Attitudes

The essentials

An attitude is a state of mind, a set of views or thoughts regarding some topic (the attitude object), which have an evaluative feature (positive, negative or neutral). Attitudes have three components, the A-B-C: affective (emotional), behavioural (tendency to act) and cognitive (thoughts and beliefs). Related concepts are beliefs (cognitive component that forms the basis of attitudes), values (attitudes or beliefs containing a "should" aspect) and opinions.

Key points

• Features of attitudes: valence (positive or negative), extremeness (how strongly positive or negative), simplicity or complexity (number of attitudes within a broader attitude), and centrality (role of the attitude in the attitude system).
• Formation: learning through association, through rewards and punishment, through modelling (observing others), through group or cultural norms, and through exposure to information.
• Factors influencing formation: family and school, reference groups, personal experiences and media.
• Balance theory (Fritz Heider): the P-O-X triangle (person, other person, object); imbalance produces pressure to change an attitude.
• Cognitive dissonance (Leon Festinger): when two cognitions are inconsistent, one is changed to reduce discomfort.
• Two-step concept (S.M. Mohsin): first, the target identifies with the source; second, the source shows an attitude change, which the target then imitates.
• Factors in attitude change: source (credibility, attractiveness), message (rational or emotional appeal, amount of information, mode of spreading) and target (persuasibility, strong prejudices, self-esteem, intelligence).
• Attitude and behaviour are not always consistent; behaviour matches attitude more when the attitude is strong, central, the person is aware of it and there is little external pressure.

Common mistakes

• The behavioural component is a tendency to act, not necessarily actual action.
• Balance theory needs three elements; dissonance theory needs two conflicting cognitions.