Attitudes involve some knowledge of a situation. However, the
essential aspect of the attitude is found in the fact that some characteristic
feeling or emotion is experienced and, as we would accordingly expect, some
definite tendency to action is associated. Subjectively, then, the important
factor is the feeling or emotion.
Objectively it is the response, or at least the tendency to
respond. Attitudes it is the response, or at least the tendency to respond.
Attitudes are important determinants of behaviour. If we are to change them we
must change the emotional components. All port has defined attitude as a mental
and neutral state of readiness organised through experience, exerting a
directive or dynamic influence upon the individual's response to all objects
with which it is related.
A farmers may vote for a particular political party because he has
been brought up to believe that it is "right" party. In the course of
experience he may learn some thing about the policies of that party. In that
case his attitude will probably change. As a result, he may be expected to vote
in a different way. Knowledge, attitude and behaviour are then very closely
linked.
Measuring attitudes
Attitude scales: It is meant
for scientific studies. Scales have been developed for measuring a great number
of attitudes. Each scale consists of a group of statements related to a
particular attitude. Each scale consists of a group of statements related to a
particular attitude. Some scales ask the person to respond by indicating whether
he agrees or disagrees with each statement. Other scales ask the person to
specify the degree of his agreement with a statement. The degree of agreement
or disagreement will be given predetermined values.
Public opinion poll: A large
number of people are asked only a question or two because they don't have much
time to respond to many items.
There are two major problems in public opinion poll (i) wording of
questions and (ii) sampling. For the poll be accurate, the sample
must be representative. For this we have to use stratified sampling. In
stratified sampling, the polling agencies set quotas for certain categories of
people based on census data. The most common categories are age, sex,
socio-economic status, and geographical region, all of which are known to
influence opinions. By seeing to it that the quotas in the sample are in
proportion to the categories in the general population, the sample is made more
representative.
Attitude change
Well established attitudes tend to be resistant to change, but
others may be more amenable to change. Attitudes can be changed by a variety of
ways. Some of the ways of attitude change are as follows.
1) By obtaining new information from other people and mass media,
resulting in changes in cognitive component of a person's attitudes.
2) Attitudes may change through direct experience.
3) Attitudes may change through legislation.
4) Since person's attitudes are anchored in his membership group
and reference groups, one way to change the attitude is to modify one or the
other.
5) Attitude change differs with reference to the situation also.
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATTITUDES
I. MATURATION
The young child has only a very limited capacity for understanding
the world about him and he is consequently incapable of forming attitudes about
remote, or complex, or abstract things or problems.
At about a mental age of twelve years the child begins to
understand abstract terms such as pity and justice, and his capacity for both
inductive and deductive reasoning shows a marked and continuous increase during
adolescence. As a result of this growth in capacity, he becomes able to
understand and react to more abstract and more generalized propositions, ideas
and ideals.
At the age of four or five years, three
characteristics especially deserve mention. These are curiosity,
centra-suggestibility, and independence. The child at this age is likely to
express his curiosity by asking an endless series of questions.
Adolescence is marked especially by the maturation of sex emotions
and by the development of altruism and co-operativeness. These in large measure
furnish the basis for the formation of attitudes that differentiate adults from
children. Boys at the age of twelve years may have a distant interest in girls
and they may even have crushes on particular girls, but their interest is quite
different from what it will be some years later.
2. PHYSICAL FACTORS
Clinical psychologists have generally recognised that physical
health and vitality are important factors in determining adjustment, and
frequently it has been found that malnutrition or disease or accidents have
interfered so seriously with normal development that serious behaviour
disturbances have followed.
3. HOME INFLUENCES
It is generally accepted that attitudes are determined largely by
social environment and that home influences are especially important.
4. THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
The home environment is of primary
importance in the formation of early attitudes, but friends, associates and the
general social environment come to have an increasing influence as the child
grows older and has wider social contacts.
5. GOVERNMENT
The form of the government seems to be
an important factor in determining attitudes both towards government itself and
towards other things.
6. MOVIE PICTURES
Attendance at movie pictures constitutes
another important possible influence in determination of attitudes. Thurstone
concluded that films definitely change social. One of the categories in Brown's study was "manner of
presentation" of subject matter. This was judged to have a
favourable effect by 8.0 per cent of the students and an unfavourable effect by
17.7 per cent. attitudes, although only about 10 per
cent of the attitudes studied seemed to be affected by movie attendance.
7. THE TEACHER
Brown asked 300 graduate and
undergraduate students in educational sociology to evaluate the various factors
in their school experience that had been influential in the formation of
personality and character traits. According to their judgement, the
personalities of their teachers had been the most important single factor, 65.3
per cent thought this influence had been good, but 33.3 per cent thought it had
been unfavourable. Only about 10 per cent did not consider, the teacher's
influence important.
8. THE CURRICULUM
Thorndike asked 155 teachers to rate
eleven subjects and activities on the basis of what they considered the value
of these to be or the training of character. Teaching has the highest rank, but
athletic sports come next. English literature and history have the best ranks
for the regular school subjects; mathematics and foreign languages are ranked
much lower. This indicates that, in the opinion of this group of teachers,
literature and the social sciences have more influence than other subjects on
the determination of attitudes. This seems a reasonable view and it suggests
that the units of work and the readings in these areas should be selected with
particular reference to their probable influence on the attitudes formed by the
students.
Development of Attitude
Attitudes are not mere accidents of individual experience. They
result from day-to-day living in the home, in the school, and in the community.
Whatever attitude children develop can be traced, in part atleast, to the
effect upon them, of teacher precept and example. The challenge to teacher is
that of helping the learner retain his identity, develop his individuality and absorb a
background of democratic culture. Theoretically all education is aimed at
helping learners develop to the full extent of their ability and those
attitudes that fit them for living constructively in a democratic society.
Attitudes are formed without direction and also by direction as
the result of careful planning by a person or persons who desire to encourage
the development of certain attitudes in others. One function of school is that
of stimulating young people towards acquisition of attitudes that are
individually and socially desirable. It is through initiation, emotional
experience and deliberate efforts on the part of the individual himself,
teacher, and other and new attitudes arise.
Child is a
great initiator and builds its most of attitudes in that way. Adolescent develops attitude by his enlarging adjustment problems with expanding groups.
The environment to which he is exposed influences the attitude either desirable
or undesirably. Radio, television, film and printed matter contribute to the
attitude development. Thus, there are so many factors that influence the adults
to develop attitudes.
