PSY 11 12

1. ATTITUDE

2. ATTITUDE
•Definition:
•Fishbein: An attitude is learned predisposition (tendency)
to respond in a favorable or unfavorable manner to a
particular object.
•G.W. Allport: An attitude is a mental or physical state of
readiness (willingness), organized through influence upon
the individual’s response to all objects and situation.

3. THE AGENTS OF ATTITUDE
• Attitudes are formed, changed and reformed by the changing circumstances and the
experiences of the individual with the world. The different agents which are responsible for
the formation of attitude are explained below.
• Socialization: Socialization is one of the most affective agents of attitude formation. We
develop attitudes towards certain objects during the course of socialization and they are
modified, strengthened or weakened throughout our lives by interaction with people in the
world around us.
• Personal experiences: It is also one of the most common agents of attitude formation in
which people develop attitude on the basis of daily experiences. There are two kinds of
attitudes formed on the basis of personal experiences which are direct and indirect experiences.
If the experiences are positive a positive attitude will develop. The attitudes formed on the basis
of indirect experiences are named as stereo-type. For example to consider that all women are
foolish or the doctors are sincere and sympathetic.

4. THE AGENTS OF ATTITUDE
• Want Satisfaction: Attitude also develops in the process of want satisfaction. We
develop favourable attitudes towards objects and people that satisfy our wants. On
the other hand we will develop unfavourable attitude towards objects and people
that block the achievement of our goals and wants. Generally children develop
positive attitude towards their parents because they fulfill their wants.
• Group Affiliation: The group affiliation of the individual also helps in the
formation of some one’s attitude. Many of the attitudes of individuals have their
source and support in the group to which the individual gives his loyalty. His
attitude tend to reflect the beliefs, values and norms of his group and to maintain
his attitude the individual must have the support of some like-minded persons.

5. THE AGENTS OF ATTITUDE
• Racial and Religious Prejudices: It is also an important source for the development of
attitude. The people shape their attitude on the basis of their prejudices in racial
differences. It leads to a superiority and inferiority division of people and so some of the
nations are developing negative attitude towards other nation. Similarly religious beliefs
also play a vital role in forming or developing attitude. Being Muslims we have negative
attitudes towards the believers of other religions or towards other sects in the same
religion.
• Role Playing: When we step into a new role, we must perform the actions attached with
that role, even if we feel false or unhappy. But our falseness seldom lasts. As we know
actions and attitude generate one another like chicken and eggs. The teachers, police
officers or soldiers adopt their role with significant effects on their attitude.

6. ATTITUDE CHANGE
• Attitude change may be defined as the process whereby there is an alteration or modification in a set of beliefs,
feelings and action tendencies towards some objects
• KINDS OFATTITUDE CHANGE
• Incongruent change (opposite change)
• Original Positive Original Negative
• Change into Negative Change into Positive
• Congruent Change (same direction)
• Original Positive Original Negative
• Increment Increment

7. THE DEVELOPMENT OF
PREJUDICE

8. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PREJUDICE
•Prejudice is a learned evaluative response toward the members
of a group, based on gender, race, sexual preference and relative
poverty. By the age of six months, infants are completely aware
of gender, age and physical attractiveness. Children's ability to
categorize people helps them develop accurate pictures of their
social world. Development of prejudice is dependent on outside
influences such as school, parents, teachers, friends, the area of
residence and the dominant culture.

9. • Whether it's openly expressed or not, prejudice toward racial minority
groups is a problem in many countries around the world. Racial
prejudice develops early in life and remains stable through adulthood.
Children learn to discriminate through contact to other people's biased
attitudes and by seeing the real-world, results of racial discrimination.
Young adults are heavily influenced by their friends' racial attitudes.
However, the more exposure adolescents have to other racial groups,
the less prejudice they display. Prejudicial attitudes increase among
adolescents attending single-race schools or living in non-
multicultural areas.

10. •Many industrialized countries display an overt bigotry against
the poor. Children in Western countries may learn prejudice
through exposure to a media packed with negative images of
poor people and the attitude among the middle classes that
poverty is a result of a character deficit. Children and
adolescents may become prejudiced against poor people as a
way of psychologically distancing themselves from the
negatives associated with poverty.

11. •An article reports that children can distinguish between
pictures of male and female faces by five months of age.
Children develop social groups based on gender at about
three years of age and can use gender labels for
themselves and others accurately. Pre-school children
show a strong bias in favor of same-sex playmates,
suggesting already formulated ideas of how their own sex
is superior.

13. •Definitions:
•Mack and Young: The process of inducting an
individual into the social world is called socialization.
•Ogburn: Socialization is the process of learning the
norms of the group and society.
•Bogardus: A process of learning to live and work
together is called socialization.

14. 1. The process of socialization starts from birth and continues till death. The
speed may be different, but it never stops.
2. The process of socialization changes a human being into social being who
learns and acts according to the norms and values of group and the society.
3. Healthy personality is possible only due to proper socialization.
4. The socialization of one individual may be different from another
individual belonging to the same society.
5. By the help of socialization culture is transmitted.
6. Socialization is a two way process, not only adults socialize children, but
sometimes adults can also be socialized by the children.

15. KINDS OF SOCIALIZATION
• Authoritarian Socialization: When a child is socialized by those who have
authority over the child is called authoritarian socialization. In this category parents,
teachers and elders are involved. Those who are in authority make the child accept
and pick up social habits. When the child goes astray he is compelled by authority
not to keep a single step out of the norms and values of his group or society, in actual
life the parents or his elders are the first to socialize him.
• Equalitarian Socialization: When a child is socialized by his equal it means by his
friends, playmates and neighbors this kind of socialization is called equalitarian. Both
authoritarian and equalitarian socialization are very essential for the child. There are
many aspects of life which are not enforced only by authoritarian socialization, but
by equalitarian socialization. For example cooperation, folkways and morality are the
aspects which a child picks up from his friends or surrounding.

16. •Formal
•School, college, university
•Mosque
•Mass Media
•Informal
•Family
•Neighborhood
•Playmates or age mates