ATTITUDE AND VALUES

A positive or negative evaluation of an object. A manner showing one’s feeling or thoughts. WHAT IS ATTITUDE?

Formation of attitudes 1.Direct experience with the object- e.g. if everyone who has held a job has been promoted within six months, current job holders are likely to believe that they will be promoted within six months. 2.Learning- creating a classical conditioned response. 3.Family and Peer Group

Explicit Vs. Implicit Attitudes Once we have developed an attitude (an orientation to some object), this attitude can exist in a number of states: 1. Explicit attitudes: – The evaluations we consciously express. 2. Implicit attitudes: – Involuntary responses to the attitude object

1. An explicit attitude is an expressed positive or negative evaluation. For example, you might have a positive explicit attitude about your favourite musical group. That attitude is revealed when you tell your friends about the “mind-blowing concert” you enjoyed last evening or the group’s latest “inspiring and ground-breaking” CD. Example 2. An implicit attitude is one that can influence other objects.For example, when you have a positive attitude toward a person, you are likely to have a positive attitude about the products that person recommends.

Components of Attitude Affective COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE Cognitive Behavioural What a person knows about the situation How the person feels about it How the person reacts People build up attitudes which fit their needs and values as they perceive them to be

1. Cognitive (based on beliefs and values) - My manager is unfair 2. Affective (based on feelings and emotions) - I don’t like my manager 3. Behaviour (based on intended behaviour) - I am going to request a transfer Example

Work Attitudes Collections of feelings, beliefs, and thoughts about how to behave that people currently hold about their jobs and organizations Job Satisfaction Organizational Commitment

Attitudes and Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction: a set of attitudes toward work. High Job Satisfaction Low Job Satisfaction Lower absenteeism Absenteeism increases Less turnover Greater turnover Job dedication Slowdowns and strikes Good organizational performance Low performance

Organizational Commitment Affective commitment Affective commitment exists when workers are happy to be members of an organization, believe in and feel good about the organization and what it stands for, are attached to the organization, and intend to do what is good for the organization. Continuance commitment Continuance commitment exists when workers are committed not so much because they want to be but because they have to be; the costs of leaving the organization are too great.

How to change Employee Attitudes Give employees feedback. Accentuate positive conditions. Provide consequences. Be a positive role model.

Attitude function 1. Utilitarian function - Helps person to achieve rewards and gain approval from others 2. Knowledge function - Attitudes can be used as a “frame of reference” for organizing the world so that it makes sense. For example, we perceive knowledge that contradicts our views with suspicion, thus forming a negative impression of that source of information Attitudes will fluctuate in order to serve our current needs. Four major functions:

3. Ego-defensive function - Helps to cope with emotional conflicts and protect and enhance one’s self-esteem. -E.g., one’s job not going well, can blame colleagues or his boss, this negative orientation towards the people he or she blames protects one from acknowledging painful truths. 4. Value-expressive function - Help to express central values and core aspects of self-concept. - For example, if you are a person who firmly believes in fair treatment and equality towards others, you’ll most likely have a positive attitude towards particular political parties and a negative attitude towards others.

 The Nature of Values One’s personal convictions about what one should strive for in life and how one should behave.  Where do values come from? Values are built from our life experiences: what we learned at home, in school, at work, and anywhere we have spent time. Politics, religion and culture can affect our values. Those closest to us often influence our values, whether they try to do so or not. Values

–Values are seen as more fundamental than attitudes and are more stable and long lasting.

Values Terminal - values that represent the goals to be achieved, or the end states of existence Examples: honesty, politeness, courage Examples: happiness, prosperity Instrumental - values that represent the acceptable behaviors to be used in achieving some end state