MODULE 4 BUILDING POSITIVE ATTITUDE

What is Attitude? An attitude is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation of an object that is expressed at some level of intensity. Our attitude can vary in strength along both positive affect, and with negative affect, with ambivalence or with apathy and indifference. It usually implies feelings that are either positive or negative. According to Gordon Allport “An attitude is a mental and neural stale of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to ill objects and situations with which it is related.”

Nature of Attitude Attitude are a complex combination of things we tend to call personality, beliefs, values, behaviors, and motivations. An attitude exists in every person’s mind. It helps to define our identity, guide our actions, and influence how we judge people. Although the feeling and belief components of attitude are internal to a person, we can view a person’s attitude from his or her resulting behavior. Attitude helps us define how we see situations, as well as define how we behave toward the situation or object. Attitude provides us with internal cognitions or beliefs and thoughts about people and objects. Attitude cause us to behave in a particular way toward an object or person.

Characteristics of Attitude Attitude can be characterized by: Affective Cognitive consistency: The degree of consistency between the affective and cognitive components influences the attitude—behavior relationship. That is, the greater the consistency between cognition and evaluation, the greater the strength of the attitude-behavior relation Strength: Attitudes based on direct experience with the object may be held with greater certainty. Certainty is also influenced by whether affect or cognition was involved in the creation of the attitude. Attitudes formed based on affect are more certain than attitudes based on cognition

Contd...... Valence: It refers to the degree or grade of likeliness or unlikeliness toward the entity/incident. If a person is fairly unconcerned toward an object then his attitude has low valence. Direct Experience:An attitude is a summary of a person’s past experience; thus, an attitude is grounded in direct experience predicts future behavior more accurately. Moreover, direct experience makes more information available about the object itself. Multiplicity: It refers to the amount of features creating the attitude. For example, one may show interest in becoming a doctor, but another not only shows interest, but also works hard, is sincere, and serious.

Contd.... Relation to Needs: Attitudes vary in relative to requirements they serve. Attitudes of an individual toward the pictures serve only entertainment needs, but attitudes of an employee toward task may serve strong needs for security, achievement, recognition, and satisfaction.

Components of Attitude Cognitive: This represents our thoughts, beliefs and ideas about something. Typically these come to light in generalities or stereotypes, such as 'all teenagers are lazy,' or 'all babies are cute.' Affective: This component deals with feelings or emotions that are brought to the surface about something, such as fear or hate. Using our above example, someone might have the attitude that they hate teenagers because they are lazy or that they love all babies because they are cute. Conative: This can also be called the behavioral component and centers on individuals acting a certain way towards something, such as 'we better keep those lazy teenagers out of the library,' or 'I cannot wait to kiss that baby.'

Contd......... Each one of these components is very different from the other, and they can build upon one another to form our attitudes and, therefore, affect how we relate to the world. For example, we can believe teenagers are lazy (cognitive), we do not have to hate the teenagers for being lazy (affective), but we could still try to keep them out of the library because of that fact (conative). Or, we could indeed believe they are all lazy (cognitive), hate them for it (affective) and that would drive our behavior towards them (conative).

Types of Attitude The term 'attitude' refers to an individual's mental state, which is based on his/her beliefs or value system, emotions, and the tendency to act in a certain way. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. ― Winston Churchill There are three types of people so there are three types of attitudes: positive attitude, negative attitude, and neutral attitude.

Positive Attitude Individuals who have a positive attitude will pay attention to the good, rather than bad in people, situations, events, etc. They will not consider a mistake or failure as a hurdle, but as an opportunity. They learn from mistakes, and move forward in life. The personality traits of such individuals include: ➠ Confidence ➠ Optimism ➠ Cheerfulness/Happiness ➠ Sincerity ➠ Sense of responsibility ➠ Flexibility ➠ Determination ➠ Reliability ➠ Tolerance ➠ Willingness to adapt ➠ Humility ➠ Diligence

Negative Attitude On the other hand, people with a negative attitude ignore the good, and pay attention to the bad in people, situations, events, etc. Also, they are likely to complain about changes, rather than adapting to the changing environment. Also, they might blame their failure on others. They might experience: ➠ Anger ➠ Hatred ➠ Pessimism ➠ Frustration ➠ Doubt ➠ Resentment ➠ Jealousy ➠ Inferiority

Neutral Attitude People with a neutral attitude don't give enough importance to situations or events. They ignore the problem, leaving it for someone else to solve. Also, they don't feel the need to change. Their traits include: ➠ Complacence ➠ Indifference ➠ Detachment ➠ Feeling of being disconnected ➠ Unemotional