Attitude Formation

The field of psychology is deeply rooted in the study of attitudes. So much so, in fact, that according to Thomas and Znaniecki (1981, as cited in Fiske, Gilbert, & Lindzey, 2010) the field of psychology was once defined as literally being the “study of attitudes”. Attitudes are present in our lives every day. According to Fazio and Olson (2007), attitudes are evaluations of the positivity or negativity of something, be it an event, object, or an environment. Attitudes, according to Fazio and Olson (2007), let us determine whether something is good/bad, approachable/avoidable, desirable/undesirable, and more. The human capacity to form attitudes about the world allow us to survive in an everchanging environment.

Taking into consideration the importance of attitudes, said attitudes are formed through a combination of cognition, affect, and behavior. What are these things? First, we have cognition. Cognition is defined by Fiske (2014) simply as thought. In other words, thought processes within the mind all fall under cognition. Next, we have affect. Affect, is emotion, or feelings. Happiness, sadness, anger, etc. are all emotions. Finally, we have behaviors. Behavior defined by Fazio and Olson (2007) is action. When an object, event, etc. cause an individual to take action that is behavior.

Attitude formation incorporates one, two, or all three of these aspects (cognition, affect, behavior). One way social psychology see attitude formation is through the three-component model, or tripartite model. This model states that cognition, affect, and behavior are all intertwined into attitude formation. That when attitudes form, one or more of these aspects help to create the attitude (Fazio & Olson, 2007). According to the tripartite model, the more aspects that are involved with the formation of an attitude, the stronger the attitude will be. Furthermore, just because an attitude is based on cognition, doesn’t mean that the affective or behavioral reactions to an object or event will align with that attitude. For example, if cognitive processes form an attitude about abortion, the affective and behavioral reactions to abortion may or may not align with that cognitively created attitude (Fazio & Olson, 2007).

Attitude formations can also be based on emotional, or affective responses to an object, event, or environment. Affective attitude formation comes about when an individual experience positive or negative feeling when exposed to the object, event, etc. (Fazio & Olson, 2007). The most common types of affective attitude formation come most readily from operant conditioning, classical conditioning, and just being exposed to the pleasant or unpleasant stimulus (Fazio & Olson, 2007). For example, ice cream is a sweet treat for many individuals. When eaten, feelings of happiness and pleasure ensue. Thus, an individual who eats ice cream will form an attitude about the positive nature of ice cream, since positive feelings are associated with the activity (Fazio & Olson, 2007).

Attitude formation, however, is about more than just creating associations of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors with an object, event, or environment. Attitude formation has several major functions that are both psychological and physically functional. Attitude formation, according to Katz (1960, as cited in Fazio & Olson, 2007) is a utilitarian, value-expressive function. According to this view, the formation of an attitude is all about maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain (similar to the behaviorist view) and is focused on the survival of the organism in its environment.

Katz (1960, as cited in as cited in Fazio & Olson, 2007) also states that attitude formation has an ego-defensive function related to the psychoanalytic concepts of repression and projection. Katz argued that the formation of attitudes helps to preserve an individual’s self-concept in the face of some sort of threat. For example, Katz mentioned prejudice as a prime example of the ego-defensive function of attitude formation. Katz (1960, as cited in Fazio & Olson, 2007) stated that individuals who suffer from feelings of inferiority will form a prejudicial attitude towards an out-group to protect their own self-concept and make themselves feel better. However, Katz also mentions that prejudice is not the only situation that the ego-defensive functions exists. The ego-defensive function also exists under the condition of any threats to the self, such as economic hardship and health related issues.

A third function of attitude formation is object-appraisal. According to Fazio (1995; Fazio et al., 1992, as cited in Fazio & Olson, 2007), having an attitude about an object, event, or environment, whether it is a positive or negative one, is in and of itself functional. In other words, having an attitude at all is functional. Based on this object-appraisal function of attitude formation, an individual forms attitudes about objects, events, and environments. Then, that individual uses these attitudes to navigate the world. The attitudes that have been formed serve as a guide to efficiently evaluate a new object, event, or environment, and then decide whether it should be avoided or not (Fazio & Olson, 2007).

Earlier, I explained that behavior is one aspect of forming an attitude. However, attitudes themselves can also have a profound effect on behavior. For example, according to several studies conducted by Elliott, Brewster, Thomson, Malcolm, and Rasmussen (2015) attitudes, whether analyzed on a unidimensional measure of positivity/negativity or a bi-dimensional measure of positivity/negativity, have a profound effect on the behavioral intentions and subsequent behaviors of individuals. The studies conducted found that a bi-dimensional measure of positivity/negativity (that is, positivity and negativity are separated in different continuums) is a more accurate predictor of behaviors, and that positive attitudes are more likely to predict subsequent behaviors based on behavioral intentions (Elliott et al., 2015). Keeping this research in mind, I argue that attitudes whether positive or negative have a profound impact on the behaviors that we as individuals engage in, since an attitude allows us to make a decision to avoid or engage with a new event, object, or environment, then these attitudes have a direct influence over our behavior.

References

Elliott, M. A., Brewster, S. E., Thomson, J. A., Malcolm, C., & Rasmussen, S. (2015). Testing the bi-dimensional effects of attitudes on behavioural intentions and subsequent behaviour. British Journal of Psychology, 106(4), 656–674. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1111/bjop.12107

Fazio, R. H., & Olson, M. A. (2007). Attitudes: Foundations, functions, and consequences. In M. A. Hogg & J. M. Cooper (Eds.), The Sage handbook of social psychology: Concise student edition (pp. 123-145). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

Fiske, S. T. (2014). Social beings: Core motives in social psychology. (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Fiske, S. T., Gilbert, D. T., & Lindzey, G. (Eds.). (2010). The handbook of social psychology (Vol.1, 5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Visser, P. S., & Cooper, J. (2007). Attitude Change. In M. A. Hogg & J. M. Cooper (Eds.), The Sage handbook of social psychology: Concise student edition (pp. 197-218). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.