ATTITUDE AND VALUES

Meaning
An attitude may be defined as the way a person

feels about something- a person, a place, a commodity, a situation or an idea. It expresses an individual's positive or negative feelings about some object. It describes an individual's feelings, thoughts and predisposition to act toward some object in the environment.
According to Katz and Scotland, "Attitude is a

tendency or predisposition to evaluate an object or symbol of that object in a certain way."

Nature of Attitudes
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Attitudes refer to feelings and beliefs of individuals or groups of individuals. For example "He has a poor attitude", "I like her attitude. "

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The feeling's and beliefs are directed towards other people, objects or ideas. When a person says, "I like my Job". It shows that he has a positive attitude towards his job.
Attitudes often result in and affect the behaviour or action of the people. Attitudes can lead to intended behaviour if there are no external interventions. Attitudes constitute a psychological phenomenon which cannot be directly observed. For example, if a person is very regular in his job, we may infer that he likes his job very much. Attitudes are gradually acquired over a period of time. The process of learning attitude starts right from childhood and continues through out the life of a person.

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Components of Attitude
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Informational Component- The informational component consists of beliefs, values, ideas and other information a person has about the object. For example, a person seeking a job may learn from his own sources and other employees working in the company that in a particular company the promotion chances are very favourable Emotional Component- The emotional component involves the person's feeling or affect-positive, neutral or negative-about an object. Eg. " I like this job because the future prospects in this company are very good". Behavioural component- The behavioural component consists of the tendency of a person to behave in a particular manner towards an object. For example, the

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ABC Model of Attitude

A PERSONS FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS

PERSONS INTENTDED BEHAVIOUR POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE

PERSONS BELIEFS, VALUES AND IDEAS

Sources of Attitude
Direct Personal Experience

Association
Family and Peer Groups Neighbourhood Economic Status and Occupations Mass Communication

Types of Work Related Attitudes

Job Satisfaction. The term job satisfaction refers to the

general attitude or feelings of an individual towards his job. A person who is highly satisfied with his job, will have a positive attitude towards the job.
Job Involvement. Job involvement measures the degree

to which a person identifies psychologically with his or her job and considers his or her perceived performance level important to self worth.
Organisational Commitment. Organisational

commitment implies identifying with one's employing organisation and its goals.

Functions of Attitude
The Adjustment Function. Attitudes often help people adjust

to their work environment. When employees are well treated they are likely to develop a positive attitude towards the management and the organisation.
The Ego Defensive Function. People often form and

maintain certain attitudes to protect their own self images. For example, workers may feel threatened by the employment of new They may develop an attitude that such newcomers are less qualified and they might mistreat these workers.
The Value Expressive Function. Attitudes provide people

with a basis for expressing their values. A person whose value system is centralised on freedom, will have a positive attitude towards decentralisation of authority in the organisation, flexible work schedules etc.
The Knowledge Function. Attitudes are often substituted for

Measurement of Attitude
Thurston Attitude Scale Likert Scale Opinion Surveys Interviews

Types of Change
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Congruent Change. Congruent change in attitude means that the change is a movement in the same direction but the intensity of feeling is reduced. For example, if a person" dislikes his boss very much, this negative attitude may persist, but the degree of dislike will be reduced. Incongruent Change. Incongruent change involves change of direction itself from positive to negative feeling

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Barriers to Changing Attitude

Prior Commitment

Strong Commitment
Publically expressed attitudes Low Credibility Insufficient Information Degree of Fear

Ways of Overcoming Barriers

Providing New Information

Use of Fear
Resolving Discrepancies Influence of Friends and Peers The Co-opting Approach Oral Persuation Technique Training Sessions

Values
A value system is viewed as a relatively

permanent perceptual frame work which influences the nature of an individual's behaviour. The values are the attributes possessed by an individual and thought desirable. Values are similar to attitudes but are more permanent and well built in nature.
Values are the attributes possessed by an

individual.

Importance of Values
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Values lay the foundations for the understanding of attitudes and motivation. Personal value system influences the perception of individuals. Value system influences the manager's perception of the different situations. Personal value system influences the way in which a manager views the other individuals and the groups of individuals in the organisation. Value system also influences a manager's decisions and his solutions to the various problems. Values influence the attitudes and behaviours. The challenge and reexamination of established work values constitute important corner stones of the current management revolution all over the world. Hence, an understanding of the

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Sources of Values
Family Factors

Social Factors
Personal Factors Cultural Factors Religious Factors Life Experience Role demands Halo Effect

Values and OB
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An individual's perception about the problems faced by him are influenced by values. As a result the decisions taken by him to overcome these problems are also influenced by his value. Values affect the inter-personal relationships in organisations. Values influence the way in which an individual looks at other individuals or group of individuals. Values of an individual influences the way he looks at the organisation's success. High profit earning by an organisation may be an indicator of success in the eyes of one individual, but for another, the means adopted for earning profits may be more important. Values of individuals set the limits for determination of ethical and unethical behaviour for themselves as well as for others.

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The extent to which an individual can cope up with the organisation's pressures and goals is determined by his value