By enlarge attitudes are learnt. They are formed on the basis of learning.
Formation of Attitudes: The term ‘attitude formation’ refers to the movement we make from having no attitude toward an object to having a positive or negative attitude. There are some factors which contribute to the formation of attitudes:
1. Learning: The attitudes are acquired through learning. Many of our views are acquired in situations in which we interact with others or merely observe their behaviour.
- Classical Conditioning/Leaming by Association:
• A basic form of learning in which one stimulus, initially neutral, acquires the capacity to evoke reactions through repeated pairing with another stimulus.
• Player often develop a strong liking for the bat by which they made good runs. Many students start liking a subject if they like the teacher.
- Instrumental Conditioning/Leaming Altitude by Reward and Punishment: A basic form of learning in which responses that lead to positive outcomes or that permit avoidance of negative outcomes are strengthened.
• It applies to the situations when people learn attitudes which are systematically rewarded by significant others, such as parents, teachers or friends.
- Observational Learning: A basic form of learning in which individuals acquire new forms of behaviour or through observing others.
• Children are keen observers and learn a whole lot of things from their parents and other family members.
• They learn many attitudes about other ethnic groups, neighbours and idealize simply by observing the behaviours of adults.
2. Learning through Exposure to Information:
• Many attitudes are learnt in a social context without physical presence of others. Print media, electronic media, biographies of self-actualized people facilitate attitude formations.
3. Learning Attitudes through Group or Cultural Norms:
• Norms are unwritten rules of behaviour. Gradually these norms may become part of our social cognition, in the form of attitudes, e.g., offering money, sweets, fruits and flowers in a place of worship is a normative behaviour in various religions. People imitate such behaviour shown by others as socially approved and develop positive attitude towards it.
