Attitude

Attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors that an individual holds towards a particular person, thing, or situation. Attitudes are generally learned, and they can be positive, negative, or neutral. They can be formed based on personal experiences, cultural influences, social norms, or other factors. Attitudes can impact how an individual perceives and interacts with the world around them and can influence their behavior and decision-making.

Gordon Allport:

"Attitudes are the most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary social psychology."

Attitudes are complex psychological constructs that involve cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Here are some of the key features and characteristics of attitudes:

Nature of Attitude

Attitudes are complex psychological constructs that involve cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Here are some of the key features and characteristics of attitudes:

  1. Attitudes are learned: People acquire attitudes through various socialization processes, such as direct experience, observation, and communication.

  2. Attitudes are evaluative: Attitudes involve a positive, negative, or neutral evaluation of a person, object, or situation.

  3. Attitudes can be explicit or implicit: Explicit attitudes are conscious and intentionally expressed, while implicit attitudes are unconscious and automatically activated.

  4. Attitudes are relatively stable: Attitudes tend to be enduring and resistant to change, although they can be influenced by new information, persuasion, or cognitive dissonance.

  5. Attitudes can guide behavior: Attitudes can shape people's actions and decisions, although the strength of the attitude-behavior link varies depending on various factors, such as situational constraints, social norms, and individual differences.

  6. Attitudes can be multidimensional: Attitudes may involve multiple dimensions, such as beliefs, values, emotions, intentions, and behavioral tendencies.

Overall, attitudes are important psychological constructs that help individuals navigate and make sense of their social world, and they have significant implications for behavior and well-being

Formation of attitude

In sport psychology, attitudes can be important predictors of an athlete's behavior and performance. Attitudes can be shaped by a variety of factors, including:

  1. Role models: Athletes may develop attitudes towards their sport based on the attitudes of their role models, such as coaches, teammates, or professional athletes.

  2. Personal experiences: Athletes' experiences in their sport can also shape their attitudes. For example, if an athlete consistently performs well and enjoys their sport, they may develop a positive attitude towards it.

  3. Team culture: The attitudes of the team and the team culture can also influence an athlete's attitudes. If the team values hard work and dedication, for example, this may shape an athlete's attitudes towards their own training and preparation.

  4. Coaching style: The coaching style of a coach can also impact an athlete's attitude. If a coach is supportive and positive, this may help to develop a positive attitude toward the sport.

  5. Media and social media: The attitudes of the media and social media towards a sport or athlete can also shape an athlete's attitudes. Positive media coverage can lead to a positive attitude toward the sport, while negative coverage can lead to a negative attitude.

Sports psychologists need to identify and understand an athlete's attitudes, as they can impact their behavior, motivation, and performance. Through interventions such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, goal setting, and visualization, sports psychologists can help athletes to develop positive attitudes toward their sport and improve their overall performance.

Function of attitude

(1) the function of the adjustment,

(2the ego defensive function,

(3) the value expressive function

(4) the knowledge function. 

These activities ultimately support people's desire to safeguard and improve their perception of themselves. In a broader sense, these functions are the underpinnings for motivation that mold and reinforce favorable attitudes towards goal objects seen as need-satisfying and/or unfavorable attitudes about other things seen as punitive or threatening. The picture following shows a diagram of these scenarios. We can better understand why people have certain views about psychological objects by looking at the functions themselves.

Adjustment Function The adjustment function steers people away from unpleasant, unwanted objects and towards enjoyable or rewarding ones. The utilitarian principle of maximizing reward and reducing punishment is served by it. As a result, how consumers perceive what is necessary, pleasurable, and punishing greatly influences their opinions. We should anticipate that consumers' opinions regarding these objects will change depending on the experiences they have because they believe that products, services, and retail establishments provide needs-satisfying or unpleasant experiences.

Ego Defensive Function The ego protective function is facilitated by attitudes that are firmly formed to defend the ego or self-image against threats. Actually, many of these attitudes' outer manifestations show the reverse of who the person actually is. For instance, a customer who has made a poor investment or purchase decision may vehemently defend the choice as being the product of bad advice from a third party or as being correct at the time. Such an ego-defensive mindset aids us in defending our self-image, but frequently we are unconscious of them.

The value expression function

Value-expressive attitudes allow a person to convey their core values, as opposed to ego-defensive attitudes, which are established to safeguard a person's self-image. Hence, customers adopt particular behaviors to represent their views more concretely and straightforwardly. As a result, a conservative person may grow to dislike colorful attire and instead find themselves drawn to dark, pinstriped suits.

Knowledge function

Humans desire consistency, stability, definition, and understanding because they need an organized and ordered world. This desire gives rise to attitudes toward knowledge acquisition. Additionally, the desire to know is frequently very particular. As a result, someone who doesn't play golf or wants to learn the sport is unlikely to be interested in learning more about it. This will affect how much time is spent researching this subject. So, opinions about what we think we need or do not need to understand stem from our desire to know.

Structure of attitude

Attitudes have three main components, commonly referred to as the ABC model of attitudes:

  1. Affective component: This refers to the emotional or evaluative aspect of attitudes. It is the feeling or emotion that an individual associates with an object, person, or event. For example, a person may have a positive affective component towards chocolate because they associate it with pleasure and happiness.

  2. Behavioral component: This refers to the actions or behavior that an individual takes towards an object, person, or event. It is the way in which an individual expresses their attitude through their behavior. For example, a person with a positive attitude towards exercise may engage in regular physical activity.

  3. Cognitive component: This refers to the beliefs, thoughts, or knowledge that an individual has about an object, person, or event. It is the way in which an individual understands or thinks about the attitude object. For example, a person may have the cognitive belief that exercise is important for maintaining good health.

These three components are interrelated and can influence each other. For example, a person may have a positive affective component towards chocolate, which may lead to the behavioral component of consuming it, and may also have the cognitive belief that consuming it in moderation is acceptable.

Understanding the structure of attitudes is important for predicting and understanding behavior, as well as for developing strategies to change attitudes towards certain objects, people, or events. By targeting one or more components of an attitude, it may be possible to change overall attitudes and behaviors.