The attitudes They are the recurring forms of behavior that individuals have in the face of certain circumstances or in front of a social object. This concept is studied in psychology, educational psychology, social psychology and sociology. For example: neutral attitude, positive attitude, negative attitude.
According to these social disciplines, an attitude is the predisposition that a subject has to produce the same response to a given stimulus and it is acquired and learned in social interaction.
For this reason, attitudes are not innate, but are produced through the subject’s experience, because this generates feelings, beliefs, and cognitive schemes in relation to a certain social object, that is, an event, a person, a recurring activity. , a subject or any element made by human beings.
Attitudes are not presented in the same way in all subjects because, faced with similar events, two people can have very different responses. Also, they are not fixed, because behavior can change over time.
Attitudes are studied and classified in order to define types of behavior and character. These studies are applied in different fields, for example, in advertising they serve to know and predict how consumers will act.
Elements that make up attitudes
The attitudes consist of:
- behavioral element. It is the propensity to act in a certain way in similar circumstances or in front of the same social object.
- emotional element. It is the feeling that the subject experiences in certain circumstances or in front of a social object.
- cognitive element. It is the representation (beliefs, thoughts and information) that the subject has about a circumstance or about a social object. Without the mental representation, an individual has no information about the object and therefore no attitudes toward it.
Examples of attitudes
There are different types of attitudes, which depend on the experiences and context of each person.
- critical attitude. Subjects who have this attitude deeply analyze all ideas, concepts and knowledge before considering them as true. It is not about negatively criticizing everything that is new, but about studying it critically before accepting it.
- Positive attitude. Subjects who have this attitude perceive the social object as something positive and seek to act in such a way that benefits can be achieved.
- Negative attitude. Subjects who have this attitude perceive the social object as something negative and cannot benefit from this situation.
- manipulative attitude. Subjects who have this attitude only take into account their benefits and interests and use other people to achieve their goals.
- altruistic attitude. Subjects who have this attitude whenever they do something, they do so taking into account the interests and feelings of others. In some cases, they may even forgo benefits so someone else can achieve their goals.
- interested attitude. Subjects who have this attitude tend to do things for others, but only if they get a benefit.
- selfish attitude. Subjects who have this attitude act taking their interests into account and do not care if they can harm another person.
- empathic attitude. Subjects who have this attitude can listen and understand everything that happens to other people, that is, they can put themselves in the place of others and understand their feelings and thoughts.
- Proactive attitude. Subjects who have this attitude perform autonomously and creatively to achieve their goals. In addition, they can resolve conflicts and overcome obstacles with ease.
- reactive attitude. Subjects with this attitude perform well following instructions, but find it difficult to function independently or face new challenges.
- passive attitude. Subjects who have this attitude prefer not to act when new challenges or difficulties are presented and usually have little initiative to carry out activities other than those they already know.
- collaborative attitude. Subjects who have this attitude help others so that they can achieve their goals.
- assertive attitude. Subjects who have this attitude defend their points of view, but without dismissing the opinion of others.
- emotional attitude. Subjects who have this attitude tend to understand the world from their emotions and take into account the feelings and thoughts of other people to act.
- rational attitude. Subjects who have this attitude analyze the social object using logic and leaving their emotions and feelings aside.
- flexible attitude. Subjects with this attitude can easily adapt to new environments or ideas and tend to change their thinking if a valid argument is presented.
- inflexible attitude. Subjects who have this attitude do not usually accept ideas or arguments other than their own and find it difficult to change the way they deal with certain situations.
- prejudiced attitude. Subjects who have this attitude analyze the social object from previous ideas that are usually negative and, generally, it is difficult for them to modify them.
- pessimistic attitude. Subjects who have this attitude tend to only look at the negative aspect of the social object and, therefore, find it hard to believe that reality can improve and that they can participate in this change.
- sardonic attitude. Subjects who have this attitude show contempt for other people, ideas, or activities through ironic and sarcastic comments.
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