Read this article to learn about the meaning, nature, components and types of attitudes !
Meaning and Nature:
Attitudes are fundamental determinants of our perceptions of, and actions toward all aspects of our social environment. Attitudes involve a complex organisation of evaluative beliefs, feelings and tendencies toward certain actions.
How much we like or dislike something determines our behaviour towards that thing. We tend to approach, seek out or be associated with things we like; we avoid, shun or reject things we do not like.
Attitudes are simply expressions of much we like or dislike various things. Attitudes represent our evaluations, preferences or rejections based on the information we receive. Attitude may be defined as ‘an enduring predisposition or readiness to react or behave in a particular manner to a given object or situation, idea, material or person’.
It is a generalized tendency to think or act in a certain way in respect of some object or situation, often accompanied by feeling.
Attitude will have three components:
1. Cognitive:
It involves the knowledge or information about a person or object, etc., and his belief about it.
2. Affective:
Refers to feeling aspect, i.e. how he feels about it
3. Conative:
Refers to action tendency, i.e. how he behaves with it
Types of Attitudes:
Attitudes are of three types:
a. Positive:
A favourable attitude—liking people, objects, situation, etc.
b. Negative:
An unfavourable attitude—does not like people/ objects, etc.
c. Neutral:
Neither favourable nor unfavourable.