ATTITUDE AND

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR:
IMPLICATIONS FOR
HEALTH CARE
Dr Oloniniyi I
 THE CONCEPT OF ATTITUDE
ATTITUDE (TO, TOWARDS) : A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT
SOMEONE .
THIS IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT SINCE IT INFLUENCES
ONE’S BEHAVIOUR E.G. UNHELPFUL ATTITUDE, PESSIMISTIC
ATTITUDE
ATTITUDE CAN ALSO BE WITH REGARDS TO THE POSTURE
ADOPTED TOWARDS SOMEONE OR SOMETHING E.G. ADOPTING
A THREATENING ATTITUDE
IT IS DEFINED AS THE ENDURING ORGANIZATION OF
FEELINGS, BELIEFS AND BEHAVIOUR TENDENCIES
RELATING TO ANY OBJECT, PERSON, ISSUE OR GROUP
WE TEND TO ACT WITH SOME DEGREE OF FAVORABLENESS OR
UNFAVORABLENESS TOWARDS THAT OBJECT, PERSON OR
ISSUE
• ATTITUDES ARE OFTEN THE RESULT OF EXPERIENCE OR
UPBRINGING, AND THEY CAN HAVE A POWERFUL INFLUENCE
OVER BEHAVIOR. 

• WHILE ATTITUDES ARE ENDURING, THEY CAN ALSO CHANGE.

• ATTITUDES IS A LEARNED TENDENCY TO EVALUATE THINGS IN
A CERTAIN WAY.
• THIS CAN INCLUDE EVALUATIONS OF PEOPLE, ISSUES,
OBJECTS, OR EVENTS.
• SUCH EVALUATIONS ARE OFTEN POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE, BUT
THEY CAN ALSO BE UNCERTAIN AT TIMES.
• WHAT'S YOUR OPINION ON THE DEATH PENALTY?
• WHICH POLITICAL PARTY DOES A BETTER JOB OF RUNNING
THE COUNTRY?
• SHOULD PRAYER BE ALLOWED IN SCHOOLS?
• SHOULD VIOLENCE ON TELEVISION BE REGULATED?
 COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE
COGNITIVE – YOUR THOUGHTS AND BELIEFS ABOUT THE
SUBJECT
AFFECTIVE – THIS EXPRESSES THE DEGREE OF FEELING
TOWARDS AN OBJECT. IT MAY BE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE
BEHAVIORAL COMPONENT: HOW ATTITUDE INFLUENCES
BEHAVIOR
 COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

List of totally unrelated 1) Feelings (Affective) 2) Beliefs (Evaluative) 3) Behavior

items (Conative/Action)

-Pounded Yam Like it very It is fattening…………… Eat it twice a

-Honda Accord much…………. They represent Nigeria day………………
-The Flying Eagles Like them very well………... Make time to watch their
-Legalized Abortion much……….. Will lead to match…………….
-Marijuana Opposed to ……… promiscuity………… Vote against……..
-Ogonis Like his white
-Inflation afro…………….
-Wole Soyinka
-Computers
-This Course
• ATTITUDES CAN ALSO BE EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT.
• EXPLICIT ATTITUDES ARE THOSE THAT WE ARE CONSCIOUSLY
AWARE OF AND THAT CLEARLY INFLUENCE OUR BEHAVIORS
AND BELIEFS.
• IMPLICIT ATTITUDES ARE UNCONSCIOUS BUT STILL HAVE AN
EFFECT ON OUR BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS.
 FORMATION AND MAINTENANCE OF ATTITUDES

THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE FORMATION

AND CHANGES OF ATTITUDES ARE COMPLEX AND MULTIPLE
a. ATTITUDES ARE LEARNED OR ACQUIRED WITHIN CULTURAL
VALUES/SOCIAL NORMS
b. POSITION OR STATUS WITHIN THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE
c. CHARACTERISTICS OF A PERSON’S PSYCHOLOGICAL MAKEUP
d. THE MOTIVATIONAL BASIS OF ATTITUDES
• EXPERIENCE
• LEARNING
• CONDITIONING
• OBSERVATION
 Attitudes are learned within cultural values

Culture is a shared set of socially transmitted assumptions about the nature of

physical and social world, the goals of life and the appropriate means of achieving
them.
Cultural values constitute the framework within which specific attitudes develop
The people around us exert strong effects on our actions and attitudes without
meaning to do so
The social heritage or culture provides meanings, methods in guiding us as to
perceiving, thinking, believing to assure effective group functioning.
• Social roles and social norms can have a strong influence on attitudes.
• Social roles relate to how people are expected to behave in a particular
role or context.
• Social norms involve society's rules for what behaviors are considered
appropriate.
 Position or status within the social structure

A person’s attitude and beliefs will be shaped by forces that act upon
him/her because of his position or status within the social structure
Certain positions confer expectations
People in certain positions are exposed to selective ideas or information
The people they have face to face contact with are limited and usually
have similar ways of thinking and views
 Characteristics of a person’s psychological makeup

Psychological makeup also determines attitude

Individuals who have certain attitudes e.g “I don’t care attitude’ will
behave in certain ways as opposed to those who care about the views and
opinions of others
Attitude towards authority usually determine the acceptance or rejection
of information
 The motivational basis of attitudes

This mediates the effect of cultural, social or psychological forces in the

formation and change in attitudes and beliefs
Earlier experiences may give meaning to a current situation e.g.
immunization (Northern perspective)
Attitudes may be formed in the process of protecting a person’s sense of
adequacy or self worth
 EXPERIENCE
• Attitudes form directly as a result of experience. They may emerge due to
direct personal experience, or they may result from observation.
 LEARNING
• Attitudes can be learned in a variety of ways. Consider how advertisers
use classical conditioning to influence your attitude toward a particular
product.
• In a television commercial, you see young, beautiful people having fun on
a tropical beach while enjoying a sports drink.
• This attractive and appealing imagery causes you to develop a positive
association with this particular beverage.
 CONDITIONING
• Operant conditioning can also be used to influence how attitudes develop.
• Imagine a young man who has just started smoking. Whenever he lights
up a cigarette, people complain, chastise him, and ask him to leave their
vicinity.
• This negative feedback from those around him eventually causes him to
develop an unfavorable opinion of smoking and he decides to give up the
habit.
 OBSERVATION
• People also learn attitudes by observing people around them.
• When someone you admire greatly espouses a particular attitude, you are
more likely to develop the same beliefs.
• For example, children spend a great deal of time observing the attitudes of
their parents and usually begin to demonstrate similar outlooks.
 ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR

ACTION CONSTITUTE A PART OF ATTITUDE

THERE ARE VARIATIONS IN THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN
ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS
SUPPORTED BY STUDY ON PREJUDICE AND ACTION TOWARDS
MINORITY GROUPS
• It is assumed that people behave according to their attitudes.
• However, social psychologists have found that attitudes and actual
behavior are not always perfectly aligned.
• After all, plenty of people support a particular candidate or political party
and yet fail to go out and vote. People also are more likely to behave
according to their attitudes under certain conditions.
 Attitude Strength
• Some attitudes are more important than others because they are more
useful to us and thus have more impact on our daily lives.
• The importance of an attitude, as assessed by how quickly it comes to
mind, is known as attitude strength.
• Some of our attitudes are strong attitudes, in the sense that we find them
important, hold them with confidence, do not change them very much, and
use them frequently to guide our actions.
• Strong attitudes are more cognitively accessible—they come to mind quickly,
regularly, and easily.

• We can easily measure attitude strength by assessing how quickly our attitudes
are activated when we are exposed to the attitude object.

• If we can state our attitude quickly, without much thought, then it is a strong
one.
• If we are unsure about our attitude and need to think about it for a while
before stating our opinion, the attitude is weak.

• Attitudes become stronger when we have direct positive or negative

experiences with the attitude object, and particularly if those experiences
have been in strong positive or negative contexts.
• Because attitude strength is determined by cognitive accessibility, it is
possible to make attitudes stronger by increasing the accessibility of the
attitude.
• This can be done directly by having people think about, express, or
discuss their attitudes with others.
• Because attitudes are linked to the self-concept, they also become stronger
when they are activated along with the self-concept.
• Attitudes are also stronger when the ABCs of affect, behavior, and
cognition all align.
• Other attitudes are less strong because the affective, cognitive, and
behavioral components are each somewhat different
• Your cognitions toward physical exercise may be positive—you believe
that regular physical activity is good for your health. 
• On the other hand, your affect may be negative—you may resist
exercising because you prefer to engage in tasks that provide more
immediate rewards.
• Consequently, you may not exercise as often as you believe you ought to.
• These inconsistencies among the components of your attitude make it less
strong than it would be if all the components lined up together.
 Factors Influencing Attitude Strength

• Are an expert on the subject

• Expect a favorable outcome
• Experience something personally
• Stand to win or lose something due to the issue
• Are repeatedly expressed attitudes
 ATTITUDE CHANGE

ATTITUDES ARE SYSTEMS - EFFECTIVE, EVALUATIVE AND

CONATIVE
THESE COMPONENTS NEED TO BE TARGETTED FOR EFFECTIVE
CHANGE
POTENTIAL DIFFICULTIES EXIST DUE TO REPEATED
REINFORCEMENT OF SUCH ATTITUDES OVER THE YEARS
 TECHNIQUES FOR ATTITUDINAL CHANGE

PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION – AIMS TO MODIFY ATTITUDE THROUGH

SPOKEN, WRITTEN, TELEVISED MESSAGES. THE AIM IS TO ALTER
REACTION TO VARIOUS OBJECTS THROUGH LOGICAL ARGUMENTS,
CONVINCING FACTS AND AUTHORITATIVE INFORMATION
FACTORS THAT DETERMINES ITS EFFECTIVENESS INCLUDE:
 THE COMMUNUCATOR – CREDIBILITY, EXPERTISE, SINCERITY, LEVEL OF ATTRACTIVENESS
 THE COMMUNICATION – CONSISTENT MESSAGE
 THE RECIPIENTS – MOOD OF RECIPIENTS: GOOD/IRRITABLE
 CONTEXT IN WHICH COMMUNICATION IS DELIVERED
EMOTIONAL APPEAL – STRONG FEAR-INDUCING APPEALS E.G
POLITICIANS, PUBLIC HEALTH
ATTITUDE-DISCREPANT BEHAVIOR – THIS IS BASED ON THE
COGNITIVE-DISSONANCE THEORY WHICH STATES THAT HUMAN
BEINHS HAVE A STRONG PREFERENCE FOR COGNITIVE
CONSISTENCY AMONG THEIR BELIEFS, ATTITUDES AND OPINIONS.
HENCE IF THERE IS AN INCONSISTENCY THEY EXPERIENCE A SATE
OF DISSONANCE WHICH THEY TRY TO ELIMINATE OR REDUCE
 ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT

THURSTONE-TYPE SCALES
LIKERT-TYPE SCALES
THE SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL
THAT’S ALL FOLKS!!!!