Page 2 - LN 1_Attitude and Social Cognition
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✓  It is a state of the mind, a set of views, or thoughts, regarding some topic
                          (called the ‘attitude object’), which have an evaluative feature (positive,
                          negative or neutral quality).
                       ✓  It is accompanied by an emotional component, and a tendency to act in a
                          particular way with regard to the attitude object.
                       ✓  Components of Attitude
                       ✓  The thought component is referred to as the cognitive aspect,
                       ✓  The emotional component is known as the affective aspect,
                       ✓  The tendency to act is called the behavioural (or conative) aspect.
                       ✓  Taken  together,  these  three  aspects  have  been  referred  to  as  the  A-B-C
                          components (Affective-Behavioural-Cognitive components) of attitude.
               •  Attitudes  have  to  be  distinguished  from  two  other  closely  related  concepts,
                   namely, beliefs and values.
                       ✓  Beliefs refer to the cognitive component of attitudes, and form the ground
                          on which attitudes stand, such as belief in God, or belief in democracy as a
                          political ideology.
                       ✓  Values are attitudes or beliefs that contain a ‘should’ or ‘ought’ aspect, such
                          as moral or ethical values. One example of a value is the idea that one should
                          work hard. Values are difficult to change.
               •  The purpose of studying an attitude?
                       ✓  Attitudes provide a background that makes it easier for a person to decide
                          how to act in new situations.


               SIGNIFICANT FEATURES OF ATTITUDES

               There are four significant features of attitudes are:

               1.  Valence (positivity or negativity):

               The valence of an attitude tells us whether an attitude is positive or negative towards
               the attitude object.

               2.  Extremeness:

               The extremeness of an attitude indicates how positive or negative an attitude is.

               3.  Simplicity or Complexity (multiplexity):

               This  feature  refers  to how  many  attitudes  there  are  within  a  broader  attitude. An
               attitude system is said to be ‘simple’ if it contains only one or a few attitudes, and
               ‘complex’ if it is made up of many attitudes. Each member attitude that belongs to an
               attitude system also has A-B-C components.

               4.  Centrality:
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