Attitudes

Attitudes are feelings or opinions that we have about some something, usually defined as an attitude object. This could be a person, an activity, an event or a group. Attitudes are learned and directed towards an object or another person, they represent an individual’s feelings about that object or that person. Attitudes are evaluative; they can direct behaviour positively (e.g. a young golfer not cheating in a match) or negatively (e.g. a fan singing racist chants at a football match).

Components of Attitude

The Triadic Model describes attitudes as consisting of three components;

• The cognitive component – what does the individual think about an object or person?
• The affective component – what are the individual’s feelings about the attitude object?
• The behavioural component – how does the individual actually behave towards the attitude object?

We can use a person’s attitude towards smoking as an example. Many people have a negative attitude towards smoking (cognitive), they feel or believe it is bad for their health (affective), so they do not smoke (behaviour). This can be applied to exercise, which most people think is beneficial because it is necessary to stay fit and healthy, as a result they may train regularly.

Examiner Tip

To remember the components of the Triadic Model use the mnemonic CAB (cognitive, affective, and behavioural).

or

The ABC of attitudes.

Attitudes Predict Behaviour

There is usually a strong link between a person’s attitude and how they act. For example if a student has a negative attitude towards PE, they may forge a note from their parents or fake an injury to avoid taking part. If someone has a positive attitude then they will generally participate in most lessons and display a motivated approach. It is sometimes difficult to predict behaviour by a person’s attitude because of social and cultural norms as these can have a strong effect on how a person behaves. For example, many football fans will sing derogatory songs or chants to opposing players and fans, with this regularly being stereotypical (e.g. homophobic, racist or sexist [just ask a female referee!]) There will be fans who chant who are not prejudiced against these groups but they sing along to fit in with the norms of the other fans around them. Aspects such as time or opportunity can also effect behaviour. For example a single parent may struggle to exercise due to a lack of time.

A particular attitude doesn't always fully predict how someone is going to behave, however, there is normally a strong link between the two. Although attitudes can be changed, they are usually fairly stable and one can hold an attitude for a considerable length of time. Attitudes are developed from our life experiences. If an individual finds an experience enjoyable they are likely to have a positive attitude towards it. Conversely, if they do not enjoy an experience then they are more likely to hold a negative attitude towards this attitude object.

A second source of attitude formation is from significant others. A significant other is a person who the individual holds in high esteem, possibly wanting to emulate or please. The significant other could be a parent, a peer or a role model, such as an elite sports person. The role of the significant other is crucial, as it can be positive or negative.

Attitude Formation

Our inherited personality traits affect our attitudes, but they are also formed because of the following factors:

• Experience – as we grow older we will find ourselves in many different situations. How we respond to these experiences, positively or negatively, will affect how our attitudes develop.
• Perception of ability – if you believe that you are good at an activity, you will be favourably disposed towards it, and the reverse is true for activities you perform poorly at.
• Culture/social norms – if an individual has been educated to believe something then their attitudes will be formed by this. For instance, typically boys are uncomfortable with dance as an activity whereas girls are comfortable with it. This is possibly because of a stereotypical response amongst males who see dance as a predominately female activity and thus unsuitable for boys (often with older males telling younger males that this is the case).
• Significant others – a significant other is somebody who influences the way that an individual thinks about life. The significant other can be a parent, a teacher, a peer or a hero from the sports world. The individual then seeks to emulate that significant other by behaving in a way that corresponds with how they think the significant other would respond. An individual can learn to behave aggressively from significant others. If the significant other has a reputation for aggression, a young performer can use that role model as a basis for bad behaviour, believing that is an appropriate way to behave. People want to emulate their heroes/role models. Note that heroes in this context may not be ‘stars’ but perhaps the person in the social circle that is most admired, it could be a parent, the best player in your circle of friends or a PE teacher!
• Stress – as you have seen, attitudes do not always predict behaviour. However, under stress, deeply held attitudes (prejudices) may appear. A good example of this is in sporting situations when seemingly mild individuals behave aggressively towards opponents. It might be the case that within their psychological core, this is a true reflection of how they really feel and that in normal circumstances they can hide these feelings. Stress under competition causes this attitude to surface.
• Media – the media can influence people’s attitudes, indeed in a non-sporting example, propaganda and media ‘spin’ by the Nazis in World War 2 led to many Germans developing extreme prejudice, stereotyping and persecution of the Jews across Europe. The press often attacks sports performers or coaches and this can influence spectators in games and people’s behaviour towards them.

Unlike personality traits, attitudes are not necessarily permanent. Attitudes can be changed and there are two main approaches that can be used to change an attitude; persuasive communication and cognitive dissonance.

Verbal Persuasion (persuasive communication)

If you were asked speak in an assembly to a group of year 7 students about the benefits of physical activity, what would you say? How would you get those students who did not do enough exercise to be more active? To change an attitude using verbal persuasion means giving a clear and unambiguous message with clear benefits outlined to those whose attitude needs changing. The person trying to change the attitude should be seen as a significant other. Therefore, if the group of students do not see you as a significant other, somebody whose opinions they value, then they are unlikely to change their attitude. The message that you give must be easily understood so it must be simple and direct. If you do all these things there is a good chance that you may change some of the students’ attitudes. However, if some have an extreme negative attitude then their resistance to change may be high and may mean they do not change their attitude. A very successful technique in persuasive communication is the use of praise and encouragement when the new attitude is produced. It is crucial that the performer feels good about his new behaviour, confident that they have the approval of the significant other.

Cognitive Dissonance

Festinger (1957) proposed that all three components of an attitude need to be consistent for it to be stable. For example, if a student had a positive approach to PE, believed it to be a worthwhile subject and they enjoyed lessons it is likely that this attitude would remain constant. If there is any conflict between the three components then this ‘dissonance’ throws the person’s mind into conflict which they try to resolve. One way of resolving this conflict is through a change of attitude. For example, in the above example, if the student was taught by a new teacher and didn’t enjoy the lessons that the teacher taught then they may change their attitude towards PE. Using cognitive dissonance to change a person’s attitude means targeting one or more of the components of the Triandic model so this changes all three components. For example if a pupil had a negative view of playing a particular sport (e.g. rugby or gymnastics) then if they took part in this lesson and the teacher made the lessons fun and enjoyable (behavioural component) then this may change their attitude. People strive to be consistent in their views and if an attitude that they hold clashes with their beliefs they have to accommodate that attitude by shaping it to fit in with their beliefs. PE teachers often have to change negative attitudes towards a certain sport or activity. They may try to focus their efforts on one component, hoping to change the whole attitude.