Attitudes are
defined as a mental predisposition to act that
is expressed by evaluating a particular entity
with some degree of favour or disfavour.
Attitudes are comprised of four components:
 |
Cognitions
: Cognitions are our beliefs, theories,
expectancies, cause and effect beliefs, and
perceptions relative to the focal object.
|
 |
Affect :
The affective component refers to our feeling
with respect to the focal object such as fear,
liking, or anger. |
 |
Behavioral Intentions
: Behavioral intentions are our goals,
aspirations, and our expected responses to
the attitude object. |
 |
Evaluation :
Evaluations are often considered the central
component of attitudes. Evaluations consist
of the imputation of some degree of goodness
or badness to an attitude object. When we
speak of a positive or negative attitude toward
an object, we are referring to the evaluative
component. Evaluations are function of cognitive,
affect and behavioral intentions of the object.
It is most often the evaluation that is stored
in memory, often without the corresponding
cognitions and affect that were responsible
for its formation. |
|