Question.
“Attitude is the result of our experiences.” Explain and evaluate the factors responsible for attitude formation in the context of this statement.
( UPPSC, UP PCS Mains General Studies-4/Ethics 2018)
Answer.
Attitude is positive, negative, or neutral feelings towards persons, ideas, objects, and the environment.
For example,
- If you do not like cheating, your attitude towards cheating will be negative.
- If you like an apple your attitude towards an apple will be positive.
The statement "Attitude is the result of our Experience" suggests that our attitudes are shaped by the experiences that we have encountered throughout our lives. Development of attitude is not an overnight process, it takes years to form, and most prominent is from self-experience.
The following are some experience factors responsible for attitude formation in the context of this statement "Attitude is the result of our Experience":
- Direct personal experiences
- Social and family learning and observation
- Media and information sources
- cognitive processes
- Emotional and affective factors
Direct personal experiences: Personal experiences have a powerful impact on attitude formation. For example, if someone has positive experiences with relatives, they are likely to develop a favorable attitude towards it; some would have negative experiences with relatives, are more likely to develop negative attitudes towards it.
Social and family learning and observation: Attitudes of a person can also be shaped through observation and social learning. Attitudes of persons are shaped by childhood through various learning and statement from the family. People adopt similar attitudes toward family members, friends, and role models. Some common attitudes formation happens from learning from family:
- Women adopt and accept male dominance through social experience from mothers and elderly women from the family.
- The boy is allowed to be aggressive while the Girls allow to be calm and are supposed to play with Dolls.
- Boys are not allowed to cry while girls are allowed to cry.
- Girls are not allowed to laugh loudly.
- Women should eat food after serving to all family members.
Media and information sources: Media plays important roles in shaping individual attitudes through advertisement, information sharing, and presenting different perspectives.
Cognitive processes: Cognitive processes such as selective attention, interpretation, and analytical reasoning help in attitude formation.
Emotional and affective factors: Positive or negative emotions associated with specific events can shape attitudes. For example,
- negative experiences about a particular city or location may create negative attitudes.
- Good experience with politician make a positive feeling toward politics.
- Good experience in the journey will give a positive attitude.
- Good taste in some particular food will give a positive attitude.
- Good experience with relationships would positive attitude towards relationships.
Evaluation of the statement;
Experience is a crucial factor in attitude formation, however, other factors like genetic predispositions, personality traits, and situation factors also contribute to attitude formation.
In conclusion, experience is a significant factor in attitude formation, they are shaped by social learning, cultural factors, media, cognitive processes, and emotions.
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