The English dictionary defines attitude as an ideas, objects, people or an events evaluation. Attitude, depending on circumstances is always positive or negative. However, they are sometimes uncertain. This is so since at a time; we tend to have a mixed feeling about an event, situation or a person. Attitude, regardless, are essential in the psychology field since it is one of the factors which determine what people eat, do, and many other things. Attitude is affected by three issues according to ABC model of approach. These are affective components, cognitive component and behavioral components. The three components have variety and distinct effects on attitude. This paper majors on some of the impact which these three elements have on the attitude.
Affective
Affective is kind of an emotional reaction that one has towards an attitude object. Emotional affect attitude in two ways; these are mood or emotion. The mood is negative or positive feeling which stems from our daily experience. We experience happiness attitude when we are in a good mood. Positive mood also makes us have an attitude of associating with others and having a happy time with. When we are in a bad mood, most of the time, our attitude towards issues and people change. Mostly we tend to remain by ourselves, and we are not likely to associate or interact with others (Ajzen, 2011). The second impact of effect on attitude is emotion. This is defined as the mental or physiological feeling state. Take an example a lady named Jane who has a phobia of a snake. In this case, a snake is an attitude object. Whenever Jane thinks of or sees a snake, she feels an extreme fear or anxiety. This has impacted on her attitude towards the snake.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Behavior
Behavior component is defined under ABC model as the reaction of an individual when they are exposed to the attitude object. These can either be protective behavior or emotional behavior. In the example of Jane given above, the question one may like to ask is how Jane can react upon seeing a snake? The first answer to this question is that Jane may avoid snakes at all cost to stay safe from them. On the other hand, Jane may run away or scream for help upon seeing a snake. In all the case, Jane behaviors are geared towards protecting herself from the attitude she has towards the snake (Fiske & Taylor, 2013). The behaviors stem from the attitude Jane has towards the snake. Alternatively, attitude also dictates how we behave towards others. For instance, we may behave strangely for example violently against others because we have a negative attitude towards them. On another occasion, we usually express positive behaviors towards those whom we love or admire.
Cognitive
The last component which according to ABC theory impact attitude is the cognitive issue. Cognitive involves what people think about an attitude object such as a snake. Cognitive affect attitude. First, it makes us have a feel of fear on things, events and problems which we believe are not good to us or may be dangerous to us. For instance, in the example of Jane, she fears snake because she must have some negative thought about snakes. She probably may think that all snakes are dangerous and gross (Claiborne & Sirgy, 2015). This makes her have negative attitude and fear about all kind of snake. Alternatively, cognitive knowledge on soothing or event also impacts our attitude towards it. Take for example a subject offered in school for instance mathematics. Students develop negative or positive attitude base on their knowledge on the subject. Students who have little knowledge on this issue often develop a negative attitude towards it. On the other hand, the students who have little knowledge on this topic often have a negative attitude towards the subject.
Explain the extent to which you believe attitudes can have an impact on behavior.
Attitude modifies an individual behavior. When an individual has a negative attitude towards a situation or event, they behave defiantly from when they perceive the same issue on positive manner. Human being interacts and influences each other on a daily basis. Based on our attitude towards events and people we interact with, we make the interaction either meaningful or otherwise. We cooperate with others based on the level at which we perceive them to be good to us or bad (Albarracin et al., 2014). Also, we also behave positively or negatively towards an event, situation or people based on the attitude we have on the outcome of the social interaction. People act positively or negatively with others or situation based on the reward of the interactions. The result of the interaction is either negative or positive based on the attitude and perception. In a situation where we have a negative attitude towards an impending result of the interaction, we tend to behave strangely. On the other hand, in a situation where we perceive the effect to be positive, we tend to happy.
In conclusion, ABC theory has three components which it argues to have a critical impact on attitude. The components are the effect, the behavior and the cognitive effects. Attitude factors affect people and entirely changes the behavior and the way we perceive these factors. Additionally, our mental knowledge and perception on attitude factors also impact our attitude on issues.
References
Ajzen, I. (2011). The theory of planned behaviour: reactions and reflections.
Albarracin, D., Johnson, B. T., & Zanna, M. P. (Eds.). (2014). The handbook of attitudes . Psychology Press.
Claiborne, C. B., & Sirgy, M. J. (2015). Self-image congruence as a model of consumer attitude formation and behavior: A conceptual review and guide for future research. In Proceedings of the 1990 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 1-7). Springer, Cham.
Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (2013). Social cognition: From brains to culture . Sage.
