Understanding Attitudes: Definition, Functions, and Impact on Organizational Behavior

What is attitude?

Attitude is a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some object. Broadly speaking, attitudes are general evaluations that people make about themselves, others, objects or issues that develop from past experience, guide our current behaviour and direct our development in future. These are relatively lasting feelings, beliefs, and behavior tendencies directed toward specific people, groups, ideas, issues, or objects. Attitude can also be defined as a multiplicative function of beliefs and values.

Characteristics of Attitude

1. Valence - the degree of favourableness or unfavourableness to the object
2. Multiplicity - different perceptions and values create different attitudes
3. Need relationship - (basic/security/social/psychological/self-actualization)
4. Centrality - represents the importance of the object and resistance to change

Does attitude influence human behaviour?

Attitudes do not normally predict or cause behaviour in a simple and direct way. Three principles relate attitudes to behavior:

1. General attitudes best predict general behaviours
2. Specific attitudes best predict specific behaviours
3. The less time that elapses between attitude measurement and behavior, the more consistent will be the relationship between them.

What are various functions of attitudes? 

According to D Katz, there are four functions of attitude:

1. Adjustment Function - Attitudes often helps individuals adjust to their work environment. When employees are well treated, they are likely to develop a positive attitude towards management and organization. When they are berated and given minimal salary increase, they develop negative attitude towards their management/organization. These attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and are basis for their future behaviour.
2. Ego-defensive Function - Attitudes help people in defending their own image. For instance, an older manager whose decisions are continuously challenged by a younger subordinate may feel that the latter is brash, cocky, immature, and inexperienced. In reality, the younger subordinate may be right in challenging the decisions. The older manager may not be an effective leader and may constantly make poor decisions. However, the older manager may not admit this. Rather he will protect his ego by putting the blame squarely on the younger subordinate. He will develop a negative attitude towards the younger subordinate. On the other hand, even the younger subordinate will develop a negative attitude towards the older manager. He will think that the boss is not doing his job properly. Thus, he will protect his own ego.
3. Value-Expressive Function - Attitudes provide people with a basis for expressing their values. For instance, a manager who believes strongly in the work ethic will tend to voice attitudes towards specific individuals or work practices as a means of reflecting this value. A supervisor who wants a subordinate to work harder may put it this way: ‘You have got to work harder. That has been a tradition of the company since its inception. It helped us get where we are today.’
4. Knowledge Function - Attitudes also provide standards and frames of references that allow people to organize their worldview and express them emphatically. For instance, a trade union leader may have a negative attitude toward management. This attitude may not be based on fact but it does help the individual relate to the management.

What is job related attitudes? 

Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. H M Weiss has been defined Job satisfaction as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job an affective reaction to one’s job and an attitude towards one’s job. Job satisfaction can be influenced by a variety of factors, e.g. the quality of one's relationship with their supervisor, the quality of the physical environment in which they work, degree of fulfilment in their work, etc.

Mechanism of changing or alter attitudes 

1. Compliance: applying subtle pressure on the individual to comply with a particular norm either by threat of punishment or by promise of reward·
2. Identification: Change agent influences the individual with his own attributes that is so powerful that people start identifying with him and following his way of looking at things.
3. Internalization: new attitude is integrated with other attitude and becomes a part of individual’s personality.
• Providing new information
• Fear arousal or reduction
4. Dissonance arousal - dissonance leads to inconsistencies in attitude and behaviour causing unpleasant feeling which results in change in attitude
• Position discrepancy
• Participation in decision-making

Factors affecting Attitude

• Family background
• Early socialisation
• Educational background
• Work experiences
• Group affiliation
• Personal experiences

Manifestations of Attitudes

1. Job satisfaction: Generally, an individual employee who has a positive attitude has a high level of job satisfaction. This helps in decision making, interpersonal communication and group relationships.
2. Job involvement: This measures the degree to which the individual identifies with the job and considers performance level as important. High level of job involvement is related to fewer absences, lower employee turnover and a positive attitude.
3. Organisational Commitment: This measures the identification of individual goals with those of the organisation. This results in a high level of commitment and loyalty to the organisation. This is also a manifestation of positive attitude.

Attitude at a Glance

1. Attitude is an inseparable part of human nature and is normally dormant.
2. Attitude is acquired through early socialisation, education and work experience.
3. Attitude is often based on limited knowledge/information/experience.
4. Attitude becomes apparent through speech or behaviour in response to an individual, object or situation.
5. Attitude can be rational or irrational irrespective of the individual's intelligence.
6. Attitude is reinforced by beliefs (cognitive component), strong feelings (affective component) and behaviour (action component).
7. Attitude has a bearing on the individual's thinking or behaviour.
8. Opinion and emotion based attitude is more intense in expression and attachment.
9. Attitude appears logical to the individual holding it, but illogical/ inconsistent to a neutral observer.
10. Attitude is rationalised and justified by the individual by (often subconsciously) selective illustrations and experiences.
11. Attitude based on rational consideration of facts is comparatively easier to change rather than the one based on strong emotional bias and opinions.
12. Attitude is learned over a period of time. Therefore, it can be changed by the same process and reversed (DE learning).

FAQs

Attitudes consist of three components

1. Affective = feelings 
2.  Cognitive = beliefs 
3.  Behavioural = predispositions to act

Attitudes are a complex cognitive process that has three basic features:

1. They persist unless changed in some way, 
2.  They range along a continuum, 
3.  They are directed towards an object about which a person has feelings/beliefs

How attitudes are formed?

• Social Learning: acquiring attitudes by way of social interactions and value system 
•  Direct Experience 
•  Modeling: acquiring attitudes by observing others.

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Sandeep Ghatuary

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