Positive Attitude
An
attitude is an expression of favor or disfavor toward a person, place, thing, or
event (the attitude object). Prominent psychologist Gordon Allport once
described attitudes "the most distinctive and indispensable concept in
contemporary social psychology.". Attitude can be formed from a person's past
and present.
In
lay language, attitude may refer to the distinct concept of mood, or be
especially synonymous with teenage rebellion.
Definitions of attitude
An attitude
can be defined as a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, event,
activities, ideas, or just about anything in your environment, but there is
debate about precise definitions. Eagly and Chaiken, for example, define an
attitude "a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular
entity with some degree of favor or disfavor." Though it is sometimes common to
define an attitude as affect toward an object, affect (i.e., discrete emotions
or overall arousal) is generally understood to be distinct from attitude as a
measure of favor ability.
This
definition of attitude allows for one's evaluation of an attitude object to vary
from extremely negative to extremely positive, but also admits that people can
also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object meaning that they might at
different times express both positive and negative attitude toward the same
object. This has led to some discussion of whether individual can hold multiple
attitudes toward the same object.
Whether
attitudes are explicit (i.e., deliberately formed) versus implicit (i.e.,
subconscious) has been a topic of considerable research. Research on implicit
attitudes, which are generally unacknowledged or outside of awareness, uses
sophisticated methods involving people's response times to stimuli to show that
implicit attitudes exist (perhaps in tandem with explicit attitudes of the same
object). Implicit and explicit attitudes seem to affect people's behavior,
though in different ways. They tend not to be strongly associated with each
other, although in some cases they are. The relationship between them is poorly
understood.
Jung's
definition
Attitude is
one of Jung's 57 definitions in Chapter XI of Psychological Types. Jung's
definition of attitude is a "readiness of the psyche to act or react in a
certain way" (Jung, [1921] 1971:par. 687). Attitudes very often come in pairs,
one conscious and the other unconscious. Within this broad definition Jung
defines several attitudes.
The main
(but not only) attitude dualities that Jung defines are the
following.
Consciousness and the unconscious. The "presence of two attitudes
is extremely frequent, one conscious and the other unconscious. This means that
consciousness has a constellation of contents different from that of the
unconscious, a duality particularly evident in neurosis" (Jung, [1921] 1971:
par. 687).
Extraversion and introversion. This pair is so elementary to
Jung's theory of types that he labeled them the "attitude-types".
Rational
and irrational attitudes. "I conceive reason as an attitude" (Jung, [1921] 1971:
par. 785).
The rational attitude subdivides into the thinking and feeling
psychological functions, each with its attitude.
The irrational attitude
subdivides into the sensing and intuition psychological functions, each with its
attitude. "There is thus a typical thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuitive
attitude" (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 691).
Individual and social attitudes.
Many of the latter are "isms".
In addition,
Jung discusses the abstract attitude. “When I take an abstract attitude...”
(Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 679). Abstraction is contrasted with creationism.
“CREATIONISM. By this I mean a peculiarity of thinking and feeling which is the
antithesis of abstraction” (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 696). For example: "I hate
his attitude for being Sarcastic."
Measuring
attitudes
Many
measurements and scales are used to examine attitudes. Attitudes can be
difficult to measure because measurement is arbitrary, meaning people have to
give attitudes a scale to measure it against, and attitudes are ultimately a
hypothetical construct that cannot be observed
directly.
Following
the explicit-implicit dichotomy, attitudes can be examined through direct and
indirect measures.
Explicit
Measurements Explicit measures tend to rely on self-reports or easily observed
behaviors. These tend to involve bipolar scales (e.g., good-bad,
favorable-unfavorable, support-oppose, etc.). Explicit measures can also be used
by measuring the straightforward attribution of characteristics to nominate
groups, such as "I feel that baptists are....?" or "I think that men are...?"
Liker scales and other self-reports are also commonly
used.
Implicit
Measurements Implicit measures are not consciously directed and are assumed to
be automatic, which may make implicit measures more valid and reliable than
explicit measures (such as self-reports). For example, people can be motivated
such that they find it socially desirable to appear to have certain attitudes.
An example of this is that people can hold implicit prejudicial attitudes, but
express explicit attitudes that report little prejudice. Implicit measures help
account for these situations and look at attitudes that a person may not be
aware of or want to show.[8] Implicit measures therefore usually rely on an
indirect measure of attitude. For example, the Implicit Association Test (IAT)
examines the strength between the target concept and an attribute element by
considering the latency in which a person can examine two response keys when
each has two meanings. With little time to carefully examine what the
participant is doing they respond according to internal keys. This priming can
show attitudes the person has about a particular
object
attitude is an expression of favor or disfavor toward a person, place, thing, or
event (the attitude object). Prominent psychologist Gordon Allport once
described attitudes "the most distinctive and indispensable concept in
contemporary social psychology.". Attitude can be formed from a person's past
and present.
In
lay language, attitude may refer to the distinct concept of mood, or be
especially synonymous with teenage rebellion.
Definitions of attitude
An attitude
can be defined as a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, event,
activities, ideas, or just about anything in your environment, but there is
debate about precise definitions. Eagly and Chaiken, for example, define an
attitude "a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular
entity with some degree of favor or disfavor." Though it is sometimes common to
define an attitude as affect toward an object, affect (i.e., discrete emotions
or overall arousal) is generally understood to be distinct from attitude as a
measure of favor ability.
This
definition of attitude allows for one's evaluation of an attitude object to vary
from extremely negative to extremely positive, but also admits that people can
also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object meaning that they might at
different times express both positive and negative attitude toward the same
object. This has led to some discussion of whether individual can hold multiple
attitudes toward the same object.
Whether
attitudes are explicit (i.e., deliberately formed) versus implicit (i.e.,
subconscious) has been a topic of considerable research. Research on implicit
attitudes, which are generally unacknowledged or outside of awareness, uses
sophisticated methods involving people's response times to stimuli to show that
implicit attitudes exist (perhaps in tandem with explicit attitudes of the same
object). Implicit and explicit attitudes seem to affect people's behavior,
though in different ways. They tend not to be strongly associated with each
other, although in some cases they are. The relationship between them is poorly
understood.
Jung's
definition
Attitude is
one of Jung's 57 definitions in Chapter XI of Psychological Types. Jung's
definition of attitude is a "readiness of the psyche to act or react in a
certain way" (Jung, [1921] 1971:par. 687). Attitudes very often come in pairs,
one conscious and the other unconscious. Within this broad definition Jung
defines several attitudes.
The main
(but not only) attitude dualities that Jung defines are the
following.
Consciousness and the unconscious. The "presence of two attitudes
is extremely frequent, one conscious and the other unconscious. This means that
consciousness has a constellation of contents different from that of the
unconscious, a duality particularly evident in neurosis" (Jung, [1921] 1971:
par. 687).
Extraversion and introversion. This pair is so elementary to
Jung's theory of types that he labeled them the "attitude-types".
Rational
and irrational attitudes. "I conceive reason as an attitude" (Jung, [1921] 1971:
par. 785).
The rational attitude subdivides into the thinking and feeling
psychological functions, each with its attitude.
The irrational attitude
subdivides into the sensing and intuition psychological functions, each with its
attitude. "There is thus a typical thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuitive
attitude" (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 691).
Individual and social attitudes.
Many of the latter are "isms".
In addition,
Jung discusses the abstract attitude. “When I take an abstract attitude...”
(Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 679). Abstraction is contrasted with creationism.
“CREATIONISM. By this I mean a peculiarity of thinking and feeling which is the
antithesis of abstraction” (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 696). For example: "I hate
his attitude for being Sarcastic."
Measuring
attitudes
Many
measurements and scales are used to examine attitudes. Attitudes can be
difficult to measure because measurement is arbitrary, meaning people have to
give attitudes a scale to measure it against, and attitudes are ultimately a
hypothetical construct that cannot be observed
directly.
Following
the explicit-implicit dichotomy, attitudes can be examined through direct and
indirect measures.
Explicit
Measurements Explicit measures tend to rely on self-reports or easily observed
behaviors. These tend to involve bipolar scales (e.g., good-bad,
favorable-unfavorable, support-oppose, etc.). Explicit measures can also be used
by measuring the straightforward attribution of characteristics to nominate
groups, such as "I feel that baptists are....?" or "I think that men are...?"
Liker scales and other self-reports are also commonly
used.
Implicit
Measurements Implicit measures are not consciously directed and are assumed to
be automatic, which may make implicit measures more valid and reliable than
explicit measures (such as self-reports). For example, people can be motivated
such that they find it socially desirable to appear to have certain attitudes.
An example of this is that people can hold implicit prejudicial attitudes, but
express explicit attitudes that report little prejudice. Implicit measures help
account for these situations and look at attitudes that a person may not be
aware of or want to show.[8] Implicit measures therefore usually rely on an
indirect measure of attitude. For example, the Implicit Association Test (IAT)
examines the strength between the target concept and an attribute element by
considering the latency in which a person can examine two response keys when
each has two meanings. With little time to carefully examine what the
participant is doing they respond according to internal keys. This priming can
show attitudes the person has about a particular
object
