What are feelings that are based on beliefs that predispose people to react in a particular way to objects people and events?

Attitudes: Beliefs and feelings that predispose people to respond in particular ways to situations and other people.
Central route to persuasion: A method of persuasion in which you are convinced by the content of the message.
Peripheral route to persuasion: A method of persuasion in which you are convinced by something other than the message’s content.
Mere-exposure effect: The tendency to like new stimuli more when you encounter it more frequently.
Foot-in-the-door technique: A persuasive technique that begins with a small request to encourage compliance with a larger request.
Door-in-the-face technique: A persuasive technique that begins with an outrageous request in order to increase the likelihood that a second, more reasonable request is granted.
Cognitive dissonance: An uncomfortable state of mind arising when you recognize inconsistencies in your beliefs and/or behaviors.
Attribution theory: A theory that describes how people explain their own and others’ behavior.
Dispositional attribution: A type of attribution in which you assign responsibility for an event or action to the person involved.
Situational attribution: A type of attribution in which you assign responsibility for an event or action to the circumstances of the situation.
Stable attribution: An attribution in which you believe a cause to be consistent and relatively constant over time.
Unstable attribution: An attribution that credits a one-time source as the cause of an event.
Fundamental attribution error: The tendency to make dispositional attributions instead of situational attributions for other people’s behavior.
Self-serving bias: The tendency to make dispositional attributions about your successes and situational attributions about your failures.
Just-world hypothesis: The belief that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.
Attraction: The ways in which you take interest in and feel positively towards others (romantically or platonically).
Physical attractiveness: The possession of outward physiological characteristics deemed to be appealing.
Matching hypothesis: The tendency for people to pick partners who are roughly equal in level of attractiveness to themselves.
Proximity: The tendency to like people geographically close to you.
Similarity: The tendency to be attracted to people who share characteristics with you.
Reciprocal liking: The tendency to like people who like you.
Altruism: Prosocial behaviors that benefit other people at a cost to yourself.
Kin selection: An evolutionary explanation for altruism proposing that people are altruistic to family members to ensure the continuation of their genes.
Reciprocity: The tendency to help people who help you, which helps to explain altruistic behavior towards non-family members.
Sexual selection: The tendency for genes that increase reproductive fitness to perpetuate. Altruism may be sexually selected because people find kindness attractive.
Aggression: Any type of behavior, physical or verbal, that is intended to harm or destroy.
Instrumental aggression: “Cold” aggressive behaviors that are carried out to attain a certain goal.
Hostile aggression: “Hot” aggressive behaviors that aim to inflict pain or harm.
Frustration-aggression model: Proposes that, when a desired goal is unmet, a person becomes frustrated, which can lead to aggressive behaviors.

Table of Contents Show

Cognitive Component
Affective Component
Behavioral Component

Attitudes are simply expressions of much we like or dislike various things. Attitudes represent our evaluations, preferences or rejections based on the information we receive.

It is a generalized tendency to think or act in a certain way in respect of some object or situation, often accompanied by feelings. It is a learned predisposition to respond in a consistent manner with respect to a given object.

This can include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times.

These are the way of thinking, and they shape how we relate to the world both in work and Outside of work. Researchers also suggest that there are several different components that make up attitudes.

One can see this by looking at the three components of an attitude: cognition, affect and behavior.

3 components of attitude are;

Cognitive Component.
Affective Component.
Behavioral Component.

Cognitive Component

The cognitive component of attitudes refers to the beliefs, thoughts, and attributes that we would associate with an object. It is the opinion or belief segment of an attitude. It refers to that part of attitude which is related in general knowledge of a person.

Typically these come to light in generalities or stereotypes, such as ‘all babies are cute’, ‘smoking is harmful to health’ etc.

Affective Component

Affective component is the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.

It is related to the statement which affects another person.

It deals with feelings or emotions that are brought to the surface about something, such as fear or hate. Using the above example, someone might have the attitude that they love all babies because they are cute or that they hate smoking because it is harmful to health.

Behavioral Component

Behavior component of an attitude consists of a person’s tendencies to behave’in a particular way toward an object. It refers to that part of attitude which reflects the intention of a person in the short-run or long run.

Using the above example, the behavioral attitude maybe- ‘I cannot wait to kiss the baby’, or ‘we better keep those smokers out of the library, etc.

Conclusion

Attitude is composed of three components, which include a cognitive component, effective or emotional component, and a behavioral component.

Basically, the cognitive component is based on the information or knowledge, whereas the affective component is based on the feelings.

The behavioral component reflects how attitude affects the way we act or behave. It is helpful in understanding their complexity and the potential relationship between attitudes and behavior.

But for clarity’s sake, keep in mind that the term attitude essentially refers to the affected part of the three components.

In an organization, attitudes are important for their goal or objective to succeed. Each one of these components is very different from the other, and they can build upon one another to form our attitudes and, therefore, affect how we relate to the world.

In psychology, an attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular object, person, thing, or event. Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing, and they can have a powerful influence over behavior. While attitudes are enduring, they can also change.

Illustration by JR Bee, Verywell

What's your opinion on the death penalty? Which political party does a better job of running the country? Should prayer be allowed in schools? Should violence on television be regulated?

Chances are that you probably have fairly strong opinions on these and similar questions. You've developed attitudes about such issues, and these attitudes influence your beliefs as well as your behavior. Attitudes are an important topic of study within the field of social psychology. But what exactly is an attitude? How does it develop?

Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. This can include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times.

For example, you might have mixed feelings about a particular person or issue. Researchers also suggest that there are several different components that make up attitudes. The components of attitudes are sometimes referred to as CAB or the ABC's of attitude.

Cognitive Component: Your thoughts and beliefs about the subject
Affective Component: How the object, person, issue, or event makes you feel
Behavioral Component: How attitude influences your behavior

Attitudes can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitudes are those that we are consciously aware of and that clearly influence our behaviors and beliefs. Implicit attitudes are unconscious but still have an effect on our beliefs and behaviors.

There are a number of factors that can influence how and why attitudes form. Here is a closer look at how attitudes form.

Attitudes form directly as a result of experience. They may emerge due to direct personal experience, or they may result from observation.

Social roles and social norms can have a strong influence on attitudes. Social roles relate to how people are expected to behave in a particular role or context. Social norms involve society's rules for what behaviors are considered appropriate.

Attitudes can be learned in a variety of ways. Consider how advertisers use classical conditioning to influence your attitude toward a particular product. In a television commercial, you see young, beautiful people having fun on a tropical beach while enjoying a sports drink. This attractive and appealing imagery causes you to develop a positive association with this particular beverage.

Operant conditioning can also be used to influence how attitudes develop. Imagine a young man who has just started smoking. Whenever he lights up a cigarette, people complain, chastise him, and ask him to leave their vicinity. This negative feedback from those around him eventually causes him to develop an unfavorable opinion of smoking and he decides to give up the habit.

Finally, people also learn attitudes by observing people around them. When someone you admire greatly espouses a particular attitude, you are more likely to develop the same beliefs. For example, children spend a great deal of time observing the attitudes of their parents and usually begin to demonstrate similar outlooks.

We tend to assume that people behave according to their attitudes. However, social psychologists have found that attitudes and actual behavior are not always perfectly aligned.

After all, plenty of people support a particular candidate or political party and yet fail to go out and vote. People also are more likely to behave according to their attitudes under certain conditions.

Are an expert on the subject
Expect a favorable outcome
Experience something personally
Stand to win or lose something due to the issue
Are repeatedly expressed attitudes

In some cases, people may actually alter their attitudes in order to better align them with their behavior. Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon in which a person experiences psychological distress due to conflicting thoughts or beliefs. In order to reduce this tension, people may change their attitudes to reflect their other beliefs or actual behaviors.

Imagine the following situation: You've always placed a high value on financial security, but you start dating someone who is very financially unstable. In order to reduce the tension caused by the conflicting beliefs and behavior, you have two options.

You can end the relationship and seek out a partner who is more financially secure, or you can de-emphasize fiscal stability importance.

In order to minimize the dissonance between your conflicting attitude and behavior, you either have to change the attitude or change your actions.

While attitudes can have a powerful effect on behavior, they are not set in stone. The same influences that lead to attitude formation can also create attitude change.

Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning can be used to bring about attitude change. Classical conditioning can be used to create positive emotional reactions to an object, person, or event by associating positive feelings with the target object.

Operant conditioning can be used to strengthen desirable attitudes and weaken undesirable ones. People can also change their attitudes after observing the behavior of others.

This theory of persuasion suggests that people can alter their attitudes in two ways. First, they can be motivated to listen and think about the message, thus leading to an attitude shift.

Or, they might be influenced by the characteristics of the speaker, leading to a temporary or surface shift in attitude. Messages that are thought-provoking and that appeal to logic are more likely to lead to permanent changes in attitudes.

As mentioned earlier, people can also change their attitudes when they have conflicting beliefs about a topic. In order to reduce the tension created by these incompatible beliefs, people often shift their attitudes.