An Attitude Is A Hypothetical Construct That Represents An Individual's

ATTITUDES An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for an item. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event-- this is often referred to as the attitude object. People can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object, meaning that they simultaneously possess both positive and negative attitudes toward the item in question. Attitudes are judgments. They develop on the ABC model (affect, behavior, and cognition). The affective response is an emotional response that expresses an individual's degree of preference for an entity. The behavioral intention is a verbal indication or typical behavioral tendency of an individual. The cognitive response is a cognitive evaluation of the entity that constitutes an individual's beliefs about the object. Most attitudes are the result of either direct experience or observational learning from the environment.

Components of Attitudes Attitudes have mainly three basic components. 1) Emotional 2) Informational 3) Behavioural Emotional Components Emotional components involve person’s feelings or affect positive, neutral or negative about an object. Although many fundamental issues remain unresolved, there is recent renewed attention given to emotion, especially as it relates to the field of organisational behaviour. In addition, the expression of emotions- either positive like customer service representative; negative, like a bill collector or a police officer; or neutral like

an academic administrator or public servant- is also important to work behaviour. The term emotional labour has emerged in recent years to represent the work people are asked to perform beyond their physical and mental contributions. Like physical and mental labour, this emotional labour can take its toll in terms of exhaustion and stress. INFORMAL COMPONENT The informal component consists of the beliefs and information the individual has about the object. It makes no difference whether or not this information is empirically real or correct. A supervisor may believe that two weeks of training is necessary before a worker can effectively conduct a particular process. In reality, the average worker may be able to perform successfully after only four days of training. Yet the information the supervisor is using (that two weeks is necessary) is the key to his attitude about training. BEHAVIORAL COMPONENT The behavioural component consists of a person’s tendencies to behave in a particular way towards an object. For example the supervisor may assign two weeks of training to all his new people. Of the three components of attitude, behavioural component can be directly observed. One cannot see other person’s feelings or beliefs. These two components can only be inferred.

FUNCTIONS OF ATTITUDE KNOWLEDGE FUNCTION Attitude is often substituted for knowledge. In the absence of knowledge, we use our attitude to organise and make sense out of the perceived object or person. Eg : People who are not familiar with nuclear energy may develop an attitude that is dangerous and should not be used

as an energy source. Stereotyping is another example. In the absence of knowledge about a person, we may use a stereotyped attitude for judging the person.

UTILITARIAN An attitude may develop because either the attitude or the object of the attitude is instrumental to obtain rewards or avoid punishments. In some cases the attitude is a means to an end. A worker finds that when he expresses a negative attitude towards his boss, his co-workers pay attention to and sympathise with him, but when he expresses a positive attitude, he is ignored or chastened. The negative attitude is instrumental in obtaining rewards and avoiding punishment. In another case, the object is a means to an end, and the attitude develops from association of the object and its outcome. Ego-defence function People often form and maintain certain attitudes to protect their own self- images. For example, workers may feel threatened by the employment or advancement of minority or female workers in their organisation. Threatened workers may develop an attitude that such newcomers are less qualified, and they might mistreat these workers. An ego defensive attitude is formed and used to cope with a feeling of guilt or threat. Unless this feeling is removed, this kind of attitude will remain unchanged. VALUE EXPRESSIVE FUNCTION Our attitude reflects our value systems. And our value expressive attitudes are closely related to our selfconcept. One whose central values is freedom, the individual may express very positive attitude towards decentralisation of

authority in the organisation, flexible work schedules, and relaxation of dress standards.