HUMAN ATTITUDE

The human attitude can be simply described as a mental and neural

state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or
dynamic influence upon the individual's response to all objects and situations
with which it is related. In other words, human attitude is referred to as
positive, negative or neutral evaluations or feelings that people have towards
other people, objects, issues or events, i.e. the general way people feel
towards socially significant objects.

Human attitudinal traits are not developed instantaneously; they are

apparently formed over the years by various means. Although their formation
is mostly based on human experiences and past events, it can also be
influenced by the actions and reactions of the people around us. Being one
of the most sensitive traits of the human race, an attitude is considered very
hard to change, but nevertheless, it is still possible for people to change their
attitude. For that, one would need to change the way he or she thinks,
behaves or feels about something. ,

Components of Human Attitude

There are three (3) major components of the human attitude which
include;

1. Cognitive component
2. Affective component
3. Behavioral component

Cognitive Component

The cognitive component of human attitude simply refers to the thoughts,

attributes and beliefs humans associate with an object of interest. It is the
belief/opinion segment of an attitude that relates to the general knowledge
of a person. Examples include;

“All babies are cute.

 “Smoking is harmful to health”

Affective Component

The Affective component refers to the emotional or feeling segment of

an attitude. It is related to the statement which affects another person. This
component deals with feelings or emotions that are brought to the limelight
about the object of interest, such as fear or hate. An example is
demonstrated below.

“People having the attitude that they love all babies because they are cute”
or that “they hate smoking because it is harmful to their health.”

Behavioral Component

This behavioral component of the human attitude is one which consists

of people’s tendencies to behave in a particular way towards an object of
interest. It is the segment of the human attitude that showcases the intention
of a person in short run or long run. An example is demonstrated below.

‘I cannot wait to kiss the baby’, or ‘we better keep those smokers out of the
library’

In order to change one’s attitude, first and foremost, it is advisable to

change the cognitive (thinking) and the behavioral component before
working on changing the affective component. This is because the affective
component is very powerful and difficult to control, hence, it’ll take a long
time before it can be changed.

Examples of Human Attribute

There are three major examples of the human attitudes namely;

1. Positive Attitude e.g. Confidence, Optimism, Flexibility, Determination,
Reliability, Tolerance, Sincerity, Reliability etc.
2. Negative Attitude e.g. Hatred, Pessimism, Resentment, and Doubt,
Jealousy, Inferiority, Anger, Frustration etc.
3. Neutral Attitude e.g. Complacence, Indifference, Detachment, Feeling of
being disconnected, Unemotional etc.