This document defines attitude as a learned mental state influencing behavior, detailing its components: affective, cognitive, and behavioral. It discusses how attitudes are formed through various mechanisms, including direct experience, conditioning, vicarious learning, and social influences such as family, peers, and economic status. Additionally, it highlights the benefits of positive attitudes, functions of attitude, methods for changing attitudes, and approaches to measuring them.

1. ATTITUDE

2. Definition:
“An attitude is mental
state of readiness
, learned and organized
through experience
, exerting a specific
influence on person’s

4. Components Of Attitudes:
 An affective component.
 A cognitive element.
 A behavioral component.

5. FORMATION OF ATTITUDE:
 Direct experience with the object.
 Classical conditioning and Attitudes.
 Operant conditioning and Attitude acquisition.
 Vicarious learning.
 Family and Peer Groups.
 Neighbourhood.
 Economic Status and Occupations.
 Mass Communications.

6. Direct experience with the Object.
Attitudes formed
through direct
behavioural experience
with an attitude object
have been found to
better predict later
behaviour than attitudes
formed through indirect
experience.

7. Classical conditioning and Attitude.
Experiment indicate that
affect can influence
attitudes even in the absence
of product beliefs and also
suggest that affect plays as
important or more important
a role experiments, using
established conditioning
procedures, assessed the
impact of affect on attitude
formation.

8. Operant conditioning and Attitude acquisition.
Attitudes are acquired rather
than inborn , complex
attitudes are probably
formed through operant
conditioning, as an
individual is reinforced for
holding and voicing certain
attitudes.

9. Vicarious learning.
Vicarious learning is also
known as observational
learning. It is a process in
which an individual
observes another
individual's behaviour and
its aftermath. If the outcome
is positive, the individual is
likely to imitate that
behaviour. This form of
learning encourages
awareness of surroundings
and teaches the individual
the basics of social
interaction.

10. Family and Peer Group.
Peer pressure refers to the
influence exerted by a peer
group in encouraging a
person to change his or her
attitude or behaviour in
order to conform to group
norms.

11. Neighbourhood.
The neighborhood we live in
has a certain structure in
terms of it having cultural
facilities, religious
groupings, and possibly
ethnic differences.
Further, we accept these
moves and conform, or we
deny them and possibly
rebel. The conformity or
rebellion in some respects is
the attitudes we hold.

12. Economic Status and Occupations.
Our economic and
occupational positions also
contributes to attitudes
formation. They
determine, in part, our
attitudes towards unions and
management and our belief
that certain laws are “good”
or “bad” . Our socio-
economic background
influences our present and
future attitudes.

13. Mass Communication.
All varieties of mass
communications –
television , radio
, newspapers , and
magazines- feed their
audiences large quantities of
information. The
presentation of news or
information is constructed
so as to cater to the attitude
of the audience.

14. Benefits of Positive Attitude.
 Increase productivity.
 Fosters teamwork.
 Solves problems.
 Improves quality.
 Makes for congenial atmosphere.
 Breeds loyalty.
 Increase profits.
 Fosters better relationship with the employers, employees and
customers.
 Reduces stress.
 Makes for a pleasing personality.

15. Functions of Attitude.
Adjustment Ego Defensive
ATTITUDE
Knowledge Value Expression

16. Changing Attitude.
 Escalation of commitment.
 Cognitive dissonance.
 Insufficient information.

17. Ways of changing of Attitude.
Changing attitude Changing attitude
of self. of employees.

18. Changing attitude of self.
 Be aware of one’s attitude.
 Think for self.
 Realize that there are few , if any, benefits from
harboring negative attitude.
 Keep an open mind.
 Built a positive self esteem.
 Stay away from negative influence.

19. Changing Attitude of Employees
 Give feedback.
 Accentuated positive conditions.
 Positive role model.
 Providing new information.
 Use of fear.
 Influence of friends or press.
 The co-opting approach
 Others.

20. Attitude measurement.
 Rating scales.
 Critical Incidents.
 Interviews.
 Action Tendencies
 Likert scale.

21. Response to Job Dissatisfaction.
Active
exit voice
Destructive Constructive
neglect loyalty
Passive