Attitude

Concept
ꢀ An attitude is a hypothetical construct

that represents an individual's degree of
like or dislike for an item.
ꢀ Attitudes are generally positive or
negative views of a person.
THE NATURE AND DIMENSIONS
OF ATTITUDES
 “Attitudes”
Persistent tendency to feel and behave in
a particular way towards some object
 Characteristics of Attitudes
They tend to persist unless something is
done to change them.
They can fall anywhere along a range
from very favorable to very unfavorable.
They are directed toward some object
about which a person has feelings and
beliefs.
Four Possible Reactions to
Attitude Objects
Positive attitude:
The predisposition that results in
desirable outcomes for individuals
and organizations.
Negative attitude:
The tendency of a person that
result in an undesirable outcome
for
individuals and organizations.
Components of Attitudes
COGNITIVE
Opinion or beliefs about attitude object (pos &
neg)
AFFECTIVE
emotions and feelings the object triggers (pos &
neg)
BEHAVIORAL
reaction toward the object (pos & neg actions)
10
Attitude Object: EMPLOYEE
COGNITIONS
My pay is low.
My supervisor is unfair.
AFFECTS
I am angry over how little I’m paid.
I dislike my supervisor.
BEHAVIORS
I am going to look for another job that
pays better.
I am looking for another job.
11
Functions of Attitude
INSTRUMENTAL
KNOWLEGE A T T I T U DE EGO DEFENCE
VALUE EXPRESSION
Functions of Attitudes
• Value-Expressive function
• enable us to express who we are and what we
believe in
• Ego-defensive function
• enable us to project internally-held conflicts
onto others means protecting self-esteem
(e.g., homophobia)
• Knowledge function
• enable us to know the world
• Utilitarian/Instrumental Function
• Enable us to gain rewards and avoid punishment
CHANGING ATTITUDES
 Employees’ attitudes can be changed and sometimes it is
in the best interests of managements to try to do so. For
example, if employees believe that their employer does not
look after their welfare, the management should try to
change their attitude and help develop a more positive
attitude in them.
 However, the process of changing the attitude is not always

easy. There are some barriers which have to be overcome if
one strives to change somebody’s attitude. There are two
major categories of barriers that come in the way of
changing attitudes:
 There are two major categories of barriers that come in
the way of changing attitudes:
 Prior commitment when people feel a commitment
towards a particular course of action that have already
been agreed upon and thus it becomes difficult for
them to change or accept the new ways of functioning.
 Insufficient information also acts as a major barrier to
change attitudes. Sometimes people simply do not see
any reason to change their attitude due to unavailability
of adequate information.
SOME OF THE POSSIBLE WAYS OF
CHANGING ATTITUDES
 Providing New Information. Sometimes a
dramatic change in attitude is possible
only by providing relevant and adequate
information to the person concerned.
Scanty and incomplete information can be
a major reason for developing negative
feeling and attitudes.
 Use of Fear. Attitudes can be changed

through the use of fear. People might
resort to change their work habit for the
fear of unpleasant consequences.
However, the degree of the arousal of fear
will have to be taken into consideration as
well.
 Resolving Discrepancies: Whenever
“people face “a dilemma or conflicting
situation they feel confused in
choosing a particular course of action.
 Like in the case where one is to choose

from” between two alternative
courses of action, it is often become
difficult for him to decide which is
right for him. Even when he chooses
one over the other, he might still feel
confused. If some one helps him in
pointing out the positive points in
favor of the chosen course of action,
the person might resolve his dilemma.
 Influence of friends and peers A very effective way of
changing one’s attitude is through his friends and colleagues.
Their opinion and recommendation for something often
proves to be more important. If for example, there is praise
from all for a particular policy introduced in the work place,
chances are high that an individual will slowly accept that
even when he had initial reservations for that.
 Co-opting. If you want to change the attitude of some body

who belongs to a different group, it often becomes very
effective if you can include him in your own group. Like in
the case of the union leader, who are all the time
vehemently against any management decision, can be the
person who takes active initiative in implementing a new
policy when he had participated in that decision making
process himself.
Theories of attitude change
ꢀ Cognitive Dissonance Theory

ꢀ Self Perception Theory
Attitude and behavior are two quite
different things.
Attitude is a person's inner thoughts

and feelings, while behavior is usually
an outward expression of attitude, but
the two are not always related.
When a person's attitude and behavior

differ, dissonance will likely result, and
a change in attitude or behavior will
be the probable outcome.
Attitudes, Behavior & Consistency
• People try maintain consistency between

their different attitudes.
• People try maintain consistency between
attitudes and behavior.
• Altering their attitudes or
behavior, developing a rationalization for
their discrepancy.
15
THE THEORY OF COGNITIVE
DISSONANCE
Desire to reduce dissonance

• Importance of elements creating dissonance
• Degree of individual influence over elements
• Rewards involved in dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
ꢀ If there is an inconsistency between

two attitudes or between attitudes and
behavior
ꢀ People seek to make them consistent
ꢀ Achieve a stable state with minimum of
dissonance
16
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Desire to reduce dissonance depends on

• importance of elements creating the
dissonance
• degree of influence over the elements
• rewards involved in the dissonance
17
Self-Perception Theory
Attitudes do not cause

behavior, behavior causes attitudes
Attitudes are formed after the fact to
make sense out of behavior that already
occurred
18
Do Attitudes cause Behavior?
Answer: Not very well !

Attitudes have a stronger affect on
behavior if they are
ꢀ important
ꢀ specific
ꢀ accessible
ꢀ socialpressure reinforces the attitude
ꢀ you have experience with the attitude.
19
Attitude & Behavior
KNOWN
TO
BEHAVIOR
SEA LEVEL
OTHERS
UNKNOWN
TO OTHERS
VALUES – STANDARDS – JUDGMENTS
ATTITUDE
MOTIVES – ETHICS -
BELIEFS
Determinants of Work attitudes
Personality
The enduring ways a person has
of feeling, thinking and behaving
Work situation Attitudes to work Values

The work itself, Co- The collection of feelings, Intrinsic work
workers, beliefs and predispositions to values
supervisors and behave in one’s job or
organisation Extrinsic work
subordinates
values
Physical working
conditions
Working hours, pay Social influence
and job security
Co-workers
Groups
Culture
23
TYPES OF ATTITUDES
There are many types of attitudes. But here

we limit to only the work related issues.
The job related attitudes are classified as :
a) Job involvement
b) Organizational Commitment
c) Job Satisfaction.
a) Job involvement
Measures the degree to which a person

identifies himself psychologically with his
job and considers his perceived
performance level important to self worth.
Performance of the employees is directly

related to the amount of job involvement.
b) Organizational Commitment
It’s a state in which an employee identifies

himself with a particular organization and
its goals and wishes to maintain
membership in the organization.
It depicts the level of attachment of the

individual towards the organization.
c) Job Satisfaction.
This is the individual’s attitude towards one’s

job.
The level of the satisfaction differs from

one job to another and also from one
individual to other.
The Choice is YOURS
•With a Bad attitude

you can never have a positive day
•With a Positive attitude

you can never have a bad day
How can we develop our
personality and attitude ?
We can do this through :
ꢀ Self image and self reformation
ꢀ Education and hard work
ꢀ Discipline and organization
ꢀ Belief in goodness's and truth and many
more.
The Final Words
“Things are the way you think

they are, because you think
they are that way.”
Thank You

Attitude

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Attitude

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Attitude

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Concept

ꢀ An attitude is a hypothetical construct

KNOWLEGE A T T I T U DE EGO DEFENCE

 However, the process of changing the attitude is not always

 Use of Fear. Attitudes can be changed

 Like in the case where one is to choose

 Co-opting. If you want to change the attitude of some body

ꢀ Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Attitude is a person's inner thoughts

When a person's attitude and behavior

• People try maintain consistency between

Desire to reduce dissonance

ꢀ If there is an inconsistency between

Desire to reduce dissonance depends on

Attitudes do not cause

Answer: Not very well !

VALUES – STANDARDS – JUDGMENTS

Work situation Attitudes to work Values

There are many types of attitudes. But here

The job related attitudes are classified as :

Measures the degree to which a person

Performance of the employees is directly

It’s a state in which an employee identifies

It depicts the level of attachment of the

This is the individual’s attitude towards one’s

The level of the satisfaction differs from

•With a Bad attitude

•With a Positive attitude

“Things are the way you think

You might also like