Attitudes
...ons; this can be about which religion we practice, which football team we support, or what sort of music we like. This is more about the expression of a person’s identity. A lot of attitudes serve both functions, but not to the same degree, and because attitudes serve different functions, we may have more than one attitude about an object. We may buy a car because we like the colour and because we think it looks good, this is the attitude appraisal. The car may also be used when visiting a relative, this is the utilitarian function of the car, and it has a use. Having an attitude entails making an evaluation or a judgement about an object each time it is encountered or thought about. Individuals can construct an idea or an attitude about the object from the information they have in their memory, or, a response may happen without any conscious thought. It is automatic. Where do attitudes come from? Attitudes emerge from all the information that we have accumulated about attitude objects. Everyday we are exposed to information which is telling us or persuading people that some things are good for us and others are bad. It is about consistency. Having an attitude about something is determinant on the accessible information which is available. Information that easily comes to mind or that grabs our attention can dominate an attitude judgement, this information can be collected from our friends, family, the media or television. Other information may be available throughout our social circle, advertising campaigns or something as simple as a previous encounter with the object itself. Many attitudes objects are usually associated with positive or negative contexts or consequences. Positive information usually results in a positive attitude and vice versa; negative information results in negative feelings, beliefs or behaviours. Having mixed feelings is quite common even though we may have access to and evaluate all the facts. For example, favouring the right to an abortion but not being happy about it, or knowing smoking is harmful but still choosing to smoke a cigarette. Sometimes we collect one- sided information, for example, sharing the same opinions as our family and friends, day to day interactions only provide a one sided view of the issues. If everyone in your club is conservative then you will hear a lot of support for that particular issue. Another source of one-sided information is by our initial reactions to other people, places and things. If having never been to a particular place before and we have a negative encounter while we are there, we may adopt an avoidance strategy to that place; therefore preventing ourselves from realising that there may be positive things or benefits about it. We have developed a negative attitude. What is an attitude made up of and what purpose does it serve? Attitudes are useful to us and enable the individual to express themselves, to voice their opinions and show what they stand for. Attitudes are an affirmation of our significant relationships. There is a three component model which was founded by Rosenberg & Hovland (1960), who stated that attitude involved cognition, affect and behaviour. Cognition involves beliefs about an object, what or how we think about it. The affective component involves emotional responses and feelings which are triggered by the attitude object. The behavioural component is made up of actions directed at the attitude object as well as behavioural intentions towards it, for example, a positive attitude towards lettuce would involve, a) cognition-a belief that lettuce is good for me, b) affective-that lettuce tastes nice, and c) the behavioural component-I buy or must buy lettuce whenever I go shopping. A theory about attitude by Smith, White and Shavitt involves the knowledge, utilitarian, social identity and self-esteem function. The knowledge function helps us to ‘sus’ out objects through the use of stored information. Having an attitude based on the information we already have saves the individual the effort of trying to figure out how to behave towards the object each time we encounter it. Information that we have been exposed to that has been stored is being retrieved, it is being remembered. The utilitarian function is based on learning theory. We like or dislike an object because of the rewards or punishments or the negative or positive outcomes which are attached to it, this determines our attitude towards it, which in turn guides our behaviour. For example, we like ice-cream because we have eaten it before so we know it has a pleasant taste but we also know that it contributes to the possibility of weight gain and high levels of cholesterol. Eating ice-cream because of the pleasant taste is a positive factor; the negative factor is the possibility of weight gain and high cholesterol, so we may choose to eat ice cream, but only once a month. The social identity function is a combination of self-expression and social interaction. Who we are and who we identify with. This is an attitudes way of expressing our values and establishing an identity with an individual or a group. For example, we may have or express views which ourselves and others might consider as being ‘feminist’. We identify with feminists therefore we have a positive attitude about them and choose to belong to that particular group. The self-esteem function is comprised of ego defence or externalization. The ego-defence isolates oneself away from objects that are assumed to pose a threat to us, and secondly, to align oneself with positive objects. For example, a negative attitude towards Asians or blacks may result in the individual distancing themselves from that particular group. On the other hand, a positive attitude about an object, like a favourite football team, or the ‘popular’ group at school, may encourage the individual to align themselves with or to be part of that group. How do attitudes develop? Attitudes usually start with attitude conditioning, which is a form of classical conditioning; whereby a neutral stimulus, which is one that usually does not evoke a response, is paired up with another stimulus that evokes a certain response in an individual. When the initially neutral stimulus evokes a response on its own that is when learning or an ‘attitude’ occurs or develops. ‘Classical conditioning- The main feature is that the originally neutral conditioned stimulus, through repeated pairing with the unconditioned one, acquires the response originally given to the unconditioned stimulus’. Atkinson, Atkinson, Smith and Hilgard, P658. This theory can also be applied to the area known as persuasion or attitude change. Persuasion is looking at a change...