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1. SCHOOL OF
ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (PSY 30203)
NAME: LOH MUN TONG
STUDENT ID: 0323680
WORD COUNT: 915
ASSIGNMENT 1: INDIVIDUAL JOURNAL 5
LECTURER: SIR SHANKAR THIRUCHELVAM
SUBMISSION DATE: 30 NOVEMBER 2015
LOH MUN TONG I FNBE MARCH 2015 l SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (PSY 30203) l INDIVIDUAL JOURNAL 5

2. November 11, 2015 8.00pm
My family and I had a conversation on the topic of whether teenagers should be
given more freedom. After the stalemated discussion, there is no valid conclusion
but however I’ve discover that different people have different point of view and
attitude towards this topic.
Different people have a different tendency to evaluate a person, object, or idea with
some degree of approval and disapproval. Attitudes are indeed present in every
person, and they are part of who we are. Our attitudes are shaped by our
experiences, and as we experience more, our attitudes can change.
In the 1960, Rosenberg and Hovland regard attitude as a predisposition to some
class of stimuli with affective, behavioral and cognitive responses. Attitudes structure
can be described in terms of three components which are the affective, behavioral
and cognitive components. This model is known as the ABC model attitudes.
The affective component is the emotional based component where it refers to an
attitude where feelings or emotions linked to an object. Typically these come to light
in generalities or stereotypes. Taking from the example above, my father thought
that teenagers should focus more on studies instead of spending too much time on
outdoor activities and hanging around friends.
Hence, my father would restrict me and my sister from going out besides going for
tuition or study in library. This leads to the next component known as the behavioral
component. The behavioral component of attitudes refers to past behaviours or
experiences regarding an attitude object. It is an action based component.
There is also another component known as the cognitive component where it
involves a person’s belief or knowledge about an attitude object. For example, my
father believes that gaining knowledge in leisure time is better than wasting time on
outdoor activities and gathering with friends.
Interestingly, an attitude can actually exist at two different levels. They are explicit
and implicit attitudes. Explicit attitudes are attitudes that are at the conscious level,
they are deliberately formed and are easy to self-report. On the other hand, implicit
attitudes are attitudes that are at the unconscious level, they are involuntarily
formed and are typically unknown to us. For example, when Lily is out with some
friends and meets someone new. Her new acquaintance is wearing a Dallas Cowboys
jersey, and they happen to be Lily’s favourite team. Lily decided that she already like
the person and start to have a friendly conversation. From an attitude perspective,
Lily consciously noticed the jersey and determined that this was obviously someone
with which she would get along. Lily’s attitude is at the conscious level, it was
deliberately formed and Lily is able to tell someone else about her attitude.

3. Now, from the same scene again where Lily is out with her friends. She vaguely
notices some of the strangers around her but however don't meet anyone. She talk
to her friends but feel extremely uncomfortable. Maybe her friends even notice and
ask what's wrong, but she has no idea. In this scenario, it would be possible that one
of the strangers near Lily reminds her of someone from her past that she greatly
disliked. Lily’s attitude towards this person is what is making her feel uncomfortable.
However, the attitude is at the unconscious level, it was involuntarily formed, and
she has no idea it's there, so she couldn't tell anyone about it.
An individual can measure his or her implicit attitudes through Implicit-association
test (IAT). The IAT examines the strength between the target concept and an
attribute element by considering the latency in which a person can examine two
response keys when each has two meanings. With little time to carefully examine
what the participant is doing they respond according to internal keys. This priming
can show attitudes the person has about a particular object. This test is effective as
people are often unwilling to provide responses perceived as socially undesirable and
therefore tend to report what they think their attitudes should be rather than what
they know them to be. More complicated still, people may not even be consciously
aware that they hold biased attitudes.
Do attitudes influence behavior? What do you think? Attitudes can positively or
negatively affect a person's behavior. A person may not always be aware of his or her
attitude or the effect it is having on behavior. For instance, a person who has
positive attitudes towards work and co-workers can positively influence those
around them. These positive attitudes are usually manifested in a person's behavior.
It is proven that people with a good attitude are active and productive and also able
to improve the mood of those around them. In much the same way, a person who
displays negative attitudes, will behave accordingly. People with these types of
attitudes towards work may likewise affect those around them and behave in a
manner that reduces efficiency and effectiveness.
There is also a saying where optimistic attitudes improve immune functioning. Few
outcomes are more important than staying alive, and optimism is linked to life
longevity. Researchers focused on lung cancer patients and discovered that those
who exhibited an optimistic disposition experienced more favourable outcomes than
those with a pessimistic disposition. In addition, optimism could have an effect on a
person’s immune system as well. A study is conducted to measure the immune
response of the adults who were immunized by influenza. As a result, it is proven
that greater optimism predicted greater antibody production and better immune
outcomes.