ATTITUDE CHANGE
Attitudes are complex subsystems that are
products of opinions and beliefs.
Changing one attitude may involve changing several
belief systems and opinions. How to systematically enable the change is
explained here.
A Product and an Ingredient
An attitude is not only a product of social learning;
it is also an ingredient in social learning. Because of this, complex social
subsystems get jumbled up, and it becomes difficult to segregate one attitude
from the other. Before enforcing attitude change, we must keep in mind the
interrelationships and intricacies of these subsystems.
People say “So and so has an attitude problem”.
What they mean is that the other individual is not having the same frame of
mind as mine.
Social Survival
Attitudes are essential for social survival in
small and indigenous societies. As they have to fight for basic survival regularly
any discord in attitude itself will lead to severe problems and subsequently to
the weakening of society. Today most of the indigenous tribes, groups, and
societies are extinct all over the world because of the discord among the
members. The major reason for this discord is the entry of so-called ‘civilized
and modern’ people.
In homogeneous societies, attitudes
bring people together, bind them together, and nurture them together. They have
their own moral and ethical values and these values are shared by everyone in
society. There is very little scope for differences of opinion and if they do
arise, they are sorted out within the system.
The growth of heterogeneous societies has
resulted in overselling attitudes as if they are everything. Attitudes are
manufactured here and people are forced to adhere to the rules and regulations
imposed on them. People are manipulated into thinking, believing, and feeling
that attitudes are important. Technology is being blatantly used to change
people’s attitudes, rather than providing information. Mass media, Education,
economy, politics, science, customs, traditions, etc., have been corrupted by
giving major importance to attitudes. And thus, our consciousness gets
corrupted, too. (See “ConsciousCapture”)
Attitude hurts
“When I am very young,
I have very little to carry as my luggage. As my age increases, I start packing
up more things, thinking they may be useful to me. When I am young, I have the
strength and energy to carry, but I do not need them.
When I am older, I am
unable to carry more but I feel I may need them. The more the luggage is, the greater
the difficulty to carry it. It is painful for me to carry, and so I have to
depend on others.
Attitude is also like
this: I have very few attitudes when I am young. As I grow older, I keep
accumulating more and more attitudes and it becomes difficult to manage them. The
younger generation tells me I am outdated, and the older generation thinks I have
an attitude problem.
Each new attitude I
develop hurts me, and this luggage becomes a dead weight to me. Now that I have
the burden, I can’t throw them away because I have carried them for so long.
I can’t keep them
because they are too heavy for me to carry. Attitude hurts, and the more the
number of attitudes, the greater the burden and the damage.”
Purpose of Attitude
The actual purpose of attitudes is to elicit
cooperation in the community. Communication becomes easier, living becomes
simpler, and people become healthier. This purpose has been defeated when
varied attitudes clash against each other and people are influenced by
differences.
Four Characteristics of Attitude
1. All attitudes are learned (100% Learning).
2. They are imbibed into our systems without
questioning (Unquestioned Acceptance).
3. They are essential for physiological,
psychological, and social motivation (Motivating Factor).
4. They determine how we act, react, respond,
think, feel, and perceive (Behavior Regulation),
ABC components of Attitude
Affective – Our emotions, which are principally needed
for survival, are influenced by attitudes.
Behavioral – Our actions, which are essential to the
contribution of society’s well-being, are hijacked by attitudes.
Cognitive – Our thoughts, which are crucial to help
solve personal and collective problems, are replaced by attitudes.
Our Inclinations
Attitudes are imposed on an individual right
from birth. Whenever we use the above words in our communication, we are
reflecting on our attitudes. Given the number of choices now, there is the
comparison, glorification, and falsification of information to change our
attitudes.
We even encourage our children to use these
words in their everyday conversation and keep training them in the formation of
attitudes.
Factors governing Attitude Formation
As shown in the figure above, attitudes formed
out of one’s personal experience are the least in number and have the least
influence on the individual. Next, the family plays an important role in
lending attitudes. We borrow the attitudes without questioning them, also from
the community
as well as from society.
Once the child gets exposed to the outside
world, education, mass media, and propaganda overwhelm the
individual with a plethora of attitudes.
Complex Subsystems
Attitudes are not simple thoughts or feelings. They are
complex subsystems that get formed over time. Most attitudes we borrow from
others and internalize as if they are our own. An attitude is a learned
tendency to respond to people, objects, ideas, and situations in a particular
way.
Forming an Attitude
One Attitude may contain several beliefs,
several opinions, and several ideas. Each idea may be connected to several
other ideas, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes. The interconnectedness is almost
indecipherable.
Several ideas are put together as an opinion.
Several opinions are combined to form a belief. Joining several of these
beliefs we form an attitude.
Ideas --- opinions ---- beliefs ------ attitude
Ideas to Opinions
We tend to forget that there are
multi-dimensions to every object, idea, person, or situation. We look at a few dimensions
and begin to call them the ultimate truth. Because we are unable to verify all
facts, we turn them into opinions.
Beliefs to Attitude
Once several opinions get accumulated into
beliefs, we stop questioning these opinions. Over a period, these beliefs are
transformed into attitudes where they become ‘eternal truths’. We never like
anyone questioning our attitudes, because we never did question them
Foundation of attitudes
All these ideas, opinions, beliefs, and
attitudes have their basis in bias, prejudices, stereotypes, and superstitions.
Once we have an attitude, whether they are
positive or negative, they all have negative connotations saying,
“My attitude is the
only right attitude”
“All others, who I
don’t like, have only the wrong attitude”
“All others, who have
a different attitude than mine, are wrong”
My attitude is always right
What George Carlin says is true and can be
applied to understand Attitudes.
Throughout my drive, I will only get maniacs and
idiots because no one, in reality, can drive at the same speed as I am driving.
I apply the same principle in my life, too. If anyone is smarter than me, then
I don’t like his or her attitude and if anyone is not able to understand how
great I am, then I don’t like his or her attitude!
When I am calling everyone on the road a maniac
or idiot, I fail to realize that I am also a maniac or idiot to someone else!
Let us consider another example: Suppose I like
a particular color. If someone I know also likes the same color, then I say he
or she has no attitude problems. Else, all others have “attitudes!”.
Let us consider one more example: Suppose I am
a member of a sports team. All players from another team look ‘not good’ to me
and whatever anyone says on that team becomes an irritant to me.
Testing Attitude
When we talk to each other, we will be testing
each other’s attitudes. The more you reveal your attitudes, the better it is
for the other person to judge you and vice versa. If there is too much
discrepancy between your attitudes and the other person’s attitudes, you don’t
like the person (One more attitude added to your repertoire).
Positive or Negative
Positive and negative attitudes are not the
same for everyone. One can have a positive attitude towards something unwanted
by the majority. For example, having a positive attitude towards lying, tardiness,
and easy money. One can also have a negative attitude towards something
beneficial to the individual. For example, having a negative attitude towards truthfulness,
punctuality, and hard work.
Problem with attitudes
All attitudes are based on unsystematic and
illogical thinking. Attitudes are not supported by facts, truths, and proofs. Subscribing
to an attitude has vested interests and payoffs. But we are told otherwise.
All differences, all quarrels, all break-ups,
and all wars are because of differences in attitudes. If all had the same
attitude, then there wouldn’t have been any friction in society. No attitude,
both positive and negative, means no friction. However, it is almost impossible
to have “no attitude”.
Tolerance is the Key
One’s positive attitude may not be liked by the
other and one’s negative attitude may be considered inappropriate. Who is right
depends upon the people around and the community or society one belongs to. Rather
than fighting for who is right, it is better to tolerate one another’s attitude
and find a workable way.
The RIGHT Attitude
Everybody has a RIGHT to have an attitude but
Nobody can have a ‘right attitude’. Because all attitudes are a result of
fallacy, deceit, and misinformation. A factual, truthful, or rational occurrence
cannot come under the realm of attitude.
Why is Attitude Change necessary?
It is dominating all our thoughts, emotions,
perceptions, and actions. Consequently, honest relationships do not exist
anymore. Everyone is bothered about changing others’ attitudes rather than
their own.
As attitudes bring friction in interaction, those
attitudes must be changed.
Is Attitude Change difficult?
As a student of psychology, I learned that
Attitude is such a complex system and that it is difficult to change it. This
may have been true when we were seeking information and not the other way
around. Now, every second we are bombarded with so much information, we cannot
stop ourselves from attitude change.
Are our Attitudes being changed?
There is fierce competition from propaganda
machines, corporate houses, and mass media to change our attitudes through
marketing, advertisements, and promotions mainly to indoctrinate, brainwash,
and pressurize us into believing what they want us to believe.
Cognitive Dissonance
It is difficult to verify facts about the
attitude. “What if the verification proves to me that my attitude is wrong?” The
answers may lead to Cognitive Dissonance, which leads to an imbalance. Instead,
it is easier to accept the attitudes as part of reality and stop questioning.
Change has become the solution
The only solution propounded by others is to
keep perennially modifying the attitudes as society dictates. Some attitudes
are changed in minutes only to be changed once again and everyone is a messenger
of Attitudes. Changing one attitude may necessitate changes in several beliefs,
opinions, and ideas.
Managing the change
Change your attitudes only when there is a need
to change. Think about how it will affect the important people around you. Do
not insist that they should always change their attitudes to suit yours.
There is no need to give so much importance to
attitudes. Anyway, they are not based on systematic verification of facts. We
are being emotionally blackmailed into believing attitude is everything!
As the old saying goes, truth is bitter and
lies are sweet. When someone offers us sweets or when someone praises us, we
don’t say no. When someone suggests bitter things or when someone points out
our mistakes, we don’t agree.
Positive Attitude towards Self
If we want to develop a positive attitude, It
should be about us and not about things, ideas, people, or situations, which
keep changing. If we can’t think positively about ourselves, why will others
consider positively about us? To have a positive attitude, we need to keep
doing something positive in our lives so that we deserve it.
Reduce Attitudes
Attitudes are not ornaments to flaunt around. Each
time you say “I like it” or “I don’t like it”, you will be antagonizing some people.
Reduce the number of attitudes as much as possible.
Choosing people
Choose to interact with people based on their
personalities, values, and commitments. Do not give too much importance to
their likes and preferences as their attitudes might change sooner than you
think or so does yours.
Sure shot solution
If you do not want to get stuck within the
vicious clutches of Attitude Formation, then there is one technique that can be
used quite effectively. Reduce gradually the use of adjectives in your daily
conversations.
Though they appear to be ornamental, the
adjectives we use are quite addictive.
“What are your likes
and dislikes?”
“Who is your
favorite?” or
“Which is the best
one?”
Questions like these put us under stress and
manipulate us to answer so that we can be controlled later.
Attitude is not everything
Attitudes are flimsy, unreliable, and illogical.
Do not change them from positive to negative or vice versa. Change them from
something to nothing so that you remain free of the burden.
Summary
Attitudes are complex subsystems that are
products of opinions and beliefs. They are also an ingredient in social
learning. Attitudes are necessary for social survival whether a society is indigenous,
homogenous, or heterogeneous. Attitude hurts us in every transaction. Though
the purpose of an attitude is to elicit cooperation, it is usually used to
introduce discord. There are four characteristics and three components of
attitude. We are inclined to learn adjectives that point out the differences.
There are seven factors governing attitude formation. Attitudes are not simple
thoughts and feeling but complex subsystems. Attitudes are formed as a
combination of ideas, opinions, and beliefs. We move from ideas to opinions and
beliefs to attitudes. The foundation of attitudes rests on the pillars of bias,
prejudices, stereotypes, and superstitions. We believe that our attitude is
always right and blame others for not having the right attitude. We always test
others’ attitudes during an interaction. What is positive to one individual may
be a negative attitude to another. Having attitudes in a heterogeneous society
is always a problem. Tolerance is the key. No one can have the right attitude. Though
attitude change is assumed to be difficult, they keep changing every moment of
our lives. As changing attitudes leads to cognitive dissonance, our solution is
to keep changing attitudes frequently as one attitude is closely related to the
other. We must learn to manage the change. If a positive attitude is there, it
should be about oneself. Thus, we need to reduce attitudes by choosing the
people with whom we interact and deciding to reduce the use of adjectives in
our daily interactions. Let us conclude by saying that Attitude is not
everything!
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