ATTITUDE
Mr.Visanth V S
Principal
Sherwood College of Nursing
Barabanki, UP

Introduction
An attitude may be a set of emotions,
behaviors and beliefs towards a particular
object, thing, events or a person.
Attitude influences the behavior of a
person, it may be negative or positive.

Definition
An attitude is an individual's degree of like or
dislike for something (an idea, object or
person).
An attitude is a readiness to respond in such a
way that behavior is given a certain direction.
– Travers

Nature or Characteristics of Attitudes
Attitudes have a subject-object relationship
Attitudes are learnt
Attitudes represent the state of readiness
Attitudes have definite motivational affective
characteristics.
Attitudes range from strongly positive to strongly
negative

Ice berg Phenomenon of Attitude

Components of Attitudes
An attitude has three components:
Cognitive: It refers to the thinking that brings about the
development of a belief about the attitude object.
Affective: How he feels about it; the emotional component
i.e. feelings or emotions associated with an attitude object.
Conative: Behavioral tendency both verbal and nonverbal
towards the object.

Reactions towards attitude objects
There are four possible reactions towards attitude they are
as follows;
Positive Attitude: The predisposition that results in
desirable outcomes for individuals and organizations.
Negative Attitude: The tendency of a person that result
in an undesirable outcome for individuals and
organizations
Dual Attitude: It refers to the idea that an individual
can have two different attitudes about something.
Indifference: Indifference attitude is the absence of
feeling for or against the person, idea or event.

Development of Attitudes/Formation of Attitudes
 Parents: Family is the first place for formation of
attitudes. Parents begin the information flow that forms
beliefs and attitudes about things.
 Peers: As we grow, we tend to be influenced by other
sources such as friends and group members. They serve
as reference group in the development of attitudes.

Contd……….
 Conditioning : Many attitudes developed on the basis of classical
conditioning are found to be irrational, as they have been paired
with an emotion producing unconditioned stimulus. An attitudinal
response can be learnt through instrumental conditioning by
reinforcing a response that occurred in the presence of a
discriminated stimulus.
 Forming Attitudes by Balance: Balance theory holds that people
prefer consistency or harmony in the relationship among their
cognitions.

Assessment Of Attitude
Attitude can be assessed in two different ways;
Direct method
Indirect method

Direct Assessment Method
Differential Scale
Likert Scale
Guttman Scale
Semantic Differential Scale

Indirect Assessment Method
 Inferring attitude directly from the verbal
report or expressed opinion has many
limitations.
 Certain projective tests are used to assess the
attitude indirectly.

THANK YOU