ATTITUDE

DEFINITION
Benefits, Feelings and action tendencies of an
individual or group of individuals towards
objects, ideas and people. Attitudes results in
action tendencies. Attitudes generally endure.
 Nature of Attitudes
• Attitudes refers to feelings and beliefs of an
individual or group of people.
• Attitudes endure until something happens
• It can fall anywhere along the continuum for
very favorable to very unfavorable.
• They are organized and are core to an individual.
• All people, irrespective of their status or
intelligence, hold attitudes.
Components of Attitudes

Affective

behavior cognitive
• Affective component
The feelings, sentiments, moods and
emotions about some idea, person, event or objects.
• Cognitive component
The beliefs, opinions, knowledge or
information held by the individual.
• Behavioral component
The predispositions to get on a favorable or
unfavorable evaluation of something.
 Formation of Attitude
• Direct experience with the objects
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Vicarious learning
• Family and peer groups
• Neighborhood
• Economic status
• Mass communication
 Functions of Attitude
• Adjustment function
• Ego defensive function
• Value expression function
• Knowledge function
 Changing Attitudes
Obstacles in changing attitudes:
• Escalation of commitment
It refers to the prior commitment of people to a
particular cause and their unwillingness to change.
• Cognitive dissonance
It describes the state of inconsistency between
an individual’s attitude and behaviour.
• Insufficient information
sometimes people see no reason why would
change their attitudes
 Ways of Changing Attitude
• Changing attitude of self
1. Be aware of one’s attitude
2. Think for self
3. Realize that there are few, if any, benefits from harboring
negative attitudes
4. Keep an open mind
5. Get into continuous education programme
6. Build a positive self esteem
7. Stay away from negative influence such as drugs, alcohol,
smoking
• Changing attitudes of employees
1. Give feedback
2. Accentuated positive conditions
3. Positive role model
4. Providing new information
5. Use of fear
6. Influence of friends or press
7. The coopting approach
8. Group membership
9. Rewards
 Measurement of Attitudes
• Self report
whenever you are required to express
your preferences to an interviewer or to write
your evaluations of something on a long
questionnaire, you are involved in a self report
technique of attitude measurement.
• Likert scale
 The individual is asked to state his or her
agreement or disagreement towards an issue.
 It requires the subject to state the degree of
agreeableness or disagreeableness against the
statement listed on the subject.
 This is usually done on a 5 point scale or a 7
point scale.
• Osgood’s scale
It consist of pairs of adjectives opposite in
meaning.
The respondent is asked to give an
immediate reaction to each pair of words by picking
up an appropriate number on a 7 point scale.
The individual’s score is his or her total
score. Higher the score, more favorable is the
attitude and vice versa.
• Sociometry
using a natural group, every member
of the group is asked to name their preferred
partner for a specified activity. Then rank the
remainder of the group in order of preference,
with reference to question such as “who
would you most like to sit next”.
 Work Related Attitudes
There are two types:
1. Job Satisfaction
2. Organizational Commitment
 Job Satisfaction
 It refers to the general attitude of employees
towards their jobs.
 When the attitude of an employee towards
his or her job is positive there exist job
satisfaction.
• Theories on job satisfaction
1. Two Factor Theory
 Dissatisfaction was associated with conditions surrounding the
jobs rather than the work itself. Because these factors prevent
negative reactions, the researchers referred to them as hygiene
factors.
 Satisfaction was associated with work itself or outcomes directly
derived from it. Because such factors were associated with high
levels of job satisfaction. These were referred to as motivators.
 Herberg’s distinction between motivators and hygiene factors is
referred to as two factor theory.
2. Locke’s Value Theory
 The job satisfaction is the relationship between job
outcomes realized as compared to those desired.
 Satisfaction is high when an employee receives
outcomes which he values high.
 Satisfaction is less when the outcome received are
valued less by the employee.
 The discrepancy is between those aspects of the job
one has and those one wants. The greater the
discrepancy the lesser the satisfaction.
• Model of Job Satisfaction
Low
Turnover
Organisational Job
Factors Satisfaction
Outcomes
expected/
valued Low
Group Absenteeism
Factors

Outcomes
Received High
Job Turnover
Individual Dissatisfaction
Factors

High
Absenteeism
• Causes of Job Satisfaction
1. Organizational Factors
 Wages
 Promotions
 Nature of work
 Organizational policies and procedures
 Working conditions
2. Group Factors
 Size
 Supervision
3. Individuals Factors
 Personality
 Status
 Congruent with their interests
 General life satisfaction
• Consequences of Job Satisfaction
Lawler Porter Model of Performance and
Satisfaction Perceived
equity of
Rewards
Extrinsic
Rewards

Performance Satisfaction

Intrinsic
Rewards
a) Improved Productivity
b) Increased Turnover
c) Improved Attendance
d) Reduced Accidents
e) Less Job Stress
f) Lower Unionization
• Benefits of Job Satisfaction
i. They give management an indication of
general levels of satisfaction in a company.
ii. Improved communication
iii. Improved attitudes
iv. It helps to discover the causes of indirect
productivity problems-absenteeism,
turnover and poor quality.
v. It helps management assess training needs.
vi. It is an indicator of effectiveness of
organizational rewards system.
vii. The evaluation of the impact of
organizational changes on employee attitudes.
viii. They are useful for unions.
• Measuring Job Satisfaction
1. Rating Scales
2. Critical Incidents
3. Interviews
4. Action Tendencies
5. Likert Scale
6. Use of Existing Information
7. Satisfaction and Managerial Implications
8. Responses to Dissatisfaction
i. Exit
ii. Voice
iii. Loyalty
iv. Neglect
 Organizational Commitment
• There are three types:
1. Affective Commitment
2. Continuous commitment
3. Normative commitment
 The most valuable ingredients of organizational
commitment are positive and equitable work
experiences.
 New hires must believe that the organization is
fulfilling their obligations.
 Organization commitment tends to suffer when
employees are overworked, not accompanied by
commensurate rewards but senior executives enjoy
perks disproportionate to their contribution to the
success of the organization.
 Employees needs to feel some permanence in
the employment relationship.
 Other factors that contribute to organizational
commitment are:
i. Pay
ii. Relationship with superiors and coworkers
iii. Working conditions
iv. Opportunities for advancement
THANK YOU