What is an Attitude? Essay
Many theorists have attempted to define what an attitude is, thus, some are utilized more than
others within contemporary research. One, which is commonly referred to, is that of Fazio (1995)
whereby he states an attitude is "an association in memory between a given object and a given
summary evaluation of the object" (p. 247). A recent definition of attitudes would be that of
Haddock (2010). He defines attitudes based on more contemporary ideas and research by saying,
'...we define an attitude as an overall evaluation of an object that is based on cognitive, affective and
behavioural information' (p.4). There seems to be much conflict of ideas, between theorists as to
which component (cognition, affect or behaviour) holds more salience in...show more content...
It is also worth noting, that there can be differing strengths of attitudes, and the levels of cognition,
affect or behaviour may influence this. Examining the strength of attitudes in different environments
may be the key to understanding how the three components may influence attitudes originally.
Much research has been sought for attitudes and more recent papers, such as Wyer, Calvini, Nash
and Miles (2010) have highlighted the link between attitudes and the components. Wyer et al
(2010) have commented on how attitudes within the UK, are held similarly between individuals,
as well as stereotypes. It is also noted how these also will then prompt behavioural and affective
responses as a result, across individuals, with the same similar fashion. This is useful in
understanding Patrick's response to blacks, as it highlights there is a collective tendency to form
attitudes or stereotypes, and then produce reactions to social groups (or attitude objects), of both in
and out groups, within society. The emphasis of this research is that of affective and behavioural
states, as a result of stereotypes, which therefore highlights the need to evaluate all components in
the influence of attitudes, rather than one sole component. Wyer et al (2010), who look at the
stereotypes attached to the wearing of 'hoodies', make a valid point which can be applied to most
social groups or
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