Attitude & Values

Meaning
• More or less stable set of predisposition of opinion, interest or
purpose involving expectancy of a certain kind of experience
and readiness with appropriate response.
• These are individual’s general affective, cognitive and
intentional response toward objects, other people, themselves
or social issues.
• Attitude, over a period of time, unless we strongly believe in
them, undergo changes.
• Attitude also can be changed with conscious effort.
Nature of Attitude
• Favorable or unfavorable
• Most ‘pervasive’ phenomenon in a human being
• Differs from ‘Values’. Attitude is ‘narrower’
• Predisposition to respond to certain set of facts
• Evaluative
Components of Attitude
• Cognitive Component
• Belief, learning, Knowledge
• Affective Component
• Feelings; good/bad, like/dislike, pleasing/displeasing,
Favorable/unfavorable etc.
• Behavioural Component
• Behaviour; action/reaction, response etc.
Sources of Attitude
• Experience (Actions)
• Association (Society/club/party)
• Family (Family characteristics)
• Peer groups (Same level of standing)
• Society (Combination of functional, cognitive, and
cultural systems)
• Personality factors (Essence of ‘being’)
Types of Attitudes w. r. t. OB
• Job Satisfaction
• General attitude toward his/her job
• Job involvement
• Degree to which a person identifies with his/her job, active
participation and performance is important to self-worth.
• Organizational commitment
• Commitment to the organizational goals and ownership of
the organization
Cognitive dissonance theory (Leon Festinger, 1957)
• Refers to any incompatibility that an individual might
perceive between two or more of his /her attitudes or
between his /her behaviour and attitudes.

• Festinger argues that individual will always want to

minimize this incompatibility or dissonance and keep on
seeking balance.
 Values
“Concept of the desirable, an internalized criterion or
standard of evaluation a person possesses. Such concepts
and standards are relatively few and determine or guide an
individual’s evaluation of many objects encountered in
everyday life” – Box Ronald D White & David A Bednar
• E.g. freedom, honesty, self-respect, equality etc.
• Perceptions about what is good or bad, right or wrong
• It is at a deeper level than attitude and it influences attitude
Types of values
Based of nature (Rokeach)
• Terminal (end result such as happiness, love, pleasure,
freedom, self respect etc.)
• Instrumental (means of achieving those results such as
ambition, honesty, courageousness, self-sufficiency
etc.)
Types of values (Contd.)
Other classification (Allport & others)
• Theoretical (reasoning and systematic thinking)
• Economic (Practicality including wealth)
• Aesthetic (beauty, form and artistic harmony)
• Social (Human relationships)
• Political (Power and influencing people)
• Religious (unity and understanding the cosmos as a whole)