IGNOU : M.COM : MCO 1 : UNIT 7 : Q - 1. What do you mean by the term attitude ? Describe process of formation of attitude.

 Ans. Definition of Attitude 

According to Baron, Attitude is defined as, lasting evaluations of people, groups, objects, or issues- in fact, of virtually any aspect of the social or physical world. Petty and Cacioppo state, Attitudes are general evaluations people make about themselves, other persons, objects, or issues. Breckler and Wiggins state, Attitudes are enduring mental representations of various features of the social or physical world. They are acquired through experience and exert a directive influence on subsequent behaviour.

PROCESS OF FORMATION OF ATTITUDE 

There are basically two sources of formation of attitude: a) Social Learning, and, b) Direct Experience: 

a) Social Learning : It is acquiring attitudes from others. There are broadly three processes of acquiring attitudes through social learning: Classical Conditioning, Instrumental Conditioning, and Modeling. 

• Classical Conditioning is a basic form of learning in which one stimulus regularly precedes another. It is learning based of association, that when first stimulus is present, the second would follow. Prejudices and preferences are created through classical conditioning. Classical Conditioning can play a role in the development of attitudes. 

• Instrumental Conditioning is concerned with learning to express the “right” views. Instrumental Conditioning is created through rewarding a desirable behaviour and discouraging an undesirable behaviour. Thus a particular type of attitude is created towards a particular type of action through Instrumental Conditioning. 

• Modeling as a concept, deals with individuals acquiring new behaviours through observing the actions of others. Individuals tend to do what others do, not what others say. Thus attitudes may be transmitted from one person to another, or from one group to another, or from one generation to another. 

b) Direct Experience : Attitudes are also formed through real life experience, which may be also called as direct experience or personal experience. Various studies suggest that strength of the attitudes acquired through direct experience is stronger than the strength of attitudes acquired indirectly. Attitudes acquired through direct experience are held more confidently and are more difficult to be subjected to change. If you hold strong attitude about an object, issue, or a person, and you want others to properly understand your stand, it is better to let others have direct experience with the attitude object.