User:Khalid Saleem

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Attitude and its Implications =='''==

Man as a member of society likes some things and dislikes certain others, he has favours or aversion towards some event or object, and above all has opinion beliefs and knowledge about different values, groups and so on. All such expressions, in some way or the other, are regarded as attitude by the social psychologists (Kimble 1963, p.665). The concept of attitude has a good deal of intuitive and common sense meaning for most of us. We speak of our attitude towards friends neighbors, women, men, minority groups and political parties (Bruno 1980, p.548). According to Morgan et al. (1984, p.450) attitudes are inferred from things a person says or does rather than directly observing in behavior. As an example a person may hold specific attitude towards various groups, such as union members, Negroes or Whites, or he may hold attitude towards some event, such as retirement, corruption, or an ideal profession. To the person in business or politics attitude may mean the difference between the success and failure. Similarly each of us strives to create favorable attitudes and to eliminate unfavourable attitudes towards himself among his friends, associates, employees and others. Perhaps, says Morgan (1966, p.594), very few of us are able to negate the importance of our attitudes toward others and their toward us. The study of attitudes, according to Munn et al (1969, p.610), is one of the best departure points for understanding the individual in his social environment. Therefore, we can easily judge the social capabilities and relations of an individual by studying carefully his attitude toward the society and its ingredients. According to Bruno (1980, p.548) attitudes play an important part in the social life of an individual. It reflects the intensity of his social interactions and relations. An other aspect of the importance of attitudes as stated by Ruch (1984, p.545) is that attitudes have long been a major topic of research in social psychology. == The Nature of Attitudes: == As far as the matter of providing a workable definition of attitude concerns, it is too controversial like many other concepts of social psychology. A precise definition of attitude is difficult because attitude overlaps with other kinds of psychological preparation for response (Hilgard et al, 1971, p.523). The concept of attitude has been dealt differently by different psychologists. The word “attitude” according to Wrench and Chris (1973, p.278) originally meant a physical posture. Because assuming a certain posture prepares one to carry out a practical action, its meaning are extended to cover those thoughts and feelings about something which prepares us to act in a certain way toward it. Therefore, attitude is a readiness to act in a certain way under appropriate conditions. Adding to the meanings of attitude MeConnel and Ronald (1992, p.575) state that it is a relatively enduring way of thinking, and behaving toward an object, person, group, or idea. But, Bem (1970, p.479) says that attitude is a positive or negative evaluation of prople, objects, ideas, or events. A similar definition based upon personal preference or aversion of an individual is given by Bootzin (1991,p.628). According to him “a attitude is an evaluative response to a particular object, idea, person, or a group of people”. The term attitude according to Aiken (1969, p.398) may be defined as a learned predisposition to respond positively or negatively to some object, situation, concept, or person,. Morgan et al (1984, p.450) reinforce Aiken, s definition by saying that, An attitude is a predisposition to behave in a consistent evaluative manner toward a person, a group of people, an object, or a group of objects. This definition simply gives the meaning of attitude as we understand it in everyday life, i.e. for favorable or unfavorable evaluation. As an example, if your neighbor expresses favorable attitude toward a certain political candidate, you understand that he or she likes the candidate and probably will vote for the candidate. Therefore, a tendency to respond positively, that is favorably, or negatively, that is unfavorably, to certain objects, persons, or situations may be regarded as attitude (Morgan 1966, p.594). To have a more comprehensive view of attitude, it may be studied in terms of its different aspects, i.e. components and factors, as states Ruch (1984, p.544): Attitudes have often been defined by social psychologists in terms of three factors, cognitive belief about a person or object, affective or evaluative feelings about that person or object, and behavior toward that person or object. Bruno (1980, p.548) says that a more or less stable tendency to evaluate another person or object in a positive or negative manner is regarded as attitude which consist of three components i.e. a belief component, an emotional component, and a behavior component. In the similar fashion Morgan (1984, p.451) describes an evaluative or feeling component, which can be positive or negative, an action or behaviour component, and a belief or opinion component, as three components of attitude. Orientation, positive or negative, towards a target is regarded as attitude by Newman (1983, p.541). This orientation is based upon beliefs about the target and the person, s evaluation of these beliefs. Belief serves as a base for attitude, but it itself is derived from informations.

Informations		Beliefs		Attitude

But, Kimble (1963, p.665) regards knowledge, opinion, and belief as one component and the emotional or affective reactions as the second component of attitude where as, Gagne (1977:44) insists that attitude has three components which are affective components, cognitive aspects, and behavioral consequences. He sys, further, that attitude is an internal state that influences the choices of personal action mad by the individual. Most acceptable definition of the term attitude is provided buy Hilgard et al (1971, p.523). According to them, An attitude represents both an orientation towards or away from some object, concept, or situation, and a readiness to respond in a predetermined manner to these or related objects, concepts, or situations. It is very much clear from the above discussion that attitude, either defined simply or in terms of its different components, represents individual’s orientation toward or away from an object, person, concept, idea, or situation. In general terms it is positive or negative response made by a person toward an object, person, group of people, idea, concept, or situation.