Grade 12

PSYCHOLOGY

CHAPTER 6: ATTITUDE
(Batch:2020-21)

RITU SAXENA
MERIDIAN SCHOOL, MADHAPUR, HYDERABAD
Attitude

▪Attitudes- how they are formed

and changed

▪ Analyse how people interpret

and explain the behaviour of
others
Explaining Social Behaviour
Social Psychology is that branch of
Psychology which investigates how the
behaviour of individuals is affected by
others and the social environment

Because of Social influences people form

Attitudes or ways of thinking about specific
topics and people

Attitudes- Form views about people, and

about different issues in life, that exist in
the form of behavioural tendencies
Explaining Social Behaviour
Impression formation: When we meet people, we make
inferences about their personal qualities

Attribution: Interested in why people behave in the

ways they do, we assign causes to the behaviour shown
in specific social situations

Often Impression formation and Attributions are

influenced by Attitudes.

These three processes are examples of mental activities

related to the gathering and interpretation of information
about the social world, collectively called Social
Cognition
Explaining Social Behaviour
Social Cognition is activated by cognitive units called
schemas

Schemas: A mental structure that guides social and

other cognition

Cognitive processes cannot be directly seen; they have

to be inferred on the basis of externally shown
behaviour
Examples of social influence on observable behaviour:
Social Facilitation/ Inhibition-
Improvement/decline in performance in the presence of
others, and helping, or pro-social behaviour, i.e.
responding to others who are in need or distress
Explaining Social Behaviour

Through systematic and objective

observations, and by adopting scientific
methods, it is possible to establish
logical cause-and-effect relationships
that explain social behaviour
NATURE AND COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES

Opinions:
▪May be only moderately important to
you
▪They are simply ways of thinking
▪It does not matter much to you that
others agree or disagree with your
views
NATURE AND COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
Attitudes:
Attitude is a state of the mind, a set of views, or thoughts,
regarding some topic, which have an evaluative feature. It is
accompanied by an emotional component, and a tendency to
act in a particular way with regard to the attitude object.
The thought component is referred to as the cognitive aspect,
the emotional component is known as the affective aspect, and
the tendency to act is called the behavioural (or conative)
aspect.

These three aspects have been referred to as the A-B-C

components (Affective-Behavioural Cognitive components) of
attitude

Attitudes are not behaviour, but they represent a tendency to

behave or act in certain ways
NATURE AND COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES

Beliefs:
The cognitive component of attitudes
Form the ground on which attitudes
stand
Example: belief in God, or belief in
democracy as a political ideology
Values:
Are attitudes or beliefs that contain
a ‘should’ or ‘ought’ aspect, such as
moral or ethical values
Example: one should work hard, or
that one should always be honest
NATURE AND COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
What is the purpose served by an attitude?
Attitudes provide a background that makes it easier for a
person to decide how to act in new situations.

Four significant features of attitudes are :

▪Valence
▪Extremeness
▪Simplicity or Complexity
▪Centrality
NATURE AND COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
Valence: The valence of an attitude tells us
whether an attitude is positive or negative
towards the attitude object
Valence is the affective quality referring to the
intrinsic attractiveness/"good"-ness (positive
valence) or averseness/"bad"-ness (negative
valence) of an event, object, or situation.
The term also characterizes and categorizes
specific emotions.
For example, emotions popularly referred to as
"negative", such as anger and fear, have
negative valence. Joy has positive valence.
Positively valenced emotions are evoked by
positively valenced events, objects, or
situations.
NATURE AND COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
Extremeness : The extremeness of an attitude
indicates how positive or negative an attitude is

Simplicity or Complexity (multiplexity) : This

feature refers to how many attitudes there are within
a broader attitude
An attitude system is said to be ‘simple’ if it contains
only one or a few attitudes, and ‘complex’ if it is made
up of many attitudes
Example: Attitude of a student towards his tutor is
simple but towards his parent is complex
NATURE AND COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
Centrality : This refers to the role of a particular
attitude in the attitude system.
An attitude with greater centrality would influence
the other attitudes in the system much more than
non-central (or peripheral) attitudes would
Example: An army officer’s attitude toward his
country has a high degree of centrality and that
officer would be highly resistant to antipatriotic
propaganda. However, his attitude toward a brand
of toothpaste has a low centrality and would be
much less resistant to change
ATTITUDE FORMATION AND CHANGE
How are attitudes formed?
Like many other thoughts and concepts that
develop and become part of our cognitive system,
attitudes towards different topics, things and people
also are formed as we interact with others
Attitudes are learned
◦ through one’s own experiences
◦ through interaction with others
There are some sort of inborn aspect of attitudes,
but such genetic factors influence attitudes only
indirectly
ATTITUDE FORMATION
Process of Attitude Formation
1. Learning attitudes by association
2. Learning attitudes by being rewarded or
punished
3. Learning attitudes through modelling (observing
others)
4. Learning attitudes through group or cultural
norms
5. Learning through exposure to information
ATTITUDE FORMATION
Factors that Influence
Attitude Formation
1. Family and School Environment
2. Reference Groups
3. Personal Experiences
4. Media-related Influences
ATTITUDE CHANGE
Attitude Change
Some attitudes change more than others do.
Attitudes that are still in the formative stage, and
are more like opinions, are much more likely to
change compared to attitudes that have become
firmly established, and have become a part of the
individual’s values
Change in people’s attitudes is of interest to
community leaders, politicians, producers of
consumer goods, advertisers
PROCESS OF ATTITUDE CHANGE
1. The concept of balance, proposed by Fritz Heider is sometimes
described in the form of the ‘P-O-X’ triangle, which represents the
relationships between three aspects or components of the attitude.

P is the person whose attitude is being studied, O is another person, and

X is the topic towards which the attitude is being studied (attitude
object). It is also possible that all three are persons

Determining if the triad is balanced is simple math:

Imbalance is found when

(i) all three sides of the P-O-X triangle are negative, or
(ii) two sides are positive, and one side is negative.
+ + + = + Balanced
Balance is found when − + − = + Balanced
(i) all three sides are positive, or − + + = − Unbalanced
(ii) two sides are negative, and one side is positive
This Photo by Unknown
Author is licensed under CC
BY-SA
PROCESS OF ATTITUDE CHANGE

2. The concept of cognitive dissonance - proposed by

Leon Festinger
Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory suggests
that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and
behavior in harmony and avoid disharmony or
dissonance. This is known as the principle of cognitive
consistency
Cognitive consistency means that two components,
aspects or elements of the attitude, or attitude system,
must be in the same direction
When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or
behaviors (dissonance), something must change to
eliminate the dissonance
PROCESS OF ATTITUDE CHANGE
The concept of cognitive dissonance - Leon Festinger

It emphasises the cognitive component

The cognitive components of an attitude must be ‘consonant’ -they should be

logically in line with each other

If an individual finds that two cognitions in an attitude are dissonant, then one of
them will be changed in the direction of consonance

Example: eating Pan Masala

What causes cognitive dissonance?

◦ Forced Compliance Behaviour (Telling a Lie for $20)
◦ Decision Making
◦ Effort

Dissonance can be reduced in one of three ways:

◦ changing existing beliefs
◦ adding new beliefs, or
◦ reducing the importance of the beliefs
PROCESS OF ATTITUDE CHANGE
3. The two-step concept - S.M. Mohsin First Step
Attitude change takes place in the form of two steps
Regard &
First step- the target of change identifies with the source Trust &
Mutual
Respect
The ‘target’ is the person whose attitude is to be changed. Affection
The ‘source’ is the person through whose influence the
change is to take place Second Step
Identification means that the target has liking and regard
for the source. The source must also have a positive attitude Shows Attitude Shows Attitude
towards the target Change Towards
the Object
Change through
Behaviour

Second step- the source herself/himself shows an attitude

change, by actually changing her/his behaviour towards the
attitude object. Example: Celebrity endorsments
ATTITUDE CHANGE:
Factors that Influence Attitude Change

1. Characteristics of the existing attitude:

◦ Valence, extremeness, simplicity/complexity,
centrality
◦ Direction and extent of attitude change
◦ An attitude change may be congruent — it may
change in the same direction as the existing attitude
(i.e. a positive attitude may become more positive, or
a negative attitude may become more negative
◦ An attitude change may be incongruent — it may
change in a direction opposite to the existing attitude
(i.e. a positive attitude becomes less positive, or
negative, or a negative attitude becomes less negative
or positive
◦ Generally congruent changes are easier to bring
about than are the incongruent changes in attitudes
 Factors that Influence Attitude Change

2. Source characteristics- Source credibility and attractiveness

3. Message characteristics - contains a rational or an emotional appeal, motives and mode

4. Target characteristics - persuasibility, strong prejudices, self-esteem, and intelligence
ATTITUDE -BEHAVIOUR RELATIONSHIP
Expect behaviour to follow logically from attitudes
Individual’s attitudes may not always be exhibited
through behaviour
One’s actual behaviour may be contrary to one’s attitude
towards a particular topic
Consistency between attitudes and behaviour when :
◦ the attitude is strong, and occupies a central place in the attitude
system
◦ the person is aware of her/his attitude
◦ there is very little or no external pressure for the person to
behave in a particular way
◦ the person’s behaviour is not being watched or evaluated by
others
◦ the person thinks that the behaviour would have a positive
consequence, and therefore, intends to engage in that behaviour
PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION
Prejudices - preconceived, usually unfavourable, evaluation of
another person
◦ Prejudices are examples of attitudes towards a particular group
◦ They are usually negative, and in many cases, may be based on stereotypes (the
cognitive component) about the specific group

Stereotype - an over-generalized belief about a particular category

of people
◦ Stereotype is a cluster of ideas regarding the characteristics of a specific group
◦ All members belonging to this group are assumed to possess these
characteristics
◦ Often consist of undesirable characteristics about the target group, and they lead
to negative attitudes or prejudices towards members of specific groups
◦ The cognitive component of prejudice is frequently accompanied by dislike or
hatred the affective component

Discrimination: Prejudice may also get translated into discrimination, the

behavioural component
◦ People behave in a less positive way towards a particular target group compared
to another group which they favour
PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION

Sources of Prejudices :
1. Learning
2. A strong social identity and ingroup bias
3. Scapegoating
4. Kernel of truth concept
5. Self-fulfilling prophecy
PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION
Strategies For Handling Prejudice
The strategies for handling prejudice would be effective if they aim at :
(a) minimising opportunities for learning prejudices,
(b) changing such attitudes,
(c) de-emphasising a narrow social identity based on the ingroup, and
(d) discouraging the tendency towards self-fulfilling prophecy among the
victims of prejudice.

Strategies For Handling Prejudice

These goals can be accomplished through :
1. Education and information dissemination
2. Increasing intergroup contact - allows for direct communication, removal
of mistrust between the groups, and even discovery of positive qualities in
the outgroup
3. Highlighting individual identity rather than group identity-weakening
the importance of group
 Social Cognition and the
remaining chapter is not in
syllabus for 2021Board Exams.
SOCIAL COGNITION
‘Cognition’ refers to all those mental processes that deal with obtaining and
processing of information
Extending this idea to the social world, the term ‘social cognition’ refers to all
those psychological processes that deal with the gathering and processing of
information related to social objects
These include all the processes that help in understanding, explaining and
interpreting social behaviour
The processing of information related to social objects (particularly individuals,
groups, people, relationships, social issues, and the like) differs from the
processing of information related to physical objects
Social cognition is guided by mental units called schemas
SCHEMAS AND STEREOTYPES
A schema is defined as a mental structure that provides a framework, set of
rules or guidelines for processing information about any object
Schemas (or ‘schemata’) are the basic units stored in our memory, and function
as shorthand ways of processing information, thus reducing the time and
mental effort required in cognition
In the case of social cognition, the basic units are social schemas. Some
attitudes may also function like social schemas
SCHEMAS AND STEREOTYPES
Schemas that function in the form of categories are called prototypes, which
are the entire set of features or qualities that help us to define an object
completely
In social cognition, category-based schemas that are related to groups of people
are called stereotypes.
These are category-based schemas that are over-generalised, are not directly
verified, and do not allow for exceptions
IMPRESSION FORMATION AND EXPLAINING
BEHAVIOUR OF OTHERS THROUGH
ATTRIBUTIONS
Every social interaction begins with the formation of an impression about the
person(s) we meet
The person who forms the impression is called the perceiver
The individual about whom the impression is formed is called the target
Attribution - the perceiver explains why the target behaved in a particular way
◦ Attaching or assigning a cause for the target’s behaviour is the main idea in
attribution
IMPRESSION FORMATION AND EXPLAINING
BEHAVIOUR OF OTHERS THROUGH
ATTRIBUTIONS
Impression formation and attribution are influenced by:

◦ the nature of information available to the perceiver

◦ social schemas in the perceiver (including stereotypes)
◦ personality characteristics of the perceiver
◦ situational factors
BEHAVIOUR IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS
Performance on specific tasks is influenced by the mere presence of others - social
facilitation
Better performance in the presence of others is because the person experiences
arousal, which makes the person react in a more intense manner
The arousal is because the person feels she or he is being evaluated. Cottrell called
this idea evaluation apprehension. The person will be praised if the performance
is good (reward), or criticised if it is bad (punishment).
The nature of the task to be performed also affects the performance in the
presence of others.
If the others present are also performing the same task, this is called a situation of
co-action. In this situation, there is social comparison and competition
If we are working together in a group, the larger the group, the less effort each
member puts in. This phenomenon is called social loafing, based on diffusion of
responsibility
PRO-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Doing good to others and being helpful is described as a virtue - This behaviour
is called helping or pro-social behaviour
Prosocial behaviour is very similar to ‘altruism’, which means doing something
for or thinking about the welfare of others without any self-interest (in Latin
‘alter’ means ‘other’, the opposite of ‘ego’ which means ‘self’)
Characteristics of Pro-social behaviour:
◦ aim to benefit or do good to another person or other persons
◦ be done without expecting anything in return
◦ be done willingly by the person, and not because of any kind of pressure
◦ involve some difficulty or ‘cost’ to the person giving help
Factors Influencing Pro-social Behaviour
Pro-social behaviour is based on an inborn, natural tendency in human beings to help other members of their
own species.
◦ Pro-social behaviour is influenced by learning

Cultural factors influence pro-social behaviour- Some cultures actively encourage people to help the needy and
distressed
Pro-social behaviour is expressed when the situation activates certain social norms that require helping others.
Three norms of pro-social behaviour :
(a) The norm of social responsibility
(b) The norm of reciprocity
(c) The norm of equity

Pro-social behaviour is affected by the expected reactions of the person who is being helped
Pro-social behaviour is more likely to be shown by individuals who have a high level of empathy, that is, the
capacity to feel the distress of the person who is to be helped, such as Baba Saheb Amte and Mother Teresa.
Pro-social behaviour may be reduced by factors such as a bad mood, being busy with one’s own problems, or
feeling that the person to be helped is responsible for her/his own situation (that is, when an internal attribution
is made for the need state of the other person)
Pro-social behaviour may also be reduced when the number of bystanders is more than one
Useful Links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn-_6emPzy4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i46o7xLNiY

https://study.com/academy/lesson/cognitive-component-of-attitude-definition-example.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XA0bB79oGc
End of Chapter 6