Examining our attitudes

When this article began, the first thing that came to mind was the phrase of the famous psychiatrist, neurologist and founder of the logotherapy, Viktor and. Frankl: "Everything can be taken from the human being except the last of freedoms: the attitude that will face a certain circumstance". And is that the attitude, without a doubt, is one of the most powerful tools we have. But this time I would like us to go a little further, analyze them a little more thoroughly, know what their nature is, what are their functions, what the measuring instruments we have and, more important of them to be able to take action.

The actitudes

To the opinions, beliefs and feelings that predispose us to respond in certain ways, people and situations we call attitudes. Obviously, there is a close connection between our attitudes and our behaviors. Briñol, from the Court and Becerra (2001) synthesizes it like this:

“Attitudes are defined as positive or negative evaluations that people perform before different social objects and that receive the generic name of attitude objects". For example, we could say that a person who is in favor of euthanasia has a positive attitude regarding this matter, while another who does not agree that we would say that he has a negative attitude. According to the culture in which we have been born and the type of events lived, we will have an attitude or another in situations such as, for example, death.

All attitudes are learned and when learned they can be modified, but many of them are quite stable and will keep or experience small changes throughout our existence. They are acquired and modified by the same processes that are acquired and modified the behaviors. Through classical conditioning, operant conditioning and modeling we can acquire and modify our attitudes, But there is also another mechanism for acquiring attitudes, social comparison which is a tendency to compare ourselves with others to determine whether our vision of reality is right or not.

An example of the modification of our attitudes based on the opinion of those around us is the experiment conducted by Maio, Esses and Bell in 1994, in which the authors demonstrated how information invented in a favorable or unfavorable sense (towards the members of a group) modified the attitudes of people exposed to such information in such a way that those who received favorable information expressed more favorable attitudes than those who received the opposite information. We are influenced!

While it is true that the first phases of life suppose greater changes regarding attitudes, during adulthood they also continue certain modifications since there is an influence between the actions we carry out and our attitudes.

Nature of attitudes and their components

Our attitudes have three components: cognitive, affective and behavioral.  It is possible that in an attitude we find more of one component than from another.

• Cognitive component: For there to be an attitude, it is necessary that we have a cognitive representation of the object (perceptions, beliefs and information about the object). Unknown objects or on those who do not possess information cannot generate attitudes and this cognitive representation can be vague or wrong.
• Affective component: These are the sensations and feelings that this object produces in us, is the feeling in favor or against a corporate purpose, and is the most characteristic component of attitudes. Here lies the main difference with beliefs and opinions (which are characterized by their cognitive component). We all experience different experiences with the object that can be positive or negative.
• Behavioral component: They are the intentions, provisions or trends towards an object, it is when a true association between object and subject arises. It is the tendency to react towards objects in a certain way. It is the active component of attitude.

The functions of attitudes

Attitudes can have functions either of knowledge, adaptation, defense or expression.

1. Of knowledge. Attitudes can act as cognitive schemes or filters. A prejudice towards a specific group (either by ethnicity, age, religion, etc.) can block the knowledge of very positive aspects that arise; We will stay with the negative. Sometimes, to measure attitudes, hypothetical situations can be presented to see how the attitude filters the acquisition of knowledge.

2. Of adaptation. Attitudes allow us to adapt and integrate into social groups. To be able to belong to a group, I have to think and make the most similar as possible to the characteristics of the group.

3. Defensive ego. We can develop attitudes to defend ourselves to certain objects. Before objects that we perceive threatening, we develop negative attitudes to preserve the self. Example: "The teacher has mania" as a defense against my inability or irresponsibility.

4. Expressive. Attitudes allow us to show our identity (what we are and how we are).