This document discusses the concept of attitude. It defines attitude as a learned mental state that influences a person's behavior and reactions. Attitudes are formed through learning from parents, peers, media and experiences. They guide behavior in certain directions. While attitudes can be long-lasting, they are not innate and can change through new information and experiences. The document also examines how attitudes are formed, their effects on behavior, and factors that can influence attitudinal change.

1. ATTITUDE
BY PIYUSH
BSC (HONS.) NURSING STUDENT

2. INTRODUCTION
– Attitude is a specific mental state of an individual
towards something according to which his behavior
towards it is molded.
– Attitude is a way we perceive, think, feel and react more
or less permanently in relation to something.

3. DEFINITION
– An attitude can be defined as an enduring organization of
motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive processes
with respect to some aspect of the individual’s world.
– An attitude may be defined as a learned and more or less
generalized and an effective tendency or predisposition to
respond in a manner rather persistent and characteristic
manner, usually positively or negatively of such objects or
person or group of persons.

4. NATURE OF ATTITUDE
– ATTITUDES ARE NOT INNATE: Attitudes are formed or learnt by
individual.
– ATTITUDES ARE MORE OR LESS LASTING: Attitudes are enduring.
– ATTITUDES IMPLY A SUBJECT-OBJECT RELATIONSHIP: Attitudes are
always formed in relation to certain persons, groups or institutions.
– ATTITUDES ARE RELATED TO IMAGES, THOUGHTS AND EXTERNAL
OBJECTS.
– ATTITUDES GUIDE THE BEHAVIOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN ONE
PARTICULAR DIRECTION.

5. – Various kinds of affective experiences are also attached
to attitudes.
– The unconscious motive is an important factor in the
creation of attitudes. Sometimes even the individual
himself is unaware of the motive for his attitude towards
a particular person or object because it is in his
unconscious.
– Attitudes are related to the person’s needs and
problems.

6. FORMATION AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ATTITUDE
– Hereditary may play only a very small part in the development of
attitude. It is mainly the environmental factors that are
responsible development of attitudes. These are parents, peers,
school, our norms, motives etc.
– Attitudes are formed in the context of the individual’s wants,
information, group affiliation and responsibility development.
– Family is the first place for formation of attitudes. Parents are
exceedingly important in the formation of attitudes. They control
rewards and punishments. It is the parents who establish the
initial categories of good and bad.

7. – Group affiliations help in the formation of individual’s attitudes. The peer group is very
important source of attitude formation. Especially the young people learn the attitudes of
their peer group in order to be accepted by them.
– Attitudes are also influenced by mass media, e.g. newspapers, journals, books, movies,
etc.
– Many of our attitudes are acquired by us as a result of the pressure from others or may
be the outcome of some experience.
– Attitudes may be formed as a result of learning. This is the process of growing up and
learning.
– Attitudes may also be formed as a result of experiences. Experiences become more
distinct and patterned as we grow up.
– We may also develop attitudes through a single traumatic experience. Molested children
may feel bad when given something that reminds them of the person who molested
them.
– Attitudes may be formed through imitation.

8. EFFECTS OF ATTITUDE ON
BEHAVIOR
– Attitudes are motivating forces behind man’s social behavior.
– Attitudes also influence the individual’s abnormal behavior.
– An individual not only formulates attitudes towards external objects,
but also possess attitudes about himself.
– Attitudes are our expressions of the likes and dislikes towards the
people and the objects.
– An individual’s entire personality structure and behavior may be
thought of as organized around a central value system comprised of
many related attitudes.

9. – In general, attitudes have been found to predict
behavior best when:
• They are strong and consistent.
• They are specifically related to the behavior being
predicted.
• They are based on the person’s direct experience.
• The individual is aware of his or her attitudes.

10. ATTITUDINAL CHANGE
– It is necessary to modify unhealthy or irrational attitudes for
learning new things. In order to change attitudes we should:
 Change perceptions by new experiences and factual
knowledge. Provide information to the person concerned
who has a negative attitude towards the object/ person.
 The group support for the change should be obtained.
 Provide an opportunity for much closer contact with the
object/ person concerned.

11. HEALTH EDUCATION AND
ATTITUDE CHANGE
– Health education means imparting knowledge and information in order to
achieve and maintain health.
– Teaching helps the patient to cope with disease.
– Very often attitudes interfere with health and well- being of the patient.
– The initial step of the health education is to eradicate negative attitudes
that the person may hold toward himself, his illness and future life.
– Through health education cognitive component of an attitude is altered
leading to emotional component being altered parallel.

12. FACTORS AFFECTING
ATTITUDINAL CHANGE
– COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: It is a state of unpleasant psychological tension that motivates
us to reduce our cognitive inconsistencies by making our beliefs more consistent with
each other
– COUNTER ATTITUDINAL ADVOCACY: A process by which individuals are induced to state
publicly an opinion or attitude that runs counter to their private attitudes.
– SELF PERCEPTION THEORY: It says that first we observe and perceive our own behavior
and then change our attitude.
although these dissonance techniques are powerful they are difficult to carry out on a
mass scale.
In order to change as many people’s attitudes as possible one can use persuasive
communication.