ATTITUDES

PRESENTED BY
BY
PRESENTED

KRIZIA MAE EVALLE

Attitude a predisposition
to respond to a particular
object in a generally favorable
or unfavorable way.
- Ajzen, 1982 -

A persons attitudes influence

the way in which he or she
perceives and responds to the
world.
- Allport, 1935;
Thomas & Znaniecki, 1918 -

he
Nature of
Attitudes

THE COMPONENTS
OF AN ATTITUDE

BEHAVIORAL
EVALUATION
COGNITION
an attitude is
based on a set
of cognition or
knowledge
structures
associated with
the attitude
object.

an attitude is not
just based on
what people
think but also
how they feel
about an object.

PREDISPOSITION
an attitude also
involves a
predisposition to
respond or a
behavioral tendency
toward the subject.

R ELATI ON S HI P
AMONG THE COMPONENTS
Some attitudes are

Other attitudes are

AFFECT-BASED

COGNITION-BASED

your more affect-based

attitudes are difficult to
change with cognitive
reasoning.

Cognitive components of
that attitude are taking
priority. The more important
is what you know.

ATTITUDE FORMATION

instrumental
conditioning

2
observational
learning

classical
conditioning

ATTITUDE FORMATION

Instrumental
Conditioning
Attitudes toward our classes and jobs might
be formed through learning based on
direct experience with the object.

ATTITUDE FORMATION

Classical
Conditioning
We can also acquire attitudes and prejudices toward
objects through classical conditioning, in which a
stimulus gradually elicits a response through
repeated association with other stimuli.

ATTITUDE FORMATION

Observational
learning
We also learn attitudes more directly by
observing others and interacting with
them.

THE FUNCTIONS
OF ATTITUDES

1
2
3

HEURISTIC FUNCTION
Attitudes provide a simple and efficient means of
evaluating objects (Fazio, 1995). We group people,
objects, and events into categories or schemas and
develop simplified (stereotyped) attitudes that allow us to
treat individuals as members of a category.

ATTITUDES DEFINE THE SELF AND

MAINTAIN SELF-WORTH
Some attitudes express an individuals basic values and
reinforce his or her self-image. We tend to adopt attitudes
we see as consistent with our identities.

SOME ATTITUDES PROTECT THE

PERSON
from recognizing certain thoughts or feelings that threaten
his or her self-image.

Attitude
Organization

ATTITUDE STRUCTURE
Attitudes are usually embedded in a cognitive
structure, linked with a variety of other
attitudes.

Vertical Structure
Attitudes are organized
hierarchically. Some attitudes
(primitive beliefs) are more
fundamental than others.
Vertical linkages signify that a
minor belief is derived from or
dependent on a primitive belief.

ATTITUDE STRUCTURE
Attitudes are usually embedded in a cognitive
structure, linked with a variety of other
attitudes.

Horizontal Structure
When an attitude is linked to
more than one set of
underlying beliefs that is,
when there are two or more
different justifications for it
the linkages are termed
horizontal.

REFERENCE

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
John D. Delamater, Daniel J. Myers,
AND Jessica L. Collett
(2015) 8th Ed.