Attitude can also be described as the way we evaluate something or someone.
For example, we tend to respond positively or negatively about certain subjects.
They are formed as a result of our life experiences, upbringing, education, and social influences.
Illustration by JR Bee, Verywell
Our positive and negative attitudes can have a powerful influence on our behavior in various situations.
While attitudes are often enduring, they can also change.
Read on to discover more about the formation of attitudes and what factors are required for achange of heart.
Attitudes are an important topic of study within the field ofsocial psychology.
But what exactly is an attitude?
How does it develop?
This can include an evaluation of people, issues, objects, policies, or events.
Such dispositions are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain or neutral at times.
For example, you might have mixed feelings about a particular person or issue.
3 Components of Attitude
Attitudes can also be explicit and implicit.
On the other hand, you may have an unpleasant encounter that influences an unfavorable attitude.
Learning
Attitudes can be learned in a variety of ways.
Social and Cultural Factors
Social roles and cultural norms can have a strong influence on attitudes.
Social roles relate to how people are expected to behave in a particular role or context.
Cultural norms involve society’s rules for what behaviors are considered appropriate.
Attitudes Impact on Behavior
We tend to assume that people behave according to their attitudes.
However, social psychologists have found that attitudes and actual behavior are not always perfectly aligned.
After all, plenty of people support a particular candidate or political party yet fail to vote.
The same influences that lead to attitude formation can also create attitude change.
Elaboration Likelihood Theory
This theoryofpersuasionsuggests that people can alter their attitudes in two ways.
Messages that are thought-provoking and that appeal to logic are more likely to lead to permanent changes in attitudes.
You have two options to reduce the tension due to conflicting beliefs and behavior.
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