Attitude: Meaning and formation of attitudes

What an attitude is: the ABC model

An attitude is a learned, fairly stable tendency to evaluate something (a person, group, idea or object) positively or negatively. It is less deep than a value and more general than an opinion. Example: valuing cleanliness is a value; feeling disgust at littering and picking up waste is an attitude.

Functions of attitudes: knowledge (they simplify a complex world), utilitarian (they help gain rewards and avoid punishment), ego-defensive (they protect self-image) and value-expressive (they show who we are). Knowing the function tells you how to change the attitude: a utilitarian attitude changes with incentives, a value-expressive one with appeals to identity.

Mains 2021 noted that Attitude is an important component that goes as input in the development of human being, and asked how to build a suitable attitude needed for a public servant. Build it through training (empathy, field exposure), role models, feedback from citizens, reflection on one’s own biases, and rewards for citizen-friendly work.

Mains 2025 quoted William James: the greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes. Explain: attitudes filter how we read events; changing a fixed, fearful attitude into a learning attitude changes choices, effort and results. Example: an officer who treats a complaint as feedback, not attack, improves the service.

How attitudes form

Attitudes form through direct experience (a bad hospital visit), learning by association and reward, observing others (children copy parents), and social groups (caste, religion, region, peers, media). Strong attitudes often come from early, emotional experiences and are hard to change later.

Mains 2014 asked: What factors affect the formation of a person ‘s attitude towards social problems? It then asked about contrasting attitudes towards the caste system. Factors: family, schooling, religion, economic position, media and personal experience. Contrasting attitudes: some see caste as identity and support network, others as discrimination to be ended; explain the contrast by upbringing, self-interest, education and exposure to diverse groups.

Teaching table.

Mains 2017 asked: Young people with ethical conduct are not willing to come forward to join active politics. Suggest steps to motivate them to come forward. Reasons: high cost of elections, criminalisation, family control of parties and a cynical attitude to politics. Steps: student and local-body leadership roles, transparent party funding, internal party democracy, fellowships with legislators, and honouring clean representatives.