Attitude is defined by psychologists as a taught - as opposed to an innate - inclination to appraise things in a certain way. This includes assessing people, topics, items, or events. Such assessments are frequently positive or negative, but they can also be unclear at times. As a result, we frequently speak of having 'mixed feelings' regarding a person or an event. An attitude is a positive or negative expression of one's feelings toward a person, place, thing, or event (or the attitude object). In this article we will discuss Attitude which will be helpful for UPSC exam Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude (GSIV) preparation.

What is Attitude?

• Attitude is a state of mind or a fixed way of thinking or feeling about something in a particular way that has an evaluative feature (Positive, Negative, or Neutral).
• Attitudes are abstract constructs that we cannot actually perceive. We can only observe them by their behaviour.
• To elaborate, anytime a person observes or thinks about a specific thing, the sum of his or her thoughts and feelings becomes attitude.
• In our daily lives, our attitudes impact our behaviour toward people, situations, events, and so on, which shapes the greater social interaction in societies.
• People's behaviours and actions are frequently influenced by their attitudes. If there are no external inputs, attitudes can lead to intended behaviour.
• Over time, attitudes are progressively developed. The process of developing attitude begins in childhood and continues throughout a person's life. Initially, family members may have a stronger influence on a child's attitude.
• There are two types of attitudes: explicit and implicit.
• When a person is conscious of his attitudes and how they influence his behaviour and beliefs, his attitudes are explicit. Explicit attitudes are consciously created.
• Even if a person is ignorant of his implicit beliefs, they nonetheless have an impact on his actions and behaviour. Implicit attitudes are subconsciously held beliefs.

Structure of Attitude

• Rosenberg and Hovland took a three-pronged approach, suggesting that attitudes are composed of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural components.
• The ABC model of attitudes represents three aspects of any attitude: A for affective, B for behavioural, and C for cognitive.
• Despite the fact that all three components are present in all attitudes, every given attitude can be based on one component more than the others.
• The ABC Model or CAB Model refers to this multi-component model. Let's have a look at the model's components.

Cognitive

• It refers to the beliefs, thoughts, and traits that individuals associate with a specific thing.
• The negative and positive traits that a person associates with an object typically impact their attitude.
• We are discussing the cognitive aspect of an attitude when we develop our opinion or judgement based on available information and decide whether we have a favourable or unfavourable perspective on it.
• Example: I believe Snakes are dangerous.

Affective

• The affective component of attitudes is linked to people's feelings or emotions (for example, fear, pity, hatred, liking, and pleasure).
• Affective reactions influence attitudes in a variety of ways.
• Snakes, for example, are feared by many people. As a result of this negative affective response, you're more likely to dislike snakes.
• Affect is important in the creation of attitudes.
• Affect is another important aspect in changing one's mind. Purely cognitive justifications may be trumped by how we feel about a result.

Behavioural (Conative)

• The behavioural (or conative) component of attitudes refers to a tendency or predisposition to act in a particular way.
• A person's predisposition to behave in a given way may be influenced by affective and cognitive factors.
• Example: I will avoid snakes and scream if I see one.

Functions of Attitude

Knowledge Function

• Attitudes have a knowledge function that allows people to grasp their surroundings and be consistent in their beliefs and thinking. In some way, most attitudes serve this fundamental function.
• The knowledge function relates to our need for a consistent and reasonably stable universe. In a nutshell, attitudes serve the purpose of imparting meaning (knowledge) to life.
• Such attitudes are likely to shift in situations when the addition of new facts or experiences makes it harder for the attitude holder to maintain his current attitude.

Utilitarian Function

• Attitude assists people in maximizing benefits and reducing drawbacks when engaging with people, groups, and circumstances in their environment.
• Utilitarian views result in behaviour that serves one's best interests.
• For example, because tax evasion is punishable, a person may abandon tax evasion and begin paying taxes legally.

Social Identity Function

• Attitudes play a social role through facilitating an individual's self-expression and social interaction.
• Subscribing to a specific set of attitudes indicates identification with major reference groups in order to convey basic values and develop one's identity.
• This is known as the social identification function, and it underpins an individual's drive to establish his individual and social identity.

Ego Defensive Function

• Attitudes can be used as a defense mechanism to deal with an individual's internal mental conflict, which reflects conflicts in the individual psyche.
• The defense mechanisms conceal an individual's genuine motivations from himself or isolate him mentally from organizations viewed as hostile or threatening.
• Attitudes also help to sustain self-esteem in other ways. A person's opinions about numerous things are influenced by his perception of how they affect his own self-esteem.
• You might not be able to play football like Messi, for example. Instead of recognizing this truth, you can defend your self-esteem by claiming that you dislike football and are only interested in academic things.
• Positive attitudes toward ourselves, like the example above, perform a protective function (i.e., an ego-defensive role) in assisting us in maintaining our self-image. Otherwise, we risk becoming depressed.

Ego Expressive Function (Value Expressive)

• Our attitudes (what we like and detest) help us represent who we are, what our fundamental values are, and what we stand for. This has two purposes:
  • it helps us explain who we are, and
  • it may make us feel good since we have proclaimed our identity.
• Attitudes can also be expressed nonverbally.
• Ego Expressive attitudes assist a person in establishing his identity and communicating the type of person he is.
• For example, Gandhi shifted from Coat-Pant to Khadi to show his value of self-reliance & simple living.
• As a result, value expressive attitudes aid us in the practice of expression management.
• They, like Ego Defensive Attitudes, are difficult to modify since they are deeply embedded in an individual's mentality.
• However, change may occur:
  • If an individual's values have shifted
  • A person is convinced that the attitudes offered to him will better express his fundamental ideals.

Factors Influencing Attitude Change

1) Culture

• Culture has a huge impact on an individual. Religion, tradition, conventions, prohibitions, rewards, and sanctions are all part of culture.
• Socialisation is the process by which culture changes people's attitudes.
• Individual views, attitudes, and behaviours that are acceptable in one's life and society are taught through culture.
• Consuming beef, for example, is widely considered taboo in India, but not in Western countries.

2) Family

• A person's family is his or her most important and closest social group. It is the nursery for the formation of attitudes.
• Parents have the most influence on the family system since they structure and mould a child's mindset.
• Extended family and sibling connections, in particular, influence attitude formation.

3) Social Groups

• Friends, peers, colleagues, and other social groupings, in addition to family, play a vital influence in attitude formation.
• Consider the Indian voting pattern. Some people do not listen to candidate speeches, read newspapers, or participate in debates. They consult with friends, relatives, and others before casting their vote for a candidate.
• Families, friends, and other social groupings all have a strong influence on a candidate's choice.

4) Institutions

• A man is never by himself. From birth until death, man is influenced by one or more institutions.
• For example, educational institutions such as schools and universities serve as stores of knowledge, directing and shaping a person's views and values, and therefore forming attitudes.

5) Familiarity

• Familiarity breeds positivity. Because man is generally afraid of the unfamiliar, something familiar may help him or her feel at ease.
• Familiarity and classical conditioning alter an individual's feelings, shaping the affective component of attitudes.

Theories Related to Attitude Change

1) Pavlovian / Classical Conditioning

• In this technique, the person is repeatedly exposed to positive and neutral stimuli, and after a while, the response to neutral stimuli becomes the same as the response to positive stimuli.
• When two stimuli are repeatedly coupled, a response that was initially triggered by the second stimulus is finally generated by the first stimulus alone.
• Igor Pavlov discovered it in his dog, bell, and food experiment. As a result, it's also known as Pavlovian Conditioning.
• It can be used to induce phobias in humans. Watson and Rayner demonstrated this in their Experiment on Albert (1920).
• Albert, a nine-month-old infant, was shown a rat, a bunny, a monkey, and numerous masks but remained emotionless. However, if a hammer was struck against a steel bar, the sudden loud noise would cause him to cry.
• During the experiment, he was shown a rat as the hammer was struck against a steel bar. This happened again and again.
• After that, he began to cry when he was just shown a rat.

2) Instrumental / Operant Conditioning

• A process in which a positive conduct, when rewarded, has a higher possibility of recurrence than a bad activity, which, if repeated, results in punishment and so has a lower chance of repetition.
• Example: When parents celebrate their child's accomplishment by complimenting them in front of their peers, the child develops a positive attitude toward success. Furthermore, punishing a child for their faults inhibits the child from repeating those mistakes.

3) Social Observation

• It entails learning from our social surroundings, which includes our family, school, media, and its expression.
• Children observe their parents' attitudes, and most of the time, their attitudes mirror those of their parents.
• If parents adhere to the caste system, their children will as well.
• Whatever one sees on TV or other forms of social media, there is a good chance that person will do it in real life.

Difference Between Attitude and Behaviour

Factors Influencing Attitude-Behaviour Link

Attitude is a set of traits that are evaluated, whereas behaviour is a disposition to act in a specific way. The end effect of attitude is behaviour, yet this cannot always be true. We sometimes fail to respond to a specific issue. As a result, attitudes are not behaviours, but rather a predisposition to behave or act in a certain way.

1) Attitude Relevance

• The greater the vested interest, the stronger the Attitude-Behaviour relationship would be.

2) Attitude Strength

• The more powerful the attitude, the more consistent the Attitude-Behaviour relationship.
• Strength will be high if:
  • attitude is created via direct experience
  • one anticipates a favourable outcome
  • his attitude is established as a result of his vested interests.

3) Attitude Specificity

• Specificity refers to how specific our attitude is toward something. Having numerous or ambiguous opinions regarding something weakens its specificity.
• For example, political attitudes regarding an issue can be ambiguous and vary depending on the group we are in.

4) Attitude Accessibility

• The more accessible the Attitudes are, the more likely they are to dominate our mind.
• The more commonly expressed attitudes are more accessible.

5) Social/ External Pressure

• If we feel that others have a different attitude toward the same thing and we have high regard for those persons, we are less likely to show our genuine attitudes.
• The bandwagon effect occurs when someone does something just because others are doing it. It is frequently observed in political and consumer behaviour.
• Even if you are opposed to the caste system, you may nevertheless marry within your caste due to peer pressure.
• The relationship between attitude and behaviour is not simple. "Social influence / peer pressure" is important and might cause a person to act contrary to his Attitude.

6) Congruence

• Congruence refers to the uniformity of several aspects of our attitude.
• If the information and affective components are discordant, our behaviour will be more situational than attitude-based.

7) Direct Experience

• Attitudes established directly through experience are stronger and have a greater influence on behaviour than attitudes formed indirectly (for example, by hearsay, reading, or watching television).

What is Moral and Political Attitude?

Moral Attitude

• Morality is synonymous with righteousness. Moral attitudes are concerned with righteous behaviour.
• As a result, moral attitudes are not a neutral idea. It is a tendency to be upright or virtuous.
• Some examples of moral attitudes are:
  • Goodness
  • Selflessness
  • Respect
  • Love & Compassion
  • Empathy

Political Attitude

• Political Attitudes are the ways in which an individual approaches a political situation and defines his behaviour in response to that problem.
• It is also a set of norms and regulations, practices, traditions, and beliefs that impact a country's political system.
• An individual's political opinions show that person's perspective on the political side of social living.
• They describe the citizen-government relationship and the functions of the political system.
• Examples:
  • Voter’s voting behaviour in elections is determined by political attitudes followed by individuals and political parties.
  • Government policies were socialist when India gained independence, but following the LPG era in the 1990s, India opened its economy and adopted a pro-market strategy.

Social Influence & Persuasion

Social Influence

• It is a characteristic that can cause a change in a person's behaviour, ideas, feelings, and attitudes as a result of interaction with another person in society.
• The methods in which people influence the attitudes, values, beliefs, sentiments, and behaviours of others are referred to as social influence.
• Example: Our everyday exposure to radio and television commercials, print advertisements, direct solicitations, are attempts at persuasion by salespeople, politicians, and others.
• Theorists divide social influence into three categories: conformity, compliance, and obedience. The main distinction between them is as follows.
  • Conformity is defined as a change in behaviour in response to real or imagined social pressure.
  • Compliance is defined as a change in behaviour in response to an explicit request to perform an action.
  • Obedience is defined as a change in behaviour in response to an extreme pressure demand to perform an action.
• The amount of pressure involved in social influence varies.
• Imitation is a response to no pressure, conformity is a response to peer pressure, compliance is a response to an explicit request to perform some behaviour, and obedience is a response to a direct order to undertake some activity.
• In other words, imitation is the change in behaviour that occurs in the absence of social pressure.
• Obedience is the most direct kind of social influence, while conformity is the most indirect; compliance falls somewhere in between the two.

Social Persuasion

• Persuasion is an active attempt to change the attitudes, opinions, or feelings of another person, usually through some sort of communication.
• It can be done intentionally or unintentionally, depending on how the transformed person sees themselves in connection to the influencer.
• Persuasion is typically recognized as a different sort of social influence from the other three. As you might expect, it has more to do with conformity and compliance.
• Persuasion is an active form of influence that has an internal focus. The purpose of such influence is to change people's thoughts or feelings.
• Systematic persuasion is the process of using logic and reason to influence attitudes or opinions. Heuristic persuasion, on the other hand, is the process of influencing attitudes or views by appeals to habit or emotion.

What is Theory of Persuasion?

• This theory holds that people's perspectives on any subject can be influenced by providing them with relevant knowledge. Many factors come into play while trying to persuade someone to change their minds about anything. These are:
  • the object of the attitude i.e., the thing, person, group, or idea toward which the attitude is directed;
  • the message or information;
  • the manner in which it is delivered;
  • the messenger; and
  • the target audience, i.e., persons whose attitudes need to change.
• An advertising is a simple example of attempting to persuade consumers to purchase a specific brand of goods. It demonstrates all of the aforementioned qualities of persuasion.
• Attitude is established in many business and administrative circumstances by persuading people to change their attitudes, beliefs, and habits.
• It provides the best way to persuade people to change their views, attitudes, and behaviours.
• This hypothesis is also known as the Elaboration Likelihood Theory of Attitude.

Factors Influencing People's Persuasion Success

1) Characteristics of the Target Audience

• To modify people's attitudes toward any object, they must be given facts that they may not have.
• The audience is responsible for receiving and processing the information.
• Their IQ determines their ability to do so.
• People of higher intelligence are unlikely to be swayed by one-sided messages.
• The conventional wisdom holds that convincing people with high self-esteem to adopt new attitudes is difficult.
• The association between self-esteem and readiness to change one's attitude, on the other hand, appears to be curvilinear.
• Individuals with normal levels of self-esteem are thus more willing to adjust their attitudes than those with either high or low self-esteem.
• The target audience's state of mind and mood also influence how they respond to the message.

2) Characteristics of the Source Messenger

• These are the words used to describe the person who is delivering the message.
• The characteristics that affect a person's effectiveness in presenting a message include his competence, trustworthiness, and appeal to the audience.
• To be persuaded, the listener must be certain that the message is authoritative and authentic.

3) Cognitive Routes

• A message attempting to modify an individual's mindset may appeal to his or her intellect or reasoning faculty.
• This appeal can be made via the central or peripheral routes.
• In the central route, the individual is supplied with data and motivated to examine the evidence in order to reach an attitude-changing conclusion.
• In the peripheral route, the individual is taught to look at the source rather than the content for attitude transformation. This is prevalent in recent advertising starring celebrities.
• For example, having a popular athlete endorse athletic shoes is a common strategy used to attract young adults to buy the shoes.

Conclusion

Attitude is not just an intangible concept but a driving force behind our actions and behaviours. It encapsulates our beliefs, feelings, and predispositions towards various aspects of life, shaping our interactions and responses. A well-balanced and informed attitude can be a beacon, guiding us towards choices that foster harmony, understanding, and progress. As we navigate through the complexities of modern life, it becomes imperative to reflect upon and recalibrate our attitudes, ensuring they align with the values and principles that contribute to a just and inclusive society.

FAQs

Question. What is attitude in the context of ethics?

Question. How does attitude affect decision-making in ethics?

Question. What are the different types of attitudes that impact ethical behavior?

Question. How can one develop a positive attitude towards ethics?

Question. Why is attitude important for public servants and leaders in society?

MCQs

1. What is the main impact of a positive attitude on ethical decision-making?

A) It promotes self-interest

B) It encourages ethical behavior and moral decision-making

C) It leads to unethical practices

D) It fosters apathy and indifference

2. Which of the following is a characteristic of a negative attitude in ethics?

A) Selflessness and empathy

B) Dishonesty and disregard for others' welfare

C) Commitment to moral values

D) Active participation in community welfare

3. How can one develop a positive ethical attitude?

A) By ignoring ethical principles

B) Through continuous self-reflection, learning, and empathy

C) By focusing only on personal gain

D) By avoiding challenges and risks

4. What is the consequence of a passive attitude in ethics?

A) Increased accountability

B) Indifference towards ethical issues and inaction

C) Stronger commitment to ethical values

D) Immediate resolution of ethical dilemmas

5. Why is a positive ethical attitude essential for public servants?

A) It helps them gain personal wealth

B) It ensures they act in the public’s best interest

C) It allows them to ignore ethical concerns

D) It encourages them to prioritize their own interests

GS Mains Questions and Model Answers

Q1: Discuss the role of attitude in ethical decision-making. How can attitude shape the moral behavior of individuals in society?

Answer: Attitude plays a central role in shaping ethical decision-making. It serves as the foundation upon which individuals make judgments and take actions in various situations. When individuals have a positive attitude towards ethical behavior, they are more likely to make decisions based on values like honesty, justice, fairness, and respect for others. For example, someone with a positive ethical attitude will prioritize the well-being of others in situations of moral conflict, demonstrating a commitment to ethical principles even when personal interests are at stake.

Q2: How can public servants develop and maintain a positive ethical attitude in their professional roles?

Answer: Public servants hold positions of significant responsibility, and their actions directly impact the well-being of society. Maintaining a positive ethical attitude is therefore critical for ensuring that they serve the public with integrity, fairness, and justice. Developing a positive ethical attitude involves a combination of education, self-reflection, and practical application of ethical principles.
Additionally, developing empathy and a sense of social responsibility helps public servants connect with the needs of the communities they serve. They should constantly strive to put public welfare above personal interests and work to ensure transparency and accountability in their work. Strong leadership, mentorship, and a commitment to continuous ethical improvement can help public servants develop and maintain a positive attitude, ultimately ensuring that they uphold the trust placed in them by society.

Q3: Analyze the relationship between attitude and ethical conduct in leadership positions.

Answer: The relationship between attitude and ethical conduct in leadership positions is both direct and profound. A leader’s attitude sets the tone for the ethical standards of an organization or society. Leaders with a positive ethical attitude lead by example, demonstrating fairness, honesty, and respect in their decisions and interactions. Their behavior influences their followers and creates a culture of integrity and accountability within their organization.

Previous Year Questions on  Attitude

1. UPSC CSE 2020

Question: Which of the following is a characteristic of a positive ethical attitude?

Answer: A positive ethical attitude is characterized by honesty, fairness, and empathy towards others, promoting ethical behavior and moral decision-making.

2. UPSC CSE 2019

Question: How does an individual’s attitude influence their ethical decision-making?

Answer: An individual’s attitude significantly influences their ethical decision-making by shaping their priorities, values, and the way they respond to moral dilemmas. A positive attitude promotes ethical conduct, while a negative attitude may lead to unethical behavior.