Module IV

Building Positive Attitude

•Meaning and Nature of Attitude
•Components and Types of Attitudes
•Relevance and Importance of Attitudes
 What is an Attitude?
 A positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a
person, object, or idea, expressed at some level
of intensity (e.g., love, like, dislike, detest)
 Attitude is a state of mind
 Your attitude is your mind-set
 It is the way you look at things mentally
 Definition
 “An attitude is a state of mind, a set of views or
thoughts regarding objects, ideas, events or
people”.
 “Attitudes are evaluations people make about
objects, ideas, events, or other people. Attitudes
can be positive or negative”.
 “An attitude is a dispositional readiness to respond
to certain situations persons or objects in a
consistent manner which has been learned or has
become ones typical mode of response”.
 Characteristics of Attitude

 Can be positive or negative

 May be reflected in behavior
 Learned
 Often difficult to change.
 Components of Attitudes

Cognitive
Cognitive

Attitude
Attitude
Affective
Affective

Behavioral
Behavioral
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 Components of Attitudes
 COGNITIVE (Thought)
beliefs about attitude object (positive & negative)

 AFFECTIVE (Emotions)
emotions and feelings the object triggers (positive &
negative)

 BEHAVIORAL (Action)
reaction toward the object (positive & negative actions)

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 (A-B-C) components
 The cognitive component (thought) is made up of the beliefs of an
individual about the object of an attitude, This represents our thoughts,
beliefs and ideas about something. Typically these come to light in
generalities or stereotypes, such as 'all teenagers are lazy.'

 The behavioral component consists of a predisposition to respond in a

certain way to the object of the attitude such as 'we better keep those lazy
teenagers out of the library.'

 The affective component (emotional) refers to emotions aroused by the

object of the attitude. This component deals with feelings or emotions that
are brought to the surface about something, such as fear or hate. Someone
might have the attitude that they hate teenagers because they are lazy.
 (A-B-C) components: An Example

 What is your affective reaction when you see a certain car?

Feelings of excitement? Anger and resentment (e.g., if you are a
US car manufacturing employee and the car is foreign made)

 What is your cognitive reaction?

What beliefs do you hold about the car’s attributes? Perhaps you
admire its hybrid engine that makes it one of the most fuel efficient
cars you can buy.

 What is your behavioral reaction?

Do you go to a dealership and test-drive the car and actually buy
one?
 How Attitudes are Formed
 Attitudes are learnt through one’s own
experiences and through interaction with others.
The process and conditions of learning may be
different resulting in varying attitudes among
people.
 Learning attitudes by association –liking for
particular subject because of a teacher.
 Learning attitudes by being rewarded or punished –
If an individual is praised for showing a particular attitude,
chances are high that she will develop that attitude further.
E.g. practicing yoga and get the honor of „miss good health‟
she may develop a positive attitude for yoga.

 Learning attitudes by modelling (observing others)

We sometimes learn the attitudes through observing others
being rewarded or punished for expressing thoughts or behavior.
E.g: children may form respectful attitude towards elders by
observing their parents and are appreciated for it.
• Learning attitudes through group or cultural norms –Very
often we learn attitudes through the norms of our group
or culture. Norms are unwritten rules about behavior
that everyone should follow. These norms become the
part of our social cognition in the form of attitudes.
• Learning through exposure to information –Many
attitudes are learnt in a social context but not necessarily
in the physical presence of others. Many negative and
positive attitudes are formed through various media.
 A Positive Attitude

 A positive attitude helps you cope more easily with the

daily affairs of life. It brings optimism into your life, and
makes it easier to avoid worries and negative thinking.
If you adopt it as a way of life, it would bring
constructive changes into your life, and make you
happier, brighter and more successful. Leads to
Success and Happiness.
 With a positive attitude you see the bright side of life,
become optimistic, and expect the best to happen. It is
certainly a state of mind that is well worth developing.
 Benefits of positive attitude
 Expecting success and not failure.
 Making you feel inspired.
 It gives you the strength not to give up, if you encounter obstacles on your way.
 Believing in yourself and in your abilities.
 Enables you to show confidence.
 You look for solutions, instead of dwelling on problems.
 You see and recognize opportunities.
 It helps you achieve goals and attain success.
 It brings more happiness into your life.
 It produces more energy.
 Positive attitude increases your faith in your abilities, and brings hope for a
brighter future.
 You get more respect and love from people.
 Importance of positive attitude
Attitudes strongly effect behavior so if attitudes are hard to change why are they so
important?

Importance of attitude
 Influence our thoughts
 Influence on behavior
 Indicate our adjustment
 help to organize and evaluate stimuli (e.g., categorizing stimuli as positive or
negative)
 presumably has a strong affect on behavior
 help to predict people’s behavior in wide range of contexts (e.g., voting,
interpersonal relations)
 How + Attitude Manifests Itself
 Positive thinking.
 Constructive thinking.
 Creative thinking.
 Expectation of success.
 Optimism.
 Motivation to accomplish your goals.
 Being inspired.
 Positive Attitude = Productivity
 People Want to Help
 Avoids Wasting Time Complaining
 Keeps Your Energy Level High
 Builds teamwork
 Determines your confidence
 Solves problems
 Helps make good decisions
 How to Develop a + attitude
 Choose to be happy.
 Look at the bright side of life.
 Choose to be and stay optimistic.
 Find reasons to smile more often.
 Have faith in yourself and in the Power of the
Universe.
 Contemplate upon the futility of negative
thinking and worries
 Associate yourself with happy people.
 Read inspiring stories.
 Read inspiring quotes.
 Repeat affirmations that inspire and motivate
you.
 Visualize only what you want to happen.
 Learn to master your thoughts.
 Learn concentration and meditation
 Negative Attitude
 A negative attitude is characterized by a great
disdain for everything. Someone who constantly
points out the negative in everything.
 A negative attitude is contagious and therefore
avoiding people with one is the best way of
prevention. Once you have a negative attitude,
you will unlikely be able to recover and self
fulfilling prophecy takes a hold.
 + Person - Person

●
Smile easily
●
Rarely smiles
●
Willing to change ideas and behavior ●
Unwilling to change
●
Can see another person’s point of view ●
Can’t see another person’s point of view
●
Rarely complains ●
Blames others for own mistakes
●
Accepts responsibility for mistakes ●
Very critical of others
●
Seldom criticizes others
●
Is considerate of others
●
Thinks only of self
●
Look others people in eyes when talking with them
●
Does not look other people in the eyes
●
Respects other opinion of others ●
Forces own opinions on others
●
Never make excuse ●
Often makes excuses
●
Has a variety of interests ●
Has few interests
 How to have a + impact on a – person

●
BE A POSITIVE EXAMPLE ●
DEPERSONALIZE MISTAKES
●
LISTEN BUT SET LIMITS
●
HELP THEM BE SUCCESSFUL
●
HELP THEM DIAGNOSE IT
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COACH OR MENTOR THEM
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DIRECT TO PROBLEM SOLVING
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FOCUS ON BEHAVIOR ●
USE “I” STATEMENTS
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APPROPRIATE USE OF PRAISE ●
APPEAL TO THEIR PRIDE
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ENCOURAGE THEM ●
GIVE THEM MORE
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HELP THEM SET GOALS RESPONSIBILITY
Thank You!