” about the situation, good or bad.

For example,

(i) I like my boss (positive feeling towards boss) or I do not like my boss (negative feeling towards boss).

(ii) I got the promotion though I did not deserve it (negative feeling about getting the promotion) or I did not get the promotion though I deserved it.

(iii) I hate to lie (strong feeling against speaking lies) or it is OK to lie sometimes (accepting feeling about lying in certain situations).

The affective component works with the cognitive component (our thoughts and beliefs) to make up our attitudes. Understanding both helps us understand ourselves better and how we react to different things in life.

4.3 Behavioural Component

Cognitive element is the ‘belief’, affective component is how one ‘feels’ about that belief and behavioural component describes how one intends to behave towards the object or situation as influenced by the cognitive and affective components (the belief and the feelings). It is “an intention to behave in a certain way towards someone or something.” The behaviour may be favourable or unfavourable. If the feeling towards the belief is positive, the behaviour is favourable and if the feeling is negative, the behaviour is unfavourable.

The three components of attitude are not independent. They do not exist separately. Attitude is a combination of cognitive, affective, and behavioural tendencies towards an object, person, event, or situation. Behaviour at workplace is the outcome of attitudes which in turn, are the outcome of complex interaction of cognitive, affective, and behavioural components.

X believes that promotions should be based on merit and not favouritism. X was a deserving candidate for promotion, but Y got the promotion got upset for being treated unfairly. He did not like the way things were being done at the company and decided to find another job that respects their skills and job requirements.

Attitude of X can be broken into three parts:

1. Cognitive component – X thinks that promotions should be based on merit, but Y got it. X believes this is unfair.
2. Affective component – X does not like the work environment at the company because he feels it is not right to use favouritism for promotions. X thinks it is unethical.
3. Behavioural component – X decides he cannot work in this environment, so he looks for a new job that treats employees fairly.

These thoughts, feelings, and actions make negative attitude towards the company and the people in charge. It shows how attitudes can be influenced by our beliefs, emotions, and how we behave in response to certain situations.

This is also called the ABC model of attitudes where attitude comprises:

C – Cognitive component

A – Affective component

B – Behavioural component

5. Functions of Attitudes

5.1 Adjustment Function

Attitudes are shaped by our experiences at work. When we work in a good and supportive environment, we feel positive about our work and the organisation we work for. But if we work in a not-so-friendly environment with conflicts and problems, we start to feel negative about our work and the organisation. When we have a positive attitude, we adapt better to our work environment. If we have a negative attitude, it affects contentment with the work. It is important to have positive attitude because it makes our work experience enjoyable and a more satisfying work life.

5.2 Ego-defensive Function

People develop ego and self-image, which they want to protect against any threat. When there is threat to their ego, they develop attitude to defend themselves by behaving in ways that protects their self-image.

Frustrating experiences in life like being ignored by others or forced to follow strict rules against their wishes, force a person to show ego-defensive behaviour to feel better about themselves. Ego-defensive attitudes cannot be easily changed as they come from bitter experiences of life like insult by others, non-cooperation by subordinates, aggression at the workplace, etc. This attitude generally does not result in favourable behaviour and, therefore, should be changed by providing a supportive work environment where people support each other. Creating a positive atmosphere where everyone feels respected and valued can change ego-defensive attitudes for the better.

5.3 Value Expressive Function

This function reinforces how our behaviour reflects our positive feelings. When we act in a positive way, it is likely that the behaviour is followed by positive rewards. For example, when we buy a product, it shows positive attitude towards the product.

Attitudes also help shape our self-image, which means how we see ourselves. They guide our behaviour towards what we desire for ourselves. For instance, when we wear traditional outfit for formal functions and casual outfit for informal occasions, we express self-image through our clothing choices.

It also helps to internalise the values of the group to which we belong. When we support environmental protection by recycling waste, our attitudes are in line with the values of the group to which we belong.

5.4 Knowledge Function

A person needs to know about things around to make good decisions in his surroundings. Attitudes help to set standards against which decisions are made. These decisions help to think consistently with reference to objects, events, or situations around and provide an organised and meaningful life.

For example, when a person buys a product, his attitude towards that brand plays a big role. He considers things like price, quality, and physical features (like shape, colour, and size) of the product. A person who has brand loyalty towards a certain brand, Maruti in terms of car, Sony in terms of electronics, or Apple in terms of mobile handsets will buy that brand whenever he needs that product. This purchase decision is based on trust and might not be affected by market survey or recommendation from others. This attitude becomes part of our habits, values, or lifestyle.

With new brands and options constantly entering the market, we might get confused about our purchase decisions. Our existing attitudes might not be enough to make a choice. So, we seek new information from friends, peers, or the market to develop new attitudes and make better decisions. This information gives knowledge, that shapes our attitudes which guide in making informed decisions.

6. Factors Affecting Attitudes (Sources of Attitudes)

A person is not born with attitudes. They are acquired as one grows in life and interacts with people around him. The following factors affect formation of attitudes:

6.1 Direct Experience

Our experiences with things or situations shape our attitudes towards them in future. These attitudes also influence how others form their attitudes about similar things or situations. Attitudes can be either positive or negative.

For example, if someone had a bad experience with their boss and never felt happy with him, they might develop an attitude that bosses are generally uncooperative. On the other hand, if someone works in a healthy environment with supportive superiors, and appreciation for teamwork, they might develop positive attitude towards their job and feel that all jobs are like that.

Direct experience with situations not only shapes attitudes for those who experienced them but also for those who might face similar situations in future.

6.2 Family

Our family plays a big role in shaping our attitudes because we learn from them and are influenced by their beliefs and behaviours. These attitudes often stay with us as we grow older, and become part of who we are.

Thus, even without directly experiencing something, we develop attitudes based on what we learned as a child. These attitudes influence how we see the world and how we behave in different situations.

These attitudes are generally about religious beliefs, social customs, educational patterns, or how we perceive differences between people in terms of their background.

6.3 Peer Groups

Our peer groups shape our attitudes because they give us important information and different viewpoints. Over time, this information becomes part of our personality and beliefs. It influences our attitudes towards how we think and feel about things. Our decision-making is often affected by what our friends or peers think about the problem. Their opinions and ideas are important, and their thoughts become part of who we are and what we believe.

6.4 Society

We all are part of the society we live in. As members of society, we meet certain expectations on religious beliefs, cultural acceptance, values, ethics, and other behavioural norms. Some behaviours are acceptable to the society, and some are not. As one tends to repeat the acceptable behaviour, they become part of us, and their favourableness and unfavourableness becomes our attitude. While the favourable behaviour is accepted, and, thus, repeated, the unfavourable behaviour is withdrawn.

6.5 Professional Ethics

The job we have and our position in society influence the groups of people we interact with. This, in turn, affects how we feel about our work, the organisation we work for, and the people around us.

The type of people we interact with shape our attitudes about our job and the work environment. The kind of decisions we make, strategic or routine, also influence our attitudes.

Our position in the workplace, whether we are in top management or lower-level positions, affect how we see management and the workers.

6.6 Learning from Others (Vicarious Learning)

People learn how to behave and what to think by watching others; their friends or what they see in the media. When they see someone, they admire as a role model, they may start acting and thinking like them too. The media creates and promotes certain personalities and products to make money, and people get influenced by these portrayals, making them a part of their attitudes and behaviours.

6.7 Personality Factors

Factors like heredity, physical features, age, gender, ability, etc. shape the attitude of a person in how they  feel and think about things like conservatism, liberalism, authoritarianism, democratism, intelligence, emotional stability, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, extroversion, etc.

Once the attitudes are developed, they cannot be easily changed. Positive attitudes contribute to productivity and good industrial relations. People should foster positive attitudes to encourage teamwork, loyalty, commitment, dedication, and harmonious atmosphere at work.

7. Changing Attitudes

Attitudes are usually rigid and maintain stability in how we behave and interact with the world around us. However, certain situations may require to change our attitudes. In the context of organisations, it is essential for individual behaviour to be in line with what the organisation considers good and suitable. If an individual’s behaviour does not align with the organisation’s interests, the organisation may use appropriate methods to change his attitudes. The following factors must be kept in mind before changing attitudes:

• Characteristics of attitudes should be considered before changing them. The characteristics are determined by factors such as extremeness of the attitude, Interconnectedness of the attitude, consistency of the attitude, needs satisfied through attitudes, strength of the needs to be satisfied through attitudes.

Depending upon the characteristics, there can be two types of attitude change:

• 1. Congruent change – It strengthens the potential of the existing attitude. If an attitude is favourable, it strengthens the favourableness of it and if it is unfavourable, it makes it more strongly unfavourable. So, the attitude’s direction stays the same; it just becomes stronger in its current positivity or negativity.
  2. Incongruent change – It changes direction of the attitude from the existing state. For example, if someone has negative attitude towards their superiors, thinking of them as authoritarians and not helpful, incongruent change would mean transforming this negative attitude into a positive one. They would see their superiors as mentors and facilitators, fostering a friendly and harmonious work environment. Thus, congruent change strengthens the current attitude, whether it’s positive or negative. In contrast, incongruent change involves shifting the attitude’s direction. Both types of attitude change can impact how people view others and situations in their lives.

• When attitudes are closely connected and strongly support each other, they become difficult to change. If all group members follow the attitudes of their leader, it can be challenging to change the attitudes of the group members, even if someone wants to think differently.
• The strength of our needs, along with support from our attitudes, affects how easily our attitudes can change. For example, X is in a lower-level job and has a big family to support. His primary need is to fulfil the financial requirements of his large family. Because of this strong need, X is willing to work overtime, even if other workers at his level refuse to do so because they have smaller families and do not face the same financial pressure. Thus, if attitudes align with important needs, whether basic needs or higher-order needs, it becomes hard to change those attitudes.
• A person’s personality plays a role in how easily their attitudes can change. If someone has high self-esteem, confidence, good communication skills, and the ability to make decisions, they are less likely to be influenced by the attitudes of others. They become resistant to change their own attitudes and are likely to influence and change the attitudes of others instead.
• A person’s frame of mind affects attitude change. A person with closed thinking does not easily believe in others. He overvalues his own system of beliefs and disbeliefs. His decision-making is centered around his own thinking and there is high degree of opposition to how others think. Such a person is often resistant to change attitudes.
• Group dynamics have a significant impact on attitude change. When people are part of a group, they feel connected to each other because they share similar thoughts and see things in the same way. The strong bond among group members makes them less affected by outside influences or disturbances. They maintain the group’s unity and consistency, so they often ignore information that goes against group’s norms.

8. Methods of Attitude Change

In the changing environment, managers need to adapt their attitudes and help their employees do the same. The following methods help to bring about attitude change:

• Rewards – Introducing a system of rewards can be effective in changing attitudes. When attitudes are not rigid, people may be motivated to change them to earn rewards.
• Fear – Fear can be used to change attitudes, but it is important to use a moderate level of fear:

1. 1. Low Levels of Fear – If the level of fear is too low, people might not take it seriously and simply ignore the fears presented to them. They may not see the need for attitude change and continue with their current beliefs or behaviours.
   2. High Levels of Fear – If the level of fear is too high, people may react negatively, develop an anti-management attitude and dismiss the fears altogether. When faced with overwhelming and threatening messages, people tend to resist and ignore them, which can be counterproductive for the organisation. Striking the right balance is important to encourage positive change in attitude without causing resistance or fear.

• Information – The organisation must provide new information to alter the perspective of employees. Managers offer information that shows they genuinely care for the employees. When employees feel valued and connected to the organization, they are more likely to adopt attitudes that are encouraged by the management.
• Feedback – When employees receive feedback about their work and understand how it affects their performance, it can lead to attitude change, whether they align with their current attitudes (congruent) or go against them (incongruent).
• Workplace environment – The environment at the workplace, including job design, compensation plans, employer-employee relations, working hours, and grievance settlement procedures, plays a crucial role in changing attitudes. Healthy and supportive, work environment contributes to organisational and individual growth.
• ‘People-oriented’ approach – When managers prioritise the tasks and the people who are doing them, employees feel valued and important. This helps satisfy their social needs to feel connected and respected by others. As a result, they respond with positive attitudes towards the management.
• Peer group influence – For attitude change to occur within a group, the group members need to trust and have confidence in their peers. When the influential group members persuade others with convincing knowledge and credibility, it can lead to attitude change.

Changing attitudes is not easy, especially if a person strongly believes in their attitudes. Publicly displayed attitudes become part of a person’s identity, making them more resistant to change. However, these techniques can be helpful in specific situations, like maintaining positive attitudes in a challenging environment or transforming negative attitudes in a better work setting.

9. Measurement of Attitudes

Attitudes are subjective characteristics and cannot be exactly measured. They are a set of variables which make up thinking of a person. While some variables rank high in order of preference, others rank low. The combined ranking of all the factors helps to understand if attitude towards something is favourable or unfavourable.

Some of the techniques used to measure attitude are as follows:

9.1 Self-report

Self-report involves giving report based on one’s judgment and attitudes on facts given in the questionnaire presented by the interviewer. When making decisions on budgets, interviewers create a list of questions and ask people for their opinions, which represent their preferences about different options.

However, in self-report, the answers can change over time and the opinions may not stay the same.

9.2 Likert Scale

Developed by Likert in 1932, this scale helps to understand how strongly we agree or disagree with different statements by choosing options from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree.” It is often used in psychology questionnaires to measure our attitudes and opinions. It can have different levels, ranging from 1 to 5 or 1 to 7, depending on how many options are required to show the intensity of agreement or disagreement.

Scoring on the disagree-agree scale can range as follows:

1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Tend to disagree
4. Neither disagree nor agree
5. Tend to agree
6. Agree
7. Strongly agree

Rating on 1 to 5 scale can be:

1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Undecided
4. Agree
5. Strongly agree

In the extended Likert scale, the options can range from 1 to 9. In the middle, we have the option “Undecided,” which means neither agree nor disagree strongly. As one moves towards the lower end, there are options for “Strongly Disagree,” “Disagree,” and “Somewhat Disagree” and towards the higher end, there are options for “Somewhat Agree,” “Agree,” and “Strongly Agree” to show that one likes or agrees with the statement.

The respondent gets a set of statements to respond to. They read each statement and choose the number on the scale that matches how much they agree or disagree with each statement.

To measure the attitude of the respondent, their ratings for each statement are added to get a final score that shows their overall attitude towards the subject. It is, therefore, also called a “summated scale”.

The following scale represents a 5-items Likert scale that estimates how much a person is satisfied with his job. The respondent declares whether he agrees or disagrees with each item which together define self-esteem a person has on the job.

Rate how strongly you agree or disagree with these statements about your job by marking the box that best matches your feelings:

Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Undecided	Agree	Strongly Agree
					I enjoy working on this job.
					I have good relationships with my co-workers.
					I have friendly relationship with my bosses.
					I can handle stressful situations at work.
					My colleagues like working with me.

When using the Likert scale, instead of marking an “X” in the box, a number can be assigned to each response category. For example, values like 1 for “Strongly Disagree,” 2 for “Disagree,” 3 for “Undecided,” 4 for “Agree,” and 5 for “Strongly Agree” can be used.

Adding up all the scores for the items the respondent has answered, total numerical score shows how favourable or unfavourable the respondent’s attitude is towards the subject.

A high total score means the person has positive attitude because they mostly agree or strongly agree with the statements. A low total score means the person has negative attitude because they mostly disagree or strongly disagree with the statements.

9.3 Osgood’s Scale

Developed by Osgood and his colleagues in 1957, the semantic differential scale measures attitudes towards different things, like objects, events, or concepts. It is a 7-point rating scale that consists of pairs of adjectives that have opposite meaning. The important attributes of semantic differential are the bipolar adjectives on a 7-point scale. The manager selects these adjectives based on what they are studying. For example, if they are studying how people feel about a particular job, they might choose adjectives like “enjoyable” and “boring” to measure the attitudes.

The respondent answers the questions by marking a number on the rating scale that best represents his feelings. Moving from 1 to 7, the differences on the scale show how the meaning changes. For example, if someone chooses a number 7 for “happy” and a lower number like 2 or 3 for “sad,” it means he has positive attitude towards the subject. The total score represents his attitude towards the subject. High score shows positive attitude, and low score shows negative attitude.

The following semantic differential shows the attributes that most accurately represent a person’s judgment about the nature of employees:

	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Strong								Weak
Friendly								Unfriendly
Kind								Unkind
Up to date								Outmoded
Gentle								Rough
Thoughtful								Thoughtless
Good-natured								Ill-tempered
Cheerful								Dull

9.4 Sociometry

Jacob L. Moreno, a psychotherapist, developed this technique to understand how social structures (the way people interact and connect with each other) affect a person’s psychological well-being (how they feel and think). It is

“enquiry into the evolution and organisation of groups and the positions of individuals within them.”

People differ in their official and personal relationships. Sociometry considers actual constitution of the group and behaviour of members before proposing a social programme.

For a specific activity, A is asked to choose his most preferred partner. Similar preference is given to the next partner and so on. If A wants B to be with A, C to be with B, D to be with C and so on, it shows emotional attitude of attachment of people with each other. If B, C and D all want to work with A, it shows popularity of A.