Attitude: Ethics- 1 | UPSC Mains: Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude PDF Download

Defining Attitude

• Attitude is defined differently by social psychologists. "An attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, organised through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual's response to ill objects and situations with which it is associated," wrote Gordon Allport.
• In simple words, Attitude is a way of looking at any situation and deciding, either consciously or unconsciously – how we relate it to ourselves and others. It can be something to do with our personality and experience. The significant positive attitudes include being frank, confident, jealous, respectful, sincere, honest, hard working, faithful, loving, flexible, humble, helping, independent, sympathetic, hard working etc.

• Attitude pertains to our feelings, beliefs and behaviour predispositions directed towards people, groups, ideas or objects. Attitudes will always have a positive and negative element and have a tendency to behave in a certain way toward that person or object. Attitudes are formed primarily based on underlying values and beliefs.
• Beliefs are acquired through real experiences but the original experience related to a particular belief is mostly forgotten. It affects the quality of our work and relationships because we experience what we believe and it is not based on reality. Beliefs govern our experiences. They are an essential part of our identity. They may be religious, cultural or moral. Beliefs reflect who we are and how we live our lives.

Why it is important to cultivate the Right Attitude in our lives?

Attitude defines life and life defines attitude. Dalai Lama has said: If you can cultivate the right attitude, your enemies are your best spiritual teachers because their presence provides you with the opportunity to enhance and develop tolerance, patience and understanding.

Attitude makes a big difference in our lives. One may have high IQ and a sharp logical mind, but both are rendered useless without the right attitude. Without a right attitude, one will be like a misdirected rocket reaching the wrong destination. Our right attitude can empower us.

Structure of Attitude

An attitude is made up of three interconnected components: cognitions, emotions and behaviours.

1. Cognitive Component
   Our thoughts and beliefs about the subject.
2. Emotional Component
   How the object, person, issue or event makes us feel.
3. Behavioural Component
   How the attitude influences our behaviours. There is a sub-component viz. behavioural predisposition.

An attitude involves a predisposition respond or a behavioural tendency toward the object. "It's boring" implies a tendency to avoid the class. "I like my job" suggests an intention to go to work. People with specific attitudes are inclined to behave in certain ways consistent with that attitude.

A change in one component of an attitude structure might lead to changes in the others because an attitude structure is dynamic, with each component influ­encing the others.

Attitudes and Beliefs

Attitude refers to feelings, beliefs and behaviour predispositions directed towards people, groups, ideas or objects. Attitudes will always have a positive and negative element and tend to behave in a certain way toward that person or object. Attitudes are formed primarily based on underlying values and beliefs.

Beliefs are acquired through real experiences but the original experience related to a particular belief is mostly forgotten. It affects the quality of our work and relationships because we experience what we believe and it is not based on reality. Beliefs govern our experiences. They are an important part of our identity. They may be religious, cultural or moral. Beliefs reflect who we are and how we live our lives.

Implicit and explicit attitude

Attitudes can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitudes are those that we are consciously aware of and that clearly influence our behaviours and beliefs. Implicit attitudes are unconscious, but still have an effect on our beliefs and behaviours.

Functions of Attitudes

Altitudes serve several important functions.

Adjustment

• Attitudes guide our responses and behaviors, helping us align with our goals and priorities.
• They summarize our feelings, thoughts, intentions, and behaviors, shaping our interactions with others and our environment.
• Attitudes help us navigate uncertainties by providing cognitive structures that fill in gaps in information.

Ego Defensive

• Attitudes serve to protect us from fears and anxieties by influencing how we perceive threats and challenges.
• They can shield us from recognizing thoughts or feelings that might challenge our self-image or personal beliefs.
• Ego-defensive attitudes act as a psychological defense mechanism, preserving our sense of self-worth and identity.

Knowledge

• Attitudes categorize and simplify our understanding of the world, helping us interpret and make sense of people and objects.
• They serve a heuristic function by providing efficient ways to evaluate and navigate our environment.
• Attitudes are linked to stereotypes, which can evoke intense emotions and sometimes lead to intergroup conflict.

Value Expression

• Attitudes express our fundamental values and beliefs, allowing us to articulate what is important to us.
• They help us communicate our identity and reinforce our self-image by aligning our behaviors with our values.
• Value-expressive attitudes enable us to convey our preferences and priorities in personal and social contexts.

Formation of Attitude

Attitude formation refers to a drift from no attitude towards an object to some positive or negative attitude.

Sources of Attitude Formation

A range of mechanisms for attitude formation are involved. Most important among them are mere exposure, direct experiences and social learning. Mere exposure means that simply being exposed to an object increases our feelings, usually positive, toward that object. Second way of formation of attitude is through direct personal experience. It has the power to create and change attitudes. This is stronger factor in forming the attitude and is likely to affect behaviours strongly.

Which source is stronger?

Direct experience continues to form and shape our attitudes throughout life. Attitudes formed from direct experience are stronger because they are readily available and called on quickly by our consciousness.

Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning & Observational learning

Influence of Attitude on Behaviour

People behave following their attitudes. Our attitudes develop over time and reflect where we have come from and how we will proceed with our life in the future. Therefore, attitudes are a powerful element in our life, are long enduring and hard to change easily.

However, attitudes and actual behaviours are not always perfectly aligned. The degree of influence begins with the assumption that we behave following our conscious intentions. They are based, on our rational calculations about the potential effects of our attitude towards our behaviour and about how other people will feel about it.

People are more likely to behave according to their attitudes under certain conditions such as _

• When our attitudes are the result of personal experience.
• When we are an expert in the subject.
• When we expect a favourable outcome.
• When the attitudes are repeatedly expressed.
• When we stand to win or lose something due to the issue.

In some cases, people may actually alter their attitudes in order to align them with their behaviours better. 

Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon in which a person experiences psychological distress due to conflicting thoughts or beliefs. In order to reduce this tension, people may change their attitudes to reflect their other beliefs or actual behaviours.

Process of Attitude Change

Attitudes are dynamic and influences which form the attitude can also change the attitude. Thus, there are three theories on change of attitude:

1. Learning Theory of Attitude Change
   Classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational learning can be used to bring about attitude change. Classical conditioning can be used to create positive emotional reactions to an object, person or event by associating positive feelings with the target object. Operant conditioning can be used to strengthen desirable attitudes and weaken undesirable ones. People can also change their attitudes after observing the behaviours of others.
2. Elaboration Likelihood Theory of Attitude Change
   This theory of persuasion suggests that people can alter their attitudes in two ways. First, they can be motivated to listen and think about the message, thus leading to an attitude shift. Or, they might be influenced by the speaker's characteristics, leading to a temporary or surface shift in attitude. Messages that are thought-provoking and that appeal to logic are more likely to lead to permanent changes in attitudes.
3. Dissonance Theory of Attitude Change
   As mentioned earlier, people can also change their attitudes when they have conflicting beliefs about a topic. In order to reduce the tension created by these incompatible beliefs, people often shift their perspectives.

Attitude Formation

Persuasion

Persuasion Overview

• Definition: Persuasion is the process of influencing someone's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviors towards an event, idea, object, or person.
• Scope: It involves using spoken or written words to convey information, feelings, reasoning, or a combination thereof.
• Applications: Commonly used in various contexts such as election campaigning, sales pitches, and trial advocacy.
• Purpose: Often employed to achieve personal gain or to influence others' behaviors and attitudes.

Interconnectedness of Attitude Formation and Change

• Continuous Process: Attitude formation and change are intertwined processes where individuals adopt, modify, or discard attitudes based on evolving needs and interests.
• Acceptance Factors: Acceptance of new attitudes depends on:
  • The credibility of the communicator.
  • How the message is presented.
  • How it is perceived by the recipient.
  • Contextual factors influencing the reception of information.

Attitudes change when:

• A person receives new information from others or media - Cognitive change
• Through direct experience with the attitude object - Affective change
• Force a person to behave in a way different than normal - Behavioural change

Functions that can be Performed with Persuasion

The persuader needs to select a purpose that is realistic for his/her audience. 

Five general purposes of persuasion are listed below.

1. Create uncertainty: When an audience is strongly opposed to the persuader's view, the best that may be possible for the persuader is to make the audience a little less certain they are right, a little less comfortable with their current attitude.
2. Reduce resistance: If the audience is moderately opposed to the persuader's position but not closed-minded, the persuader may be able to reduce opposition to his/her view and move the audience toward neutrality. While not expecting a reversal of views this goal asks the audience to recognize the validity of opinions different from their own.
3. Change attitude: If the audience is not committed, especially strongly, to any attitude on the topic this goal is appropriate.
4. Amplify attitude: If the audience is already moderately favourable to the persuader's view, he/she can design a message which will reinforce current attitudes in the audience, help the audience resist appeals from opponents, and motivate the members of the audience to become strongly committed to his/her position.
5. Gain behaviour: When an audience strongly favours the persuader's position, the logical goal is to get them to act on their convictions.

Systematic persuasion is the process through which appeals leverage attitudes or beliefs to logic and reason. Heuristic persuasion, on the other hand, appeals to habit or emotion leverage the process through which attitudes or beliefs.

[Intext Question]

Experimental research reveals that factors that affect the persuasiveness of a message include:

Target Characteristics

• Intelligence: Intelligent individuals are less likely to be persuaded by simplistic or exaggerated claims. They tend to recognize flaws in arguments and may be repulsed by hollow claims.
• Self-Esteem: Persuasibility varies with self-esteem levels. People with moderate self-esteem are more open to persuasion compared to those with very high or very low self-esteem, who may be more resistant.

Source Characteristics

• Expertise: Persuasion is more effective when the source is perceived as knowledgeable and credible in the subject matter.
• Trustworthiness: Trust in the source enhances persuasion, as people are more likely to accept messages from sources they trust.
• Attractiveness: Attractive or likeable sources can enhance persuasion due to positive associations.

Message Characteristics

• Message Content: Presenting both sides of an argument can be effective in changing attitudes, especially when recipients are motivated to process information.
• Clarity and Complexity: Messages that are clear and comprehensible are more persuasive than complex ones. Simplified messages are easier for audiences to understand and accept.
• Number of Arguments: Greater numbers of persuasive arguments can lead to greater attitude change, especially when motivation to process the message is low.

Cognitive Routes

• Central Route: Persuasion occurs through careful consideration and evaluation of the message content. This route is effective when individuals are motivated and capable of processing information deeply.
• Peripheral Route: Persuasion occurs through cues outside of the message content, such as source attractiveness or credibility. This route is used when individuals lack motivation or ability to engage deeply with the message.

Steps in Persuasion Process

1. Establish credibility: Credibility grows out of expertise and relationships. A persuader needs strong emotional characteristics and integrity. The need to listen carefully to other people's suggestions and establish an atmosphere where their opinions are valued.
2. Framing common goal with colleagues: Effective persuader must be adept at describing the position in terms that illuminate the person's point advantages that he/ she is trying to persuade. It is a process of identifying shared benefits. This requires conversations to collect essential information by asking thoughtful questions. This process will often prompt to alter the initial argument or include compromises.
3. Reinforce positions with vivid language and compelling evidence: Persuasion requires presentation of evidence — strong data in multiple forms (stories, graphs, images, metaphors and examples). Persuaders need to make positions come alive by using vivid language that complements graphics.
4. Connecting emotionally with audiences: Good persuaders are aware of primacy of emotions and are responsive to them. They know how to maintain a balance between professionalism and their own emotional commitment to their advocating position. Their connection to their audience demonstrates both intellectual and emotional commitment to their position.

Successful persuaders cultivate an accurate sense of their audience's emotional state, and they adjust their arguments accordingly. Whatever their position, they must match their emotional fervour to their audience's ability to receive their message.

 Effective Persuasion

Everyone is susceptible to being persuaded; persuasion is a process whose objective is to change a person's attitude and/or behaviour towards an idea, event, person or an object. Broadly speaking effective persuasion should have desirable source (having credibility), desirable message characteristics (having fear, rational, and emotional appeals). In more detail, persuasion to be effective must have following things:

1. Establish a common ground: The persuader should establish positive rapport with target people.
2. Point out the benefits: Persuader should highlight the major benefits of changed behaviour or attitude. However, the persuader should avoid trying to push for the change, as it will make him look desperate.
3. Turn objections into strengths: Objections to change are natural but the persuader should turn them into opportunities. For this he may agree with the prospect's objection and then illustrate how the proposed change easily overcomes it.
4. Commitment and consistency: Persuader should try to get the target section (prospect) to believe in something small or take a small action first. Once committed, the prospect will most likely agree to a larger idea later. This technique employs the fact that people tend to behave consistently, once they take a stand, they will act in ways consistent to the decision as a means of defending and justifying it. Rationality commands an innate appeal to the human mind.
5. Use the reciprocity principle: The principle implies that when someone does something for us we feel obliged to return the favour. This may include appropriately rewarding the target population for the changed behaviour/attitude. This helps in strengthening and sustaining the change.
6. Social proof technique: People tend to follow others (bandwagon effect) more so when they don't have sufficient information to make the decision on their own. This technique will involve you telling the target population that other people are getting benefits from the suggested change, with empirical evidence. For this the persuader may invoke the examples of some well-known personality. For example, in campaigning against female feticide in Haryana we may invoke the examples of some female sportspersons who have won laurels, S. Nehwal in Badminton, or Kangana Ranaut in Bollywood etc.
7. Scarcity: This involves letting people know that they stand to lose on a chance to get the benefits out of the proposed change.