The structure of a social attitude is formed by such elements as: Structure and functions of a social setting

To describe and explain the behavior of an individual, the term “attitudes” is often used, the totality of which is considered as an integral component of the inner essence of the individual. Attitudes dictate guidelines for a person in the world around him, contribute to the direction of the process of cognition of the world to improve adaptation to its conditions, optimal organization of behavior and actions in it. They provide a connection between cognition and emotions, between cognition and behavior, “explain” to a person what to “expect”, and expectations are an important guide in obtaining information. Attitudes help predict human behavior in the workplace and help the employee adapt to the work environment. Thus, they play an important role in creating organizational behavior.

For translate English word "attitude"(“attitude”, sometimes written “attitude”, - verbal assessment a person of a certain subject, object or phenomenon) in the OP they use Russian terms that are similar in meaning (but not synonyms): disposition, position, disposition, attitude, attitude, social attitude. For brevity we will use the terms "social attitude" or "attitude". Installation - This is the constant readiness of an individual to feel and behave in a certain way in relation to something or someone.

Most modern researchers highlight the following installation components:

affective component(feelings, emotions: love and hate, sympathy and antipathy) forms an attitude towards an object, prejudice ( negative feelings), attractiveness ( positive feelings) and neutral emotions. This is the core component of the installation. The emotional state precedes the organization of the cognitive component;

cognitive (informational, stereotypical) component(perception, knowledge, belief, opinion about an object) forms a certain stereotype, model. It can be reflected, for example, by factors of strength, activity;

conative component(effective, behavioral, requiring the application of volitional efforts) determines the way behavior is included in the process of activity. This component includes the motives and goals of behavior, the tendency to certain actions. This is a directly observable component that may not coincide with a verbally expressed willingness to behave in a certain way in relation to a specific object, subject or event.

The following can be distinguished settings properties.

Acquisitions. The overwhelming majority of personality attitudes are not innate. They are formed (by family, peers, society, work, culture, language, customs, media) and acquired by the individual on the basis of his own experience (family, work, etc.).

Relative stability. Settings exist until something is done to change them.

Variability. Attitudes can range from very favorable to unfavorable.

Directions. Attitudes are directed towards a specific object towards which a person may experience certain feelings, emotions or have certain beliefs.

Behavioral component – this is the intention to behave in a certain way in response to a feeling, the result of an attitude, a tendency to characteristic actions (Fig. 3.5.1).

Rice. 3.5.1. Relationship between installation components

Attitude is a variable that lies between prior expectations, values, and the intention to behave in a certain way. It is important to recognize that there may not be a consistent relationship between attitudes and behavior. An attitude leads to the intention to behave in some way. This intention may or may not be fulfilled under the circumstances. Although attitudes do not always clearly determine behavior, the relationship between attitudes and the intention to behave in some way is very important for a manager. Think about your work experience or talking to other people about their work. It's not uncommon to hear complaints about someone's " bad attitude" These complaints are made due to dissatisfaction with behavior that is associated with a bad attitude. Unfavorable attitudes in the form of job dissatisfaction lead to labor turnover (which is costly), absenteeism, tardiness, low productivity, and even poor physical or mental health. Therefore, one of the manager's responsibilities is to recognize attitudes as well as antecedent conditions (expectations and values) and predict the possible outcome.

Setting functions

What are the consequences of people having attitudes? This question is answered by functional theories of attitude, formulated by such researchers as V. Katz (1967), V. McGuire (1969), M. Smith, J. Bruner. These researchers formulated four functions of personality attitudes.

1. Ego-protective function through defense mechanisms rationalization or projection allows the subject: a) to cope with his internal conflict and protect his Self-image, his Self-concept; b) resist negative information about oneself or objects that are significant to oneself (for example, a minority group); c) maintain high (low) self-esteem; d) defend against criticism (or use it against the critic). These attitudes arise from the internal needs of the individual, and the object to which they are directed may be random. Such attitudes cannot be changed through standard approaches, such as providing the individual with additional information about the object at which the attitude is directed.

2. Value-expressive function and self-realization function includes emotional satisfaction and self-affirmation and is associated with the identity that is most comfortable for the individual, being also a means of subjective self-realization. This function allows a person to determine: a) his value orientations; b) what type of personality he belongs to; c) what it is; d) what he likes and what he dislikes; e) his attitude towards other people; f) attitude to social phenomena. This type of expression of attitude is aimed mainly at asserting the validity of self-understanding and is less focused on the opinions of others. The personality accepts attitudes in order to support or justify one's behavior. Researchers cognitive dissonance They believe that a person himself forms attitudes in order to justify his behavior.

3. Instrumental, adaptive or utilitarian function helps a person: a) achieve desired goals (for example, rewards) and avoid undesirable results (for example, punishment); b) based on previous experience, develop an idea of ​​the relationship between these goals and ways to achieve them; c) adapt to the environment, which is the basis for his behavior at work in the future. People express positive attitudes towards those objects that satisfy their desires, and negative attitudes towards those objects that are associated with frustration or negative reinforcement.

4. Function of systematization and organization of knowledge (cognition) or economy helps a person to find those norms and reference points, according to which he simplifies (schematizes), organizes, tries to understand and structure his subjective ideas about the chaotic world around him, i.e. constructs his own picture(image, one’s perception) of the environment.

Controlling the distribution of information seems to be the main function of almost all human installations and consists of creating a simplified view and clear practical guidance regarding behavior in relation to certain objects. There are too many complex and not entirely clear phenomena in life; it is impossible to take into account all their features. What a theory is for a scientist, what an attitude is for a person in his social life. We can say that an attitude is an adaptive simplification that emphasizes aspects of a social object that are important for shaping human behavior.

Attitudes provide the individual with a great service in the expedient execution of intended behavior and in satisfying his needs. The attitude creates the psychological basis for a person’s adaptation to the environment and its transformation depending on specific needs.

Changing settings

Employee attitudes can sometimes be changed if the manager is very interested in such changes. It is necessary to take into account the obstacles along the way. Barriers to attitude change: 1) escalation of commitment, the presence of a stable preference for a certain course of action without the desire to change anything. This also applies to the erroneous decision that the manager continues to insist on; 2) the employee lacks sufficient information (including feedback in the form of an assessment of the consequences of his behavior by the manager), which could serve as a basis for changing the attitude.

How can a manager change the attitudes of his employees? Suppose that employees are sharply dissatisfied with the level of their wages and, most likely, it is necessary to change these settings in order to avoid mass layoffs of employees. One approach might be to inform workers that the organization is paying them all it can, but hopes to increase wages in the near future. Another method is to demonstrate that no other similar organization pays its workers more. And finally, the third way is to accept the guidelines, that is, directly increase the level of wages and thus eliminate the very cause of such dissatisfaction. Changing employee attitudes is the goal of many organizational changes and development methods.

Changes in personality attitudes are influenced by many factors, including: three groups of common factors: 1) faith in the speaker(depends on his prestige and location, respect, trust in him); 2) faith in the message itself(his persuasiveness and commitment to the publicly expressed position of the individual); 3) situation(distraction and pleasant surroundings).

Most effective ways to change personality attitudes:

providing new information. IN in some cases information about other aspects or goals of an activity will change a person’s beliefs, and ultimately his attitudes;

impact of fear. Fear can make people change their attitudes. However, for the final result it is of great importance average level experienced fear;

eliminating the discrepancy between attitude and behavior. Cognitive dissonance theory states that a person tries to actively eliminate dissonance by changing attitudes or behavior;

influence of friends or colleagues. If a person is personally interested in something specific, he will try to avoid extreme differences between own behavior and the behavior of other people. On the other hand, if a person is influenced by friends or colleagues, then he will easily change his attitudes;

attraction to cooperation. People dissatisfied existing situation things, are involved in active work to change the situation;

appropriate compensation, compensating and drowning out the state of discomfort caused by cognitive dissonance.

Changing employee attitudes is challenging, but the potential benefits outweigh the costs.

The cognitive dissonance

All components of the attitude must be in a certain correspondence, otherwise the person will experience a state of psychological discomfort (tension), which L. Festinger called cognitive dissonance and from which a person seeks to get rid of in various ways, achieving agreement between the components - cognitive consonance. The cognitive dissonance is a negative incentive state that arises in a situation when a subject simultaneously has two psychologically contradictory “knowledge” (cognitions - opinions, concepts) about one object. The state of dissonance is subjectively experienced as discomfort, from which one strives to get rid of either by changing one of the elements of dissonant knowledge, or by introducing a new element.

Sources of cognitive dissonance can be: a) logical inconsistency; b) discrepancy between cognitive elements and cultural patterns; c) inconsistency of a given cognitive element with any broader system of ideas; d) inconsistency with past experience.

Ways to reduce the magnitude of dissonance are as follows: changing the behavioral elements of the cognitive structure; change in cognitive elements related to the environment, including refusal to perceive part of the information about the external environment (so-called perceptual defense); the addition of new elements to the cognitive structure and, above all, the updated representation of old elements.

L. Festinger also defined dissonance as a consequence of insufficient justification of choice. In an effort to strengthen the justification of an action, a person changes his attitude or his behavior, or changes his attitude towards the objects with which the action is associated, or devalues ​​the meaning of the action for himself and others. When applying dissonance theory, there is usually no distinction made between beliefs, attitudes, intentions, behavior and their cognitive representation.

Cognitive dissonance affects people in different ways. We often encounter situations where our attitudes and views conflict with our behavior. Reducing Dissonance- This is the way we cope with feelings of discomfort and tension. In the context of an organization, people who are looking to find another job wonder why they continue to stay and work so hard. And as a result of dissonance they can do various conclusions: for example, the company is not so bad that on this moment they have no other alternatives, or that they will still quickly find another job and leave.

Job satisfaction

The most important attitudes at work are: job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, involvement in work, attitude towards joint activities (for oneself, for others, for competition, for cooperation, for confrontation). Let us dwell in more detail on job satisfaction and the attitude of employees towards their work.

Job satisfaction- this is a pleasant positive emotional condition resulting from an evaluation of one's job or work experience that results from the workers' own perceptions of how well the job provides what they consider important needs. In OP, job satisfaction is considered the most important and often studied installation. Job satisfaction in to a greater extent is inherent in people who feel an incentive to work, whose psychological contract is fulfilled and the effort expended corresponds to the reward received.

Obviously, managers should be concerned about the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of their employees with work in a given organization. Satisfaction is influenced by organizational factors, group factors (especially the social environment at work), and personal factors (traits and dispositions). The two main consequences of satisfaction or dissatisfaction are absenteeism and turnover.

An individual's perception of work is influenced by internal organizational environment: the style of the leader, the nature of communications and the internal policy of the company, technological processes, work planning, working conditions and additional payments, group norms and also the state of the market as a whole. A positive attitude determines constructive behavior a person at work, a negative attitude towards work with a high degree of probability predicts undesirable actions of the employee (irresponsibility, decreased level of involvement in work, absenteeism, dismissal, theft, etc.).

A significant part of the factors that determine the degree of employee satisfaction with work are outside the control of management, since already established individuals with a set of individual characteristics come to the organization, with an initial predisposition to life satisfaction (people with positive affect– PA, i.e., an optimistic view of the world) or dissatisfaction (people with negative affect - ON, i.e. a pessimistic outlook on life). A person's predisposition to PA manifests itself in high self-efficacy, a feeling of inner comfort, a positive perception of people and a kind attitude towards them. A person's predisposition to ON is expressed in nervousness, self-doubt, internal tension, restlessness, anxiety, irritability and poor attitude towards others, low self-esteem.

Of greatest interest is knowledge of situational factors in an organization that determine an individual’s attitudes. Let's give main factors influencing job satisfaction.

1. Salary. The amount of monetary reward (wages and benefits) for a job that is perceived to be socially just (relative to the rewards of other workers) and consistent with personal expectations.

2. Actually work. The extent to which work tasks are perceived as interesting, intellectual, and opportunity successful learning and acceptance of responsibility, give a certain status and do not lead to excessive psychophysical fatigue.

3. Personal interest in the work itself. Work as a conscious and desired form of human existence (for example, hard workers and lazy people, the workaholic “syndrome” or types of morbid addiction to work).

4. Opportunities for promotion. Having room for growth and different forms career advancement taking into account the subjective value of the reward.

5. Leadership style. The ability of a manager to show interest and concern for a subordinate, to provide technical and moral support, help weaken role conflict and ambiguity of the situation, create an atmosphere of employee involvement in the decision-making process.

6. Colleagues, work colleagues. The degree of competence of colleagues, the level of their willingness to provide social support(goodwill, help, advice, comfort, cooperation, morale), the degree of similarity of basic values.

7. Working conditions, comparable to individual physical needs that make it easier to solve problems. Good conditions(clean, bright, ergonomic) to a certain extent contribute to job satisfaction.

A person's levels of satisfaction with each of these factors vary. An employee may feel that he is underpaid (dissatisfaction with the amount of wages), but at the same time his attitude towards other organizational factors may be positive. People's satisfaction with work within a work group can be influenced by both co-workers and the leader or manager. The leader can also be considered as one of the organizational factors.

Job satisfaction can also be considered as a single attitude when applied to various components of the work process (results, vacation time, work schedule, relationships with superiors, career, etc.). Attitudes are formed over a long period of time, therefore the feeling of satisfaction develops dynamically as information about the workplace becomes available; they may unexpectedly change the plus sign to a minus sign. It is impossible to create conditions in an organization that once and for all guarantee a high sense of job satisfaction, since it depends on the individual’s overall satisfaction with life.

Research has shown that most workers are not completely satisfied with their jobs, nor are they highly dissatisfied. However, the opinions of different groups of people (youth and older people, men and women, workers and employees) regarding job satisfaction differ significantly (see the “Interesting experience” sidebar).

Job satisfaction is positively correlated with age, work experience, job level and satisfaction with pay. An employee can only be satisfied with such payment for his work, which he perceives as fair and reflective of the productivity of his work. Evidence regarding the impact of gender on job satisfaction is inconsistent. Provided that the job provides the performer with sufficient opportunities to challenge himself, satisfaction with it does not depend on cognitive abilities. Job satisfaction is influenced by job congruence, organizational justice, ability to use skills, and an individual's personality traits. Losing a job has a detrimental effect on a person's self-esteem and health. Large-scale layoffs also have a negative impact on those who remain employed.

Job satisfaction is key concept management and is associated with such factors as staff turnover and absenteeism

Interesting experience

Formation social attitudes Personality answers the question: how is the acquired social experience refracted by the Personality and specifically manifests itself in its actions and actions?

The concept that to a certain extent explains the choice of motive is the concept of social attitude.

There is a concept of installation and attitude - social attitude.

The attitude is considered generally psychologically - the readiness of consciousness for a certain reaction, an unconscious phenomenon (Uznadze).

Attitude in the twentieth century (1918) proposed Thomas And Znaniecki. A person’s psychological experience of values, meaning, meaning of social objects. The ability to make a general assessment of the world around us.

The tradition of studying social attitudes has developed in Western social psychology and sociology. In Western social psychology, the term “attitude” is used to denote social attitudes.

Concept of attitude was defined as " an individual’s psychological experience of the value, significance, meaning of a social object", or how " the state of consciousness of an individual regarding some social value».

Attitude understood by everyone as:

A certain state of consciousness and NS;

Expressing readiness to react;

Organized;

Based on previous experience;

Having a guiding and dynamic influence on behavior.

Thus, the dependence of attitude on previous experience and its important regulatory role in behavior were established.

Attitude functions:

Adaptive(utilitarian, adaptive) – the attitude directs the subject to those objects that serve to achieve his goals.

Knowledge function– attitude gives simplified instructions regarding the method of behavior in relation to a specific object.

Expression function(values, self-regulation) – attitude acts as a means of freeing the subject from internal tension and expressing oneself as an individual.

Protection function– the attitude contributes to the resolution of internal conflicts of the Personality.

Through the assimilation of attitudes occurs socialization.

Highlight:

Basic– belief system (core of Personality). Formed in childhood, systematized in adolescence, and ends at 20–30 years, and then does not change and performs a regulatory function.

Peripheral– situational, can change depending on the social situation.

Installation system is a system basic And peripheral installations. It is individual for each person.

In 1942 M. Smith was determined three-component installation structure:

Cognitive component– awareness of the object of the social attitude (what the attitude is aimed at).

Emotional. component(affective) – assessment of the object of the attitude at the level of sympathy and antipathy.

Behavioral component– sequence of behavior in relation to the installation object.

If these components are coordinated with each other, then the installation will perform a regulatory function.

And in case of mismatch of the installation system, a person behaves differently, the installation will not perform a regulatory function.

Types of social attitudes:

1. Social attitude towards an object – the individual’s readiness to behave in a specific way. 2. Situational attitude - the willingness to behave in a certain way in relation to the same object differently in different situations. 3. Perceptual attitude - readiness to see what a person wants to see.4. Partial or particular attitudes and general or generalized attitudes. An attitude toward an object is always a particular attitude; a perceptual attitude becomes general when a large number of objects become objects of social attitudes. The process from particular to general proceeds as it increases. Types of attitudes according to their modality: 1. positive or positive,

2.negative or negative,

3.neutral,

4.ambivalent social attitudes (ready to behave both positively and negatively) – marital relationships, managerial relationships.

One of the main problems that arises when studying social attitudes is the problem of changing them. Ordinary observations show that any of the dispositions possessed by a particular subject can change. The degree of their changeability and mobility depends, naturally, on the level of a particular disposition: the more complex the social object in relation to which a person has a certain disposition, the more stable it is. If we take attitudes to be a relatively low (compared to value orientations, for example) level of dispositions, then it becomes clear that the problem of changing them is especially relevant. Even if social psychology learns to recognize in which case a person will demonstrate a discrepancy between attitude and real behavior, and in which - not, the forecast of this real behavior will also depend on whether the attitude towards one or another changes or not during the period of time of interest to us. an object. If the attitude changes, behavior cannot be predicted until the direction in which the attitude change will occur is known. The study of factors that determine changes in social attitudes turns into a fundamentally important task for social psychology (Magun, 1983).

Many different models have been put forward to explain the process of changing social attitudes. These explanatory models are constructed in accordance with the principles that are applied in a particular study. Since most studies of attitudes are carried out in line with two main theoretical orientations - behaviorist and cognitivist, to the extent greatest distribution and received explanations based on the principles of these two directions.

In behaviorist-oriented social psychology (the study of social attitudes by K. Hovland), the principle of learning is used as an explanatory principle for understanding the fact of changes in attitudes: a person’s attitudes change depending on how the reinforcement of a particular social attitude is organized. By changing the system of rewards and punishments, you can influence the nature of the social setting and change it.

However, if the attitude is formed on the basis of the previous life experience, social in its content, then change is also possible only if<включения>social factors. Reinforcement in the behaviorist tradition is not associated with these types of factors. The subordination of the social attitude itself to higher levels of dispositions once again substantiates the need, when studying the problem of changing attitude, to turn to the entire system of social factors, and not just to the immediate<подкреплению>.

In the cognitivist tradition, an explanation for changes in social attitudes is given in terms of the so-called correspondence theories: F. Heider, T. Newcomb, L. Festinger, C. Osgood, P. Tannenbaum (Andreeva, Bogomolova, Petrovskaya, 1978). This means that a change in attitude always occurs when a discrepancy arises in the individual’s cognitive structure, for example, when a negative attitude on any object and a positive attitude towards a person who gives this object a positive characteristic. Inconsistencies can arise for various other reasons. It is important that the stimulus for changing attitude is the individual’s need to restore cognitive compliance, i.e. orderly,<однозначного>perception outside world. When such an explanatory model is adopted, all social determinants of changes in social attitudes are eliminated, so key questions again remain unresolved.

In order to find an adequate approach to the problem of changing social attitudes, it is necessary to very clearly imagine the specific socio-psychological content of this concept, which lies in the fact that this phenomenon is caused by<как фактом его функционирования в социальной системе, так и свойством регуляции поведения человека как существа, способного к активной, сознательной, преобразующей производственной деятельности, включенного в сложное переплетение связей с другими людьми>(Shikhirev, 1976. P. 282). Therefore, in contrast to the sociological description of changes in social attitudes, it is not enough to identify only the totality of social changes that precede and explain the change in attitudes. At the same time, in contrast to the general psychological approach, it is also not enough to analyze only changed conditions<встречи>needs with the situation of its satisfaction.

Changes in social attitudes should be analyzed both from the point of view of the content of objective social changes affecting a given level of dispositions, and from the point of view of changes in the active position of the individual caused not simply<в ответ>on the situation, but due to circumstances generated by the development of the personality itself. The stated requirements of the analysis can be fulfilled under one condition: when considering the installation in the context of the activity. If a social attitude arises in a certain area human activity, then you can understand its change by analyzing changes in the activity itself. Among them in in this case The most important thing is to change the relationship between the motive and the purpose of the activity, because only in this case does the personal meaning of the activity change for the subject, and therefore the social attitude (Asmolov, 1979). This approach allows us to build a forecast of changes in social attitudes in accordance with the change in the ratio of the motive and purpose of the activity, the nature of the goal-setting process.

This perspective requires solving a whole series of issues related to the problem of social attitudes interpreted in the context of activity. Only the solution of the entire set of these problems, a combination of sociological and general psychological approaches, will allow us to answer the question posed at the beginning of the chapter: what is the role of social attitudes in the choice of motive for behavior.

38. Stages of formation of social attitudes according to J. Godefroy:

1) up to 12 years of age, the attitudes developing during this period correspond to the parent models;

2) from 12 to 20 years of age, attitudes take on a more specific form, which is associated with the assimilation of social roles;

3) from 20 to 30 years - the crystallization of social attitudes occurs, the formation on their basis of a system of beliefs, which is a very stable mental new formation;

4) from 30 years - installations are characterized by significant stability, fixity, and are difficult to change.

Changes in attitudes aim to add knowledge, change attitudes and views. It depends on the novelty of the information, the individual characteristics of the subject, the order in which information is received and the system of attitudes that the subject already has. Attitudes are more successfully changed through a change in attitude, which can be achieved through suggestion, persuasion of parents, authority figures, and the media.

Cognitive scientists believe that changes in attitudes are influenced by the appearance of inconsistencies in an individual’s cognitive structure. Behaviorists are of the opinion that changes in attitudes depend on reinforcement.

Formation social attitudes Personality answers the question: how is the acquired social experience refracted by the Personality and specifically manifests itself in its actions and actions?

The concept that to a certain extent explains the choice of motive is the concept social attitude.

There is a concept of installation and attitude - social attitude.

The attitude is considered generally psychologically - the readiness of consciousness for a certain reaction, an unconscious phenomenon (Uznadze).

Attitude in the twentieth century (1918) proposed Thomas And Znaniecki. A person’s psychological experience of values, meaning, meaning of social objects. The ability to make a general assessment of the world around us.

The tradition of studying social attitudes has developed in Western social psychology and sociology. In Western social psychology, the term is used to denote social attitudes "attitude".

Concept of attitude was defined as " an individual’s psychological experience of the value, significance, meaning of a social object", or how " the state of consciousness of an individual regarding some social value».

Attitude understood by everyone as:

• - a certain state of consciousness and NS;
• - expressing readiness to react;
• - organized;
• - based on previous experience;
• - exerting a guiding and dynamic influence on behavior.

Thus, the dependence of attitude on previous experience and its important regulatory role in behavior were established.

Attitude functions:

1. Adaptive(utilitarian, adaptive) – the attitude directs the subject to those objects that serve to achieve his goals.
2. Knowledge function– attitude gives simplified instructions regarding the method of behavior in relation to a specific object.
3. Expression function(values, self-regulation) – attitude acts as a means of freeing the subject from internal tension and expressing oneself as an individual.
4. Protection function– the attitude contributes to the resolution of internal conflicts of the Personality.

Through the assimilation of attitudes occurs socialization.

Highlight:

1. Basic– belief system (core of Personality). It is formed in childhood, systematized in adolescence, and ends at 20–30 years old, and then does not change and performs a regulatory function.
2. Peripheral– situational, can change depending on the social situation.

Installation system is a system basic And peripheral installations. It is individual for each person.

In 1942 M. Smith was determined three-component installation structure:

1. Cognitive component– awareness of the object of the social attitude (what the attitude is aimed at).
2. Emotional. component(affective) – assessment of the object of the attitude at the level of sympathy and antipathy.
3. Behavioral component– sequence of behavior in relation to the installation object.

If these components are coordinated with each other, then the installation will perform a regulatory function.

And in case of mismatch of the installation system, a person behaves differently, the installation will not perform a regulatory function.

!Social setting (attitude) – it is a certain state of consciousness, based on previous experience, that regulates a person’s attitude and behavior.
Signs of a social attitude:
1) the social nature of the objects with which a person’s attitude and behavior are connected;
2) awareness of these relationships and behavior;
3) the emotional component of these relationships and behavior;
4) the regulatory role of social attitudes.
Attitude functions:
1) automatic – simplification of consciousness control over activities in standard, previously encountered situations;
2) adaptive – directing the subject to those objects that serve to achieve his goals;
3) protective – contributes to the resolution of internal conflicts of the individual;
4) cognitive - the attitude helps to choose a method of behavior in relation to a specific object;
5) regulatory – a means of freeing the subject from internal tension;
6) rigid – the attitude makes it difficult to adapt to new situations;
7) stabilizing - the attitude determines the stable, consistent, purposeful nature of activity in changing situations.
The structure of a social attitude:
1) cognitive, containing knowledge, an idea of ​​a social object;
2) affective, reflecting the emotional-evaluative attitude towards the object;
3) behavioral, expressing the potential readiness of the individual to implement certain behavior in relation to the object.
Setting levels:
1) simply attitudes that regulate behavior at the simplest, mainly everyday level;
2) social attitudes;
3) basic social attitudes, reflecting the individual’s attitude to his main spheres of life (profession, social activity, hobbies, etc.);
4) instrumental function (incorporating the individual into the system of norms and values ​​of a given social environment).
The installation regulates activities at three hierarchical levels:
1) semantic - attitudes are general in nature and determine the relationship of the individual to objects that have personal significance for the individual;
2) goal-oriented - attitudes determine the relatively stable nature of the activity and are associated with specific actions and a person’s desire to complete the work started;
3) operational - the attitude contributes to the perception and interpretation of circumstances based on the subject’s past experience in similar situation, predicting the possibilities of adequate and effective behavior and making decisions in a specific situation.

3 Perceptual defense

Initially, the phenomenon of perceptual defense was discovered and described by J. Bruner et al. as a way by which a person protects himself from the perception of stimuli that threaten him and stimuli that traumatize his experiences. Such “fencing” does not mean that the individual tends to completely bypass the stimulus that poses a threat to him. It's about about other. Firstly, it was found that humans have a hierarchy of thresholds for distinguishing different stimuli; secondly, it was proven that the phenomenon of perceptual defense is important for understanding the motivation of the perceptual process. Perceptual defense can therefore be interpreted in this case as an attempt to ignore some features of the perceived object and as an attempt to build a certain barrier to its influence on the subject of cognition.

To do this, it is important to take into account three important characteristics of perceptual defense, described in general psychology: 1) emotionally disturbing or frightening stimuli have more high order recognition than neutral; 2) in this case, replacement cognitions seem to be “pulled out”, which prevent the recognition of threatening signals; 3) often a defense is built even if the signal is not recognized: the individual seems to “close himself” from it. From this, Bruner and Postman formulated the principles of selectivity of perception, among which two need to be mentioned in our context: the principle of protection (stimuli that contradict the expectations of the subject or carry potentially hostile information are recognized less well and are subject to greater distortion) and the principle of vigilance (stimuli that threaten the integrity of the individual, that can lead to serious disturbances in mental functioning are recognized faster than others). In everyday life, the presence of such mechanisms is proven by the existence of so-called “taboo words”. Good example We find this in L. Tolstoy in Anna Karenina, when in a difficult situation for her she prefers not to talk to Vronsky about what really worries her deeply and poses an undoubted danger for her - about breaking up with him (“Let’s not, Let's not talk about it..."). Here there is the introduction of a “taboo” on a certain topic, i.e. an attempt to “shut off” from a threatening stimulus.

Perceptual defense can be defined within the framework of the psychology of social cognition as a change in the threshold of awareness of socially significant material. It manifests itself in quite unexpected forms. An example of this is the “principle of the last attempt” identified by G. Allport - the desire of a person in difficult circumstances to “cling” to some familiar truth to the last, fencing it off from any threats coming from outside. This principle applies, in particular, when perceiving one’s own and “out-group” groups. Once formed, a person tends to retain an idea of ​​a group for as long as possible, to preserve the previously implemented categorization. In difficult social conditions, for example, in intergroup (interethnic) conflicts, a person strives to simplify his choice, for which he puts a barrier to new information. The principle of the last attempt proves its existence especially clearly in the stability of a person’s existing stereotypes - and here the desire to give preference to information that corresponds to already established views is manifested. In general terms, the principle of the last attempt also seems to be one of the methods of perceptual defense, which has been proven in a number of experimental studies.

Another specific manifestation of the phenomenon of perceptual defense in the process of social cognition is the phenomenon of “belief in a just world” discovered by M. Lerner. Its essence lies in the fact that a person does not want to believe that something “bad” can happen to him personally without his fault, because the world is “fair”. Living in the conviction that without guilt you will never be punished is naturally easier. And this feeling of psychological comfort forces one to isolate oneself from the information that threatens to destroy this comfort.

Belief in a just world was demonstrated in an experiment where four subjects contributed equally to a game. The award is given to a randomly chosen experimenter. When polling participants and observers about who made the greatest contribution, the awardee is usually named. “Justice” wins: once awarded, it means for the cause. That is, people believe that there is a correspondence between the way they behave and the rewards (punishments) they receive for it.

The idea of ​​justice applies both to oneself and to another. At the same time, the “innocence” of the victim destroys faith in a just world and hence often antipathy towards the victim (“that means, according to deserts”). In an experiment by M. Lerner and K. Simmons, subjects observed how a person who gave incorrect answers to the experimenter’s questions was punished with electric shocks [see. 14, p. 371]. The subjects did not develop any sympathy for the victim; on the contrary, it has been demonstrated negative attitude To her. Similar results were obtained in the experiment of M. Lerner and J. Matthews, carried out in line with general ideas psychological theory justice. Its two participants were asked to cast lots as to which of them would be subjected to electric shocks during the experiment, and which would work in comfortable conditions. In one case, the subject drew lots and learned that his partner would be punished with electric shock. In another case, the same subject learned that the partner had already drawn a “bad” lot. When, after these two attempts, the subject was asked to describe the victim, the descriptions were of a different nature. In the first case, the subject believed that it was he who was “guilty” of punishing his partner, since he drew the “good” lot, and the partner got the “bad” one; at the same time, the victim was described negatively (“since I won, that means I shouldn’t be punished, but that’s his fate”). In the second case, the victim received a neutral assessment: he was the one who brought the punishment, and he himself was to blame. One way or another, under all circumstances, “faith in a just world was preserved.”

The “defense” that arises in the subject in this case makes him not believe that misfortune can befall oneself: the idea is affirmed that since such a misfortune befell the victim, it means that she herself is “to blame.” This stems from the belief that the world is fair and in it everyone gets what they deserve. If someone was a victim, then there is a reason for this, although perhaps unknown to us. This logic of reasoning is complemented by a phenomenon called the “hindsight effect,” when a person, after familiarizing himself with the result of an event, joyfully declares: “I knew it!” This helps to strengthen confidence in one's own rightness. A similar “rightness” is felt in distrust or even in condemnation of the victim.

Naturally, such faith in a just world is the property of a rather naive observer, but as soon as the process of cognition is studied social world by an ordinary person, the phenomenon must be taken into account. Everyday practice provides many examples of its existence. So, in the years Stalin's repressions, when almost anyone could end up in the hands of the NKVD, many people naively believed that they were imprisoned only for something: if I was not involved in any conspiracies, then this cup would pass me by. It is now well known how many paid for believing in such “justice.”

Based on such a naive belief, there is a tendency to attribute atrocities to victims, and various positive (successful) actions to “positive” characters. If it suddenly turns out that the victim is innocent, then this destroys faith in a just world, and the “value” of the victim decreases. Then, in order to restore faith in “justice,” the rejection of the innocent victim becomes even more acute. In the modern science of victimology, cases are specifically studied when a certain type of people more often than others turns out to be a victim. Undoubtedly important factor Such a phenomenon is the use of the phenomenon of “faith” both by the subjects themselves and by their environment. There are interesting observations regarding how the rejection of an innocent victim changes depending on the position of the subject of cognition (observing the victim). If the victim suffers for a relatively long time and expects his suffering to continue, his negative assessment is very strong (according to the principle - “then let’s get to work”). If the individual observing the victim can intervene and prevent further suffering of the victim, then he will evaluate it less negatively. The logic of the argument here seems to be: the victim is innocent, I helped prove his innocence, therefore justice has been restored and now the victim does not need to be completely rejected.

The significance of belief in a just world, as a type of perceptual defense, plays a large role in the choice of behavioral strategy. The destruction of this faith is all the more important. An important consequence it is the phenomenon of “learned helplessness” discovered by M. Seligman [see. 98]. Initially, this phenomenon was identified in experiments with animals (horses at races, constantly punished for both bad and relatively bad good results, lost all motivation to improve their achievements). Later it was found that “learned helplessness” can also be characteristic of people. It arises when a person realizes that he is unable to either predict or control the outcome of his actions. The information received from the outside turns out to be insufficient to achieve the result that depends on us. And if something is unpredictable, then regardless of our efforts, something unwanted may happen. A situation arises, described by L. Carroll in a fairy tale

"Alice in Wonderland": no matter what Alice undertakes, everything turns out to be "not" as expected. A person who finds himself in such a situation internalizes “helplessness”: he begins to behave like a victim - passively and lacking energy. Lack of faith in one's own strength, tacit agreement that nothing can be done is also a type of loss of faith in a just world.

The onset of such a state is closely related to a number of cognitive processes already discussed. It turned out that “learned helplessness” depends in a certain way on the attributional style of the individual. Of the three attributional styles: pessimistic, optimistic and unrealistically optimistic, the first most often leads to a person turning to an external locus of control (becoming an externalist). This leads to a refusal of the desire to change something and, in general, to a lack of faith in the fundamental possibility of changing anything. In this situation, a person gets used to helplessness: a certain style of working with social information, the destruction of protection from negative information gives rise to a special type of behavior.

The involvement of the attributional style in the emergence of “learned helplessness,” however, turns out to be more complex. A number of experiments have shown that not only attribution external reasons events leads to a feeling of helplessness. This can be demonstrated by relatively simple example. If a student fails to pass two exams in a row, for which he prepared in different ways (for the first very carefully, reading additional literature, and for the second - barely looking at lecture notes), then he can easily fall into a state of “learned helplessness” syndrome: absolute bad luck it is obvious that his own efforts do not change anything as a result, he cannot control the situation. Naturally, he can explain the reason for what happened in different ways, i.e. attribute the cause to various factors. If he turns to external factors (“many did not pass”), then the feeling of helplessness will be supported. But if he turns to internal reasons(“I’m so unlucky”), this can also create a feeling of helplessness. Consequently, the attributional style alone does not explain the entire complex of problems in the emergence of “learned helplessness.” Other individual psychological characteristics of a person, as well as his personality traits, are also of great importance.

A huge role in the emergence of the phenomenon of “learned helplessness” is played by a person’s general position in real life situations, in particular the features of the socialization process: how often throughout his life a child found himself in a situation where he received evidence of the hopelessness of his attempts to change something. The acquired “learned helplessness” influences the further course of a person’s behavior, be it success in education, in curing patients, in defending one’s rights in the face of unfounded accusations. "Purely" psychological phenomenon, which is “learned helplessness,” is included in difficult process social cognition and social action.

Widespread belief in a just world as one of the ways psychological protection, as we have seen, is based on the unconditional desirability of cognitive conformity for a person, since in its presence life seems more predictable in terms of those actions that help a person survive. This desire for stability also determines the application of the “last-ditch principle.”

The prevalence of faith in a just world and the difficult experiences of the consequences of its destruction are phenomena of the same order. It is clear that the dream of a stable social world is not always supported by reality. And then there may be two options for the meaning of these factors in social cognition:

or an even greater separation of the “picture” of the real world from its image constructed in the head, or, on the contrary, the desire to achieve the desired stability and in real world. But this is already a question about the connection between cognition and action, the determinant of the solution of which cannot be only a combination of purely psychological factors.

Literally, the expression proposed by S. Fiske is “schema-triggered affect”, but, as always happens with complex, purely author’s figurative expressions, finding an exact equivalent in another language is very difficult.

· Self-attitude – as the sum of private self-esteem associated with various aspects Self-concepts.

· Self-attitude – as an integral self-assessment of particular aspects, weighed by their subjective significance. Self-attitude is like a hierarchical structure, including private self-esteem, integrated across the spheres of personal manifestations and collectively constituting a generalized “I”, which is at the top of the hierarchy. Thus, R. Schavelzon proposed a model of this kind: generalized self-esteem is at the top of the hierarchy and can be divided into academic and non-academic (related or unrelated to academic success). The latter is divided into physical, emotional and social aspects according to D.A. Leontiev 85, self-acceptance is part of more broad concept – self-relation. The most superficial manifestation of self-attitude is self-esteem - a general positive or negative attitude towards oneself. However, self-attitude cannot be described simply by one sign. Firstly, one must distinguish self-respect- an attitude towards oneself as if from the outside, conditioned by some of my real advantages or disadvantages - and self-acceptance - a direct emotional attitude towards oneself, independent of whether there are any traits in me that explain this attitude. It is not uncommon to encounter high self-acceptance with relatively low self-esteem, or vice versa. Secondly, no less important characteristics of self-attitude than its evaluative sign are the degree of its integrity, integration, as well as autonomy, independence from external assessments. Personality is formed on the basis of innate biological prerequisites and acquired in the process of life social experience, as well as active subject activity. Personality is relatively stable, but at the same time it changes as a result of adaptation to a constantly changing environment.

Since both biological prerequisites and individual experience are unique, each personality is also individual and unique. It has a unique structure that combines all the psychological properties of a given person. However, there are also general patterns that make it possible to study, understand and partially change personality.

In the personality structure, three components can be distinguished, the content of which indicates its maturity:

1) Cognitive component - includes a person’s ideas about himself, others and the world; A mature healthy personality is distinguished by:

• evaluates himself as an active subject of life, making free choices and bearing responsibility for them;
• perceives other people as unique and equal participants in the life process;
• perceives the world as constantly changing, and therefore always new and interesting space to realize your potential.

2) The emotional component of a mature healthy personality includes:

• the ability to trust one’s feelings and consider them as a basis for choosing behavior, i.e. confidence that the world really is as it seems and the person himself is capable of making and implementing the right decisions;
• acceptance of oneself and others, sincere interest in other people;
• interest in the perception of the world, first of all - its positive aspects;
• the ability to experience strong positive and negative emotions that correspond to the real situation.

3) The behavioral component consists of actions towards oneself, other people and the world. In a mature healthy person:

• actions are aimed at self-knowledge, self-development, self-realization;
• behavior towards others is based on goodwill and respect for their personality;
• in relation to the world, behavior is aimed at increasing and sometimes restoring its resources through one’s creative activity in the process of self-realization and careful handling of existing ones.

In the structure of personality one can distinguish four levels:

1. Lowest level constitutes a biological basis, which includes age, gender properties of the psyche, innate properties nervous system and temperament. This level is almost impossible to conscious self-regulation and training.
2. Next level personality organization includes individual characteristics of a person’s psychological processes, i.e. individual manifestations of memory, perception, sensations, thinking, emotions, abilities. This level depends both on congenital factors and on individual experience, on training, development, and improvement of these qualities.
3. Third level of personality constitutes its individual social experience, which includes the knowledge, skills, abilities and habits acquired by a person. They are social in nature, formed in the process of communication, joint activities, learning and, accordingly, can be changed through targeted training.
4. Highest level of personality, inner rod, constitute its value orientations. The simplest definition of value orientations is ideal performances about the good. In a more general sense, value orientations are the basis for a subjective (internal, one’s own) assessment of reality, a way of dividing objects according to subjective significance. Every thing or phenomenon acquires a personal meaning insofar as it corresponds or does not correspond to the needs and values ​​of a particular person.

Value orientations determine general approach person to the world and to himself, give meaning and direction to the social position of the individual. Their stable and consistent structure determines such personality qualities as integrity, reliability, loyalty to certain principles and ideals, the ability to make volitional efforts in the name of these ideals and values, activity life position, persistence in achieving goals. It is obvious that the value orientations of an independent person may not coincide with some of the values ​​existing in the public consciousness.

Inconsistency in the value system gives rise to inconsistency in judgment and behavior. Underdevelopment and uncertainty of value orientations are signs of infantilism, the dominance of external stimuli over internal motivations in the personality structure. It is relatively easy for such individuals to be inspired with anything, and they can be easily persuaded to any behavior under the guise of personal or social benefit.

Value orientations influence a stable system of drives, desires, interests, inclinations, ideals and views, as well as a person’s beliefs, his worldview, self-esteem and character traits. Value orientations are formed on the basis of a person’s entire life experience, but are only partially realized. Their targeted correction is possible as a result of serious training and entails a restructuring of the entire personality.

In society, human behavior does not unfold spontaneously, but within the framework of social roles. Roles- these are stable places in the system of relationships with other people (for example: student, teacher, wife, buyer, etc.).

On the basis of self-awareness, a person develops a “I-image” (“I-concept”) - how the individual sees himself and wants to see himself. "I-image" includes an individual’s idea of ​​himself, his physical and psychological characteristics: appearance, abilities, interests, inclinations, self-esteem, self-confidence, etc. Based on the “I-image,” a person distinguishes himself from the outside world and from other people. “I-image” generally includes three main dimensions: cash "I"(how a person sees himself at the moment), desired self(how I would like to see myself) represented "I"(how he shows himself to others). All three dimensions coexist in the personality, ensuring its integrity and development. two forms"I-image" - real And perfect. In this case " real shape"does not mean that this image corresponds to reality. This is a person’s idea of ​​himself, of “what I am here and now.” The ideal “I-image” is a person’s idea of ​​himself in accordance with his desires, “what I would like to be”

In social psychology, social attitude is understood as “a certain disposition of an individual, according to which the tendencies of his thoughts, feelings and possible actions are organized taking into account a social object” (Smith M.B. Attitude Change//International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences/ Ed. by D.L.Sills, Crowell, 1968. P.26). This concept defines one of the most important psychological mechanisms inclusion of an individual in the social system, attitude functions simultaneously as an element psychological structure personality, and as an element of social structure [Shikhirev P.N., 1979].

The complexity and versatility of the concept of “attitude” often causes its ambiguous interpretation. Understanding the nature of a social attitude and the functions it performs is determined by a conceptual approach to its study.

So, in psychoanalytic concept the social attitude acts as a regulator of reactions that reduce intrapersonal tension and resolve conflicts between motives.

The problem of attitude within cognitive theories generally solved on the basis of the model " thinking man" - its cognitive structure is placed in the center of attention. From this point of view, a social attitude is a cognitive formation formed by a person in the process of his social experience and mediating the flow and processing of information to the individual. At the same time, the most important difference attitude from other cognitions - opinions, ideas, beliefs - its ability to direct and regulate human behavior is recognized.

Behaviorists consider social attitudes as mediating behavioral response- an intermediate variable between the objective stimulus and the external reaction.
1.2. Structure and functions of attitude

In his approach to the structure of attitude, developed in 1942, M. Smith presented a social attitude as awareness (cognitive component), evaluation (affective component) and behavior (conative, behavioral component) in relation to a social object. Currently, due to the special interest in the study of attitude systems, the structure of a social attitude is defined more broadly. Attitude acts as “a value disposition, a stable predisposition to a certain assessment, based on cognitions, affective reactions, established behavioral intentions (intentions) and previous behavior, capable in turn of influencing cognitive processes, affective reactions, the formation of intentions and future behavior” (Zanna M.D., Rempel Y.K., 1988 - cited in: Zimbardo F., Leippe M. Social influence. St. Petersburg, 2000. P. 46).

Thus, behavioral component social attitude is represented not only by direct behavior (some real, already carried out actions), but also by intentions. Behavioral intentions can include various expectations, aspirations, plans, action plans - everything that a person intends to do. At the same time, intentions ultimately cannot always find their embodiment in a person’s real actions, in his behavior.

Concerning cognitive component, then it may include beliefs, ideas, opinions, all cognitions formed as a result of cognition of a social object. Affective reactions represent various emotions, feelings and experiences associated with the object of the attitude. The attitude itself acts as a total assessment (evaluative reaction), which includes all of the listed components.

It must be emphasized that all elements of the attitudinal system are interconnected and represent a system of reactions specific to each individual person. Therefore, a change in one component can cause a change in another. For example, a change in beliefs regarding a certain social object can lead to a change in attitude, and subsequently to a change in behavior in relation to this social object.

In addition, elements of the system can go beyond the scope of one installation system and “establish” relationships with elements of another. For example, the same cognition may be associated with different attitudes. If this cognition changes, it can be assumed that both attitudes will change [Zimbardo F., Leippe M., 2000].

In addition to considering the structure of the attitude (or attitudinal system), to understand the essence of a social attitude, it is necessary to dwell on the functions that it performs. An approach to this problem was outlined back in the 50s in the works of M. Smith, D. Bruner and R. White (1956). M. Smith and his colleagues identified three attitude functions:

Object assessment;

Social adjustment;

Externalization.

Function object assessment consists of evaluating information coming from the outside world using an attitude and correlating it with a person’s existing motives, goals, values ​​and interests. The installation simplifies the task of learning new information by providing a person with “ready-made” evaluation categories. The function of evaluating an object, performed by attitude, can ultimately lead a person to revise the facts of reality in accordance with his own interests and needs.

Using the function social adjustment attitude helps a person evaluate how other people belong to a social object.

At the same time, social attitudes mediate interpersonal relationships. The main postulate is that attitude can act as a means of maintaining a person’s relationship with other people, or as a means of breaking these relationships. An attitude, according to M. Smith and his colleagues, can contribute to a person’s identification with a group (allows him to interact with people, accepting their attitudes) or leads him to oppose himself to the group (in case of disagreement with the attitudes of other group members).

Externalization (embodiment function) is associated with the existence of internal problems and contradictions in a person. The attitude towards a social object “is an open symbolic substitute for the hidden attitude adopted in the internal struggle” (Smith M.V. Attitude Change // International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences / Ed. by D. L. Sills. Crowell, 1968. P. 43). Thus, a social attitude can become an “exponent” of a person’s deepest motives.

A more well-known functional theory (which has some similarities with the theory of M. Smith, D. Bruner and R. White) is the theory of D. Katz (1960). It attempts to integrate ideas about the attitude of various theoretical orientations: behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology and cognitivism. Proposing to study the installation from the point of view needs, needs which it satisfies, D. Katz identifies four functions:

Instrumental (adaptive, adaptive, utilitarian);

Ego-protective;

Function of expressing values;

Function of organizing knowledge.

Instrumental function expresses adaptive tendencies of human behavior, helps to increase rewards and reduce losses. Attitude directs the subject to those objects that serve to achieve his goals. In addition, maintaining certain attitudes helps a person gain approval and be accepted by others, since people are more likely to be attracted to someone who has attitudes similar to their own.

Self-protective function: Attitude contributes to the resolution of internal conflicts of the individual, protects people from receiving unpleasant information about themselves and about social objects that are significant to them. People often act and think in ways to protect themselves from unpleasant information. So, for example, to increase your self-worth or the importance of one’s group, a person often resorts to forming a negative attitude towards members of the outgroup.

Function of expressing values (function of value, self-realization) - attitudes give a person the opportunity to express what is important to him and organize his behavior accordingly. By carrying out certain actions in accordance with his attitude, a person realizes himself in relation to social objects. This function helps a person to define himself and understand what he is like.

Knowledge organization function based on a person’s desire for semantic ordering of the world around him. Attitudes help a person comprehend reality, “explain” current events or the actions of other people. Attitude allows you to avoid feelings of uncertainty and ambiguity, and sets a certain direction for the interpretation of events.
1.3. Formation of social attitudes

The most well-known approaches to the study of attitudes and, in particular, the problem of their formation are: behaviorist (approach through learning), cognitivist, motivational, as well as a sociological (or structural) approach based on the ideas of interactionism. Currently, a biological (genetic) approach to the formation of attitudes is also being developed.

Behaviorist approach. In general, in neobehaviorism, a social attitude is viewed as an implicit, mediating response - a hypothetical construct or intermediate variable between an objective stimulus and an external response. An attitude that is virtually inaccessible to external surveillance, is both a response to the observed stimulus and a stimulus for the observed response, acting like a coupling mechanism. For example, a child's attitude towards a teacher can be considered both as a reaction to the teacher and as a stimulus for certain behavior towards this teacher. Both stimulus-reactive connections, according to behaviorists, obey all the laws of learning theory. The formation of a social attitude is in many ways similar to the formation of other habits and skills. Consequently, the principles that apply to other forms of learning also determine the formation of attitudes.

Within the framework of learning theory, the following can be considered as the main mechanisms for the formation of attitudes: stimulation (positive reinforcement), observation, associations And imitation.

The simplest way to form an attitude occurs primarily through positive reinforcement , Moreover, positive stimulation in the learning process can be expressed in both material and “spiritual” additional incentives. For example, a student who received an excellent mark and praise from the teacher for an exam in a difficult subject will most likely form a positive attitude towards the passed discipline.

In everyday life, parents use positive reinforcement (praise, affection, emotional support) when raising a child to form a positive attitude towards a certain social object or process.

Well-known experiments conducted in the school of persuasive communication by K. Hovland showed that an attitude is formed more easily when the process of persuasion is reinforced by positive aspects. For example, I. Janis and his colleagues found that a message became more persuasive to Yale University students if they read it while enjoying peanuts and Pepsi-Cola [Myers D., 1997].

The mechanism for forming an attitude can be observing the behavior of other people, and monitoring its consequences . If behavior is accompanied by positive results and is appreciated by the person, it is possible that this will lead to the formation of a positive attitude in him that determines the observed behavior. For example, if we watch our neighbor jogging every morning, and at the same time we see that he looks great, keeps fit, and is always in a good mood, most likely we will develop a positive attitude towards sports running.

Another important mechanism for the formation of attitudes is establishing associative connections between an already existing and a newly formed attitude or between the structural components of different attitudes. Associations “link” various stimuli that appear simultaneously. Most often, such a connection occurs between the affective (emotional) component of one attitude with the neutral social object of the newly formed attitude. For example, if a very respected television presenter (for whom there is a positive attitude) is pleased to introduce a new person, not yet known to us, a positive attitude will be formed towards the “newcomer”.

Learning through imitation also applicable to explain the formation of social attitudes. Imitation, as is known, is one of the main mechanisms of human socialization, although the role of imitation is ambiguous in different stages his life. People imitate others, especially if those others are significant people. Thus, the main source of basic political and social attitudes in early age is family. Children tend to imitate the attitudes of their parents. For example, as a child, a boy will most likely root for the same sports team as his father and recognize the best car brand as the one that his loved ones admire. Subsequently, the formation of a person’s social attitudes begins to be influenced by other people significant to him, as well as by institutions of socialization. For example, the social attitudes of high school students may be formed to a greater extent under the influence of peers or their idols from the world of music, television, and cinema. Mass communications play a huge role in shaping attitudes throughout a person’s life.

So, the process of forming social attitudes, as it is understood by behaviorists, does not actually imply activity on the part of the subject himself. Learning that occurs under the influence of various external stimuli determines the newly created attitudes.

Motivational approach. The motivational approach considers the process of forming an attitude as a process of a person weighing all the pros and cons of adopting a new attitude, as well as determining the consequences of adopting a social attitude. Thus, the main factors for the formation of social attitudes in this approach are the cost of choice and the benefit from the consequences of choice. For example, a student may think that studying in sports section very cool - it keeps you in good shape, gives you the opportunity to have fun, communicate with friends, keeps your figure, etc. All these considerations lead her to form a positive attitude towards sports. However, she thinks that it takes a lot of effort and time, and it also interferes with her college studies, and she wants to go to university. These considerations will lead her to a negative attitude. Depending on the importance of different motives for the student, the final attitude towards visiting the sports section will be determined.

Cognitive approach. This approach includes several similar theories - the theory of structural balance by F. Heider, the theory of communicative acts by T. Newcome, the theory of congruence by C. Osgood and P. Tannebaum, the theory of cognitive dissonance by L. Festinger. All theories of cognitive consistency are based on the idea that people strive for internal consistency of their cognitive structure and, in particular, their attitudes [Andreeva G.M., Bogomolova N.N., Petrovskaya L.A. 1978].

According to the cognitivist orientation, the role of the attitude, as mediating newly received information, is performed by the entire cognitive structure, which assimilates, models or blocks it. Nevertheless, the problem arises of separating the attitude and elements of the cognitive structure (opinions, beliefs), devoid of most important property attitude - its immanent ability to regulate behavior, its dynamic aspect. Cognitivists (in particular, L. Festinger) find a certain way out of this situation: it is recognized that a single social attitude lacks dynamic potential. It arises only as a result of a mismatch between the cognitive components of two attitudes. This is where the idea of ​​forming social attitudes within the framework of theories of cognitive correspondence comes from. A person who has different attitudes that do not agree with each other strives to make them more consistent. In this case, various options are possible: the contradictory attitude can be completely replaced by a new one, consistent with other cognitions, or the cognitive component in the “old” attitude can be changed. The reason for the generation of an attitude may also be a conflict between the cognitive elements of attitudes and their behavioral components.

Another variation of the coherence approach is the approach that argues that people strive to match their cognitions with their affects. This point was recorded, in particular, in the experiment of M. Rosenberg. At the first stage of the experiment, he interviewed study participants regarding their attitudes towards blacks, towards racial integration and, in general, about the relationship between white and black Americans.

At the second stage, hypnosis was carried out, with the help of which the affective component of the attitude was changed. For example, if a participant was previously opposed to integration policies, then he was told positive attitude To her. The respondents were then taken out hypnotic trance and asked about their attitudes towards blacks, towards integration, towards interaction.

It turned out that changes in affect alone (emotional component) were accompanied by sudden changes in cognition. For example, a person who was initially against integration policies came to believe that integration was absolutely necessary in order to destroy racial inequality that it is needed to establish racial harmony, this is precisely what we must fight for and support such a policy in every possible way. These changes occurred in connection with the desire to reduce the discrepancy between affect and cognition.

The main point of M. Rosenberg’s experiment was that changes in affects during hypnosis occurred without the arrival of any new cognitions and without changing old ones, i.e. a change in affect leads to a change in cognitions (the formation of new cognitions). This process is very important, since many attitudes are formed (for example, in childhood) initially through strong affects, without having any significant cognitive foundations. Only later do people begin to “fill” already formed attitudes with appropriate cognitions and confirm with certain facts their positive or negative attitude (attitude) towards social objects.

Structural approach. Another approach to the formation of attitudes is the so-called structural approach, which represents the attitude as a function of structure interpersonal relationships[Davis J.E., 1972].

The structural approach is mainly associated with the name of J. Mead. The underlying theme of his work dominated American sociological approaches to attitude in the 1920s and 1930s. “This theme is this: our attitudes toward objects, toward “others,” and especially our attitudes toward our most beloved object—ourselves—are generated and supported by social factors. Our likes and dislikes, our likes and dislikes of ourselves, arise from our experiences with “others,” especially our ability to see the world and ourselves as “others” see it and as defined by social symbols . J. Mead's key hypothesis is that we develop our attitudes by accepting, in his terminology, “internalization,” the attitudes of “others” (Davis J.E. Sociology of attitude / American sociology. Perspectives, problems, methods. M., 1972, p. 23). It is “others”, people who are significant to us, who are the decisive factor in the formation of our attitudes. These are the people we really like, in whom we trust, and in addition, these are those who are close to us. In general, personal influence on attitudes appears to be inversely related to social distance.

For example, many campaign studies show that people tend to borrow policies from their own friends rather than from journalists or party speakers.

From the point of view of the structural approach, a group or even an entire society can be viewed as a complex network or structure interpersonal feelings, in which almost all individuals are associated with several other attitudes of like, dislike, respect, hate, etc. Although each person has strong attitudes towards only a small number of “others”, these “others” are connected with third ones, and these in turn are connected with fourth ones, etc. Thus, the entire society can be represented as a “web”, a network of interpersonal feelings or attitudes. The entire network can be conditionally divided into small groups, internally connected by the positive attitudes of its members towards each other and externally distant from other groups by hostility or indifference. The manifestation of in-group favoritism and out-group aggression (hostility) leads to the fact that the process of formation of attitudes consists in the fact that we adjust our likes and dislikes to the attitudes of our friends within our group, while simultaneously dissociating ourselves from positions associated with their various bearers outside our group . This thesis is confirmed, in particular, by American research, for example, in the field of professional self-determination. Yes, according to the results sociological research It is known that youth from low socioeconomic status backgrounds are less likely to enroll in college than their high-status peers. But it has been shown that boys and girls from low-status backgrounds are more likely to plan to attend college if they attend a high school with a high percentage of students from high-status families. Based on the structural theory of attitude, this can be explained as follows: a high school student’s attitude towards higher education is strongly influenced by the attitudes of his friends among those whom he reveres. If students from high-status families are more likely to go to college initially than students from low-status families, then the higher the proportion of the former in a school, the more likely it is that a boy from a low-status family has a friend from a high-status family , which will influence his admission to college [Davis J.E., 1972]. This approach can also be applied to explaining deviant behavior, group decision making, and other problems. Thus, the structural approach shows the mechanism for the formation of attitudes both on the individual and on social level- the most important are the existing sympathy between people, as well as the directness of contacts, the “closeness” of interaction with other people.

Genetic approach. In addition to studying the process of forming attitudes within the framework of psychological and sociological approaches, the formation of attitudes can also be considered from the point of view of genetics.

At first glance, the question of the heredity of attitudes, for example, to the death penalty or to playing sports, may seem absurd if we assume that specific genes directly produce a complex of human social behavior. However, the influence of genes on attitudes may not be direct, but mediated by factors such as innate differences in temperament, intellectual abilities, and finally, innate biochemical reactions, etc. For example, based on the twin method ( differential psychology) R. Erway and his colleagues found that approximately 30% of the observed facts of hard work depend on genetic factors. In other words, work attitudes may be partially inherited. L. Ives and co-authors found (based on surveys of respondents) that the most “heritable” attitude is the attitude towards crime (this may be associated with innate aggression and other characteristics of the individual). American psychologist A. Tesser, in his theoretical work, concludes that hereditary attitudes are always stronger and at the same time more accessible compared to acquired ones. In addition, genetically determined attitudes are resistant to change. This is explained by the fact that such social attitudes are based on a biological substrate, so it is almost impossible to change them. In addition, the preservation of “innate” attitudes is supported by various protective mechanisms.

The problem of the relationship between behavior and attitudes has been one of the most controversial throughout the history of the study of attitudes.

Thus, at the very beginning of the study of social attitudes, there was no doubt that people’s attitudes could predict their actions. But the results of R. Lapierre’s experiment, published by him in 1934, not only destroyed the usual axiom of the relationship between social attitudes and behavior, but weakened interest in its study for a long time.

R. Lapierre's research lasted for two years. He traveled with a Chinese newlywed couple, visiting more than 250 hotels in total. This journey was undertaken at a time when there was strong prejudice against Asians in America. However, R. Lapierre’s companions only once during the entire trip were refused to put them in a hotel. After 6 months, R. Lapierre sent letters to all the hotels where they safely stayed during the trip asking them to accept him and the Chinese again. Responses came from 128 locations, and 92% of them included a refusal. Thus, a discrepancy emerged between the attitudes and actual behavior of hotel owners towards the Chinese. The results of this study showed a discrepancy between attitude and behavior and were called Lapierre's paradox.

Similar experiments conducted later confirmed the lack of connection between attitudes and behavior [ KutnerIN.,WilkinsWITH.,Yarrow P. R., 1952].

However, not all researchers agreed with this position. For example, S. Kelly and T. Mirer analyzed the influence of attitudes on voter behavior during four US presidential elections. They showed that in 85% of cases, the attitudes of people who participated in the elections were associated with their voting behavior, despite the fact that the attitudes were revealed a month before the vote [ Kelley S., MirerT., 1974].

Scientists who are confident in the relationship between attitudes and behavior criticized the organization of the experiment conducted by R. Lapierre. Thus, it was indicated that responses were received only from half hotel owners. In addition, there was no information - whether there was hosted Chinese and respondent the letter to R. Lapierre was answered by the same person or, perhaps, by one of the relatives or employees. Substantial assumptions have also been made about why in the experiment of Lapierre and others similar experiments There was a discrepancy between attitude and behavior. For example, M. Rokeach expressed the idea that a person can have two similar attitudes simultaneously: directly on an object and on situation, associated with this object. These attitudes operate alternately. In Lapierre's experiment, the attitude towards the object was negative (attitude towards the Chinese), but the attitude towards the situation prevailed - according to accepted norms of behavior, the owner of a hotel or restaurant must receive the visitor. Another explanation was the idea of ​​D. Katz and E. Stotland that in different situations either cognitive or affective components of attitude can manifest themselves, so the result will be different [Andreeva G.M., 1996]. In addition, the behavior of hotel owners could not correspond to their attitude if there was a discrepancy between the emotional and cognitive components in the attitude itself [ Norman R., 1975; MillarM. G., TesserA., 1989].

Other explanations for the results of Lapierre's experiment have been proposed, in particular by M. Fishbein and A. Aizen. They noticed that in almost all early work related to the study of attitudes, the attitudes and behavior measured were different levels of specificity . If the attitude being measured is general (for example, attitudes towards Asians) and the behavior is very specific (to accept or not to accept a Chinese couple), one should not expect an exact match between attitudes and actions. In this case, the attitude will not predict behavior [ Aizen L, 1982]. For example, a general attitude towards a healthy lifestyle is unlikely to prompt specific actions of people who have such attitudes, i.e., knowing a person’s general attitude towards a healthy lifestyle, it remains unclear what actions he will take - whether he will jog, exercise, diet, etc. Whether a person jogs or not likely depends on his or her attitude toward the benefits of running.

A. Aizen and M. Fishbein developed four criteria by which levels of behavior and attitudes should be compared: action element, goal element, context (situation) element and time element [Andreeva G.M., 2000].

Numerous subsequent empirical studies have confirmed that specific attitudes do indeed predict behavior, but only those corresponding to their level. For example, in one experiment respondents were asked about their attitudes toward religion and the frequency of church attendance. The correlation between attitude and actual behavior was very low. But when respondents were asked about their attitude towards the need for frequent attendance and their actual attendance at the temple, a high degree of correlation was found [Gulevich O. A., Bezmenova I. B., 1999]. A certain conclusion can be drawn: for attitudes to guide behavior, they must be specific to a given type of behavior.

Another explanation for the possible discrepancy between attitude and behavior can be the theory of “flushing flow” by L. Wrightsman. He suggested that the connection between social attitudes and behavior is disrupted (can be “blurred”) by various factors:

1) The installation on a whole object may not coincide with the installation on some part that makes up this object. For example, a negative attitude towards television advertising in general does not mean that there is no positive attitude towards a specific, favorite commercial (for example: “Aunt Asya has arrived” or “Where have you been...?”, etc. ).

2) It is necessary to take into account that behavior is determined not only by attitudes, but also by the situation in which it unfolds.

3) Behavior can be determined by several attitudes that are opposite to each other, which also violates the unambiguous “attitude-behavior” relationship.

4) The discrepancy between attitude and behavior can occur because a person incorrectly or inaccurately expressed his position in relation to a social object [ Andreeva G. M., 2000].

D. Myers points out that “ attitudes predict behavior if :

Other influences are reduced;

The attitude matches the action;

An attitude is strong because something reminds us of it; because the situation activates an unconscious attitude, which subtly directs our perception of events and reaction to them, or because we acted exactly as was necessary to strengthen the attitude" ( Myers D. Social Psychology. St. Petersburg, 1997. P. 162.).

So, at the present stage of studying attitudes, their relationship with behavior is no longer in doubt. However, there are a number of factors that may weaken this relationship. At the same time, strong attitudes predetermine people's actions.

Let's take a closer look at what attitudes should be to guide behavior.

2.2. Attitudes that predict behavior

An attitude is a better predictor of behavior when it has the property accessibility, which has been proven in many experiments conducted. In this case, an indicator of the accessibility of an attitude is most often the speed of a person’s evaluative reaction to any object or situation. Thus, in one of the studies, using the “speed of reaction” of people, it was predicted which of them would vote for Ronald Reagan and which would vote for Walter Mondale.

The accessibility of the attitude is characterized close connection between the attitude and the object at which it is directed, which, in turn, makes it possible to quickly update the corresponding behavioral reaction. In this case, it is not at all necessary for the installation to be comprehended; it “works” automatically. In this case, attitudes most often act as heuristics [ Andreeva G. M., 2000].

Attitudes guide behavior even if they are in the field of consciousness person. Such a feature of attitudes as their “awareness” was devoted big number research. For example, M. Snyder and W. Swann surveyed students at the University of Minnesota about their attitudes towards politics decisive action in the field of employment. Two weeks later, these students were invited to participate in role-playing game- sit on the jury at the hearing of an impromptu case about gender discrimination in employment. For students who, with the help of special instructions, were given the opportunity to recall their reasoning expressed in the survey, previously formed attitudes influenced the final verdict. For students who did not have the opportunity to reproduce in their memory the attitudes towards the problem of employment that they expressed at the first stage of the experiment, their attitudes did not influence the verdict [ 1999].

Another factor determining the accessibility of the attitude is knowledge about the object this attitude. Theoretically than more people knows about an object, the more accessible the assessment of this object becomes, and the more likely it is possible to make a prediction about human behavior. This hypothesis was confirmed in a series of studies conducted by W. Wood. The results showed that attitudes, supported by a large amount of information about the object, are more accessible and determine human actions to a greater extent [ Wood W., 1982].

In a series of experiments by R. Fazio and M. Zanna, it was shown that the strength of the installation also depends on how the way it was formed . It turned out that attitudes formed on the basis of direct experience are more accessible and better predict behavior than attitudes that arose in some other way. This happens because they are better fixed in human memory and are more resistant to various kinds of influences. In addition, such attitudes are easier to retrieve from memory than those based on inferences.

Whether attitudes will determine human behavior depends not only on the strength of the attitudes, but also on the personal and situational factors that mediate their relationship.
2.3. Personal factors influencing the relationship between attitudes and behavior

First of all, the motivational factor can be attributed to the “internal” personal factors that determine the “attitude-behavior” relationship.

Often people are guided in their actions by alternative attitudes, depending on how much it is for them. profitable. For example, when deciding whether to defend environment(say, signing a petition to ban the production of chemicals), a person will be guided not only by an assessment of the threat of environmental pollution, but also by the fact that he may lose his job due to the closure of the enterprise. In this case, the influence of motivational factors on “choice” from alternative attitudes due to the need to satisfy more significant human needs.

Can influence the relationship between attitude and behavior "personal interest" person." In this case, personal interest means a person’s feeling of the degree of importance and necessity of something in his life. Personal interest can be determined, in turn, by both motivational and one of the important characteristics that mediate the relationship between attitudes and human behavior is self-monitoring. This concept was introduced by M. Snyder and means a way of presenting oneself in social situations and regulating behavior in order to make the desired impression [ SnyderM.,TankeE. D., 1976]. For some people, making a good impression is a way of life. Constantly monitoring their behavior and noting to themselves the reactions of others, they change their course of action if it does not produce the expected effect in society. These are people with a high degree of self-monitoring. Such people behave like social chameleons- they adapt their behavior to external circumstances, are very attentive to how others perceive them, and are easily influenced by others ( MyersD. Social Psychology. St. Petersburg, 1997. P. 177). By adjusting their behavior to the situation, they are ready to completely surrender to an attitude that they do not actually adhere to. Feeling the attitude of others, they are least likely to act in accordance with their own attitudes. Thanks to self-control, such people easily adapt to new work, new roles and relationships.

People with low level self-monitors, on the contrary, pay less attention to what others think about them, and accordingly are less influenced by their social environment. They tend to be more likely to trust their own attitudes. Their behavior is more closely related to attitudes than that of people with a high level of self-monitoring.

So, the influence of attitudes on behavior is determined by “internal” variables, in particular the motives, values ​​of a person, as well as his individual characteristics. At the same time, the relationship between attitude and behavior largely depends on “external” situational factors that influence both attitudes and the behavior regulated by them.

The influence of external factors determines not only the real, but also expressed installation, i.e. the one that a person expresses in an oral or written assessment of an object. Research has shown that people often express attitudes that they do not actually hold [ Myers D., 1997]. External expression attitudes will depend on many situational reasons and social influences. Study only expressed attitudes does not make it possible to predict behavior, since it is rather guided by “true” attitudes.

The ambiguity of the “attitude-behavior” connection may also arise due to the influences exerted on behavior person from situational factors. Situational factors can be understood as global social influences (for example, a situation of social instability, economic and political situation in the country, etc.) and more “private” situational influences. Various may be considered levels social influence - social and cultural, institutional and group and, finally, interpersonal influences.

TO situational factors influencing human behavior , can be attributed to: 1) the influence on human behavior of the attitudes and norms of other people (the influence of significant others and group pressure), 2) the lack of an acceptable alternative, 3) the impact of unpredictable events and, finally, 4) lack of time [Alcock J. E., Garment D. W., Sadava S. W., 1988; Zimbardo F., Leippe M., 2000].

A person who wants to be in agreement with the group, with other people, can give up his attitudes and behave the way the majority wants. In this case, a person’s behavior may be determined not by his own, but by other people’s attitudes. At the same time, the influence of surrounding people is not constant and can change depending on the situation. Thus, in studies by R. Schlegel, K. Craufford and M. Sanborn, adolescents’ attitudes towards drinking beer, liquor and wine were studied. The identified attitudes predicted the frequency of their use in the company of peers, but at home the behavior of adolescents depended to a greater extent on their parents’ attitudes towards these alcoholic drinks [ Gulevich O. A., Bezmenova I. K., 1999].

In addition to social factors, the relationship between attitude and behavior can be influenced by variables such as the lack of an acceptable alternative, as well as exposure to unpredictable events. The lack of an acceptable alternative lies in the fact that the discrepancy between attitude and behavior is determined by the inability to realize one’s attitude in practice, in reality. For example, people may be forced to buy those goods towards which they have a negative attitude, since there are simply no others. The impact of unpredictable events is that an unexpected situation forces a person to act sometimes even contrary to his own attitudes. For example, a lonely person who does not like his neighbor (negative attitude), having fallen ill, is forced to turn to her for help.

Finally, another situational factor that can change the attitude-behavior relationship is a lack of time caused by a person being busy or trying to solve several problems at once.

We have looked at some of those cases where the situation becomes “stronger” than the attitude and can influence a person’s behavior. When do situational factors, in turn, provide the influence of attitudes on people's actions?

Special contribution to the study situational And dispositional determinants of behavior was made by K. Levin and his students. The main position of K. Lewin's situationism was the thesis that the social context awakens powerful forces that stimulate or limit behavior. However, even the most insignificant characteristics of the situation can change a person’s behavior, coordinating or not coordinating it with attitudes. Can play a special role in this intentions of people.

Proof of this can be seen in the experiment of G. Leventhal, R. Singer and S. Jones, which tested how positive attitudes of students towards vaccination against tetanus can be translated into concrete actions. To do this, a conversation was held with senior students about the risk of tetanus and the need for vaccination. A written survey of students after the conversation showed high degree formation of a positive attitude towards vaccination. However, only 3% of them dared to inject the vaccine. But if subjects who listened to the same conversation were given a map of the campus with a health center marked on it and asked to revise their weekly schedule with a specific time for vaccination and a route to the health station, the number of students who got vaccinated increased 9 times ( Ross L., Nisbet R. Person and situation: Lessons from social psychology. M., 1999. P. 45.). Obviously, in order to move on to practical actions, it was not enough for students to have a positive attitude, but it was necessary to have a certain plan or, using K. Levin’s terminology, a ready-made one. "channel", through which intentions perform an action could be transformed into real behavior. K. Levin called “channel factors” insignificant, but essentially very important details situations. Channel factors are facilitator factors, “conducting paths” for reaction, serving the emergence or maintenance of behavioral intentions [ Ross L., Nisbet R., 1999]. Thus, some elements of the situation, channel factors, can stimulate intention carry out the action subject to the formed installation. For example, behavior in accordance with an attitude can be brought to life by public approval of the proposed actions.

But in this case, knowledge only social attitudes will not help predict what they will be like real action person. To predict behavior, it is necessary to take into account a variety of internal and external factors, with the help of which intentions (intentions) of a person can turn into actual behavior.

Currently, the most common topic of research on the relationship between attitudes and behavior is the study of the influence of attitudes on people’s intentions and only Through them - on behavior.

The relationship “attitude-intention-behavior” was considered in the theory of cognitive mediation of action (model of reasoned action) by A. Ajzen and M. Fishbein [ Aizen L, FishbeinM., 1980].

The authors of the theory suggested that basic It is a person’s intentions that influence behavior. At the same time, the intentions themselves are determined by two factors: the first is attitude towards behavior, and second - subjective norms of behavior person (perception of social influence).

The attitude towards the intention, in turn, will depend on the person’s ideas about what consequences his actions will lead to, as well as on the assessment of these consequences, i.e. attitude towards behavior is determined expected result (in particular, the degree of probability of achieving this result) and an assessment of its benefits to humans.

For example, a person has the intention to buy a TV. This intention will depend on the purchase intention of a particular TV. The attitude, in turn, is determined by a number of expectations of consequences from behavior (in this case, purchasing a TV brand “A”). This may take into account the various characteristics of this TV, the likelihood of their occurrence and the degree of their benefit. For example, a parameter of a TV brand “A” may be taken into account, such as the duration of its operation without breakdowns. At the same time, the probability of manifestation of this characteristic and how beneficial it can be for a person is assessed. General attitude(attitude) towards buying a TV will be determined by taking into account and evaluating all the important parameters for the buyer of the TV he has chosen.

In addition to attitude, the intention to perform a certain action, as already mentioned, is influenced by the subjective norm - perception of social pressure on behavior . It, in turn, consists of beliefs that certain people or groups expect such behavior and the person's desire to follow those expectations. Continuing the example of buying a TV, we can say that the intention to buy it will be influenced by a person’s beliefs that, for example, his family (wife, children, mother-in-law, etc.) expects him to take such an action - buy a new TV brand “ A”, and will also influence a person’s desire to follow their requirements and expectations.

Finally, the intention to perform an action may be determined by the importance to the person of attitudinal and normative considerations. At the same time, M. Fishbein and A. Aizen believed that the significance of attitudes and subjective norms may be different and vary depending on some personal (or individual) characteristics, as well as on the situation [ FishbeinM.,Aizen I., 1975 ].

In general, the model of justified action is presented in Fig. 10.2.

So, the model of “reasonable action” is based on the idea of ​​a person’s awareness and processing of information about the consequences of actions, assessment of these consequences, as well as his ideas about the appropriateness of behavior from the point of view of other people. It has been repeatedly tested in many empirical studies and tested in practice.

Rice. 10.2. The theory of cognitive mediation of action (

The concept of attitude in domestic and foreign psychology.

The structure of a person's social attitude.

Dispositional concept of social attitude V.A. Yadova.

The problem of attitude in social psychology actually occupies a very important place, since it is the formation of numerous individual attitudes that makes it possible to determine how the social experience acquired in the process of socialization is refracted by the individual and specifically manifests itself in his actions and actions. It is through this attitude that it is possible to resolve the issue of regulating human behavior and activity.

Formation of the concept social setting should be considered in the development of two traditions: domestic general psychology and Western social psychology.

Dmitry Nikolaevich Uznadze and his students consider installation as a primary holistic undifferentiated state that precedes conscious mental activity and underlies behavior. Individual acts of behavior, all mental activity, are phenomena of secondary origin. An attitude is a mediating formation between the influence of the environment and mental processes that explains human behavior, his emotional and volitional processes, i.e. acts as a determinant of any activity of the body. Thus, thinking (as well as creative imagination, work, etc.) arises in a situation of difficulty in acts of behavior caused by a certain attitude, when the complication of the situation makes it necessary to make this difficulty a special object of study.

Types of attitudes: diffuse, motor, sensory, mental, social - readiness to perceive and act in a certain way.

In Western social psychology, the term “ attitude ”, which in literature in Russian is translated either as “social attitude”, or is used as a tracing paper from the English attitude. For the term “installation” (in the sense that was given to it in the school of D.N. Uznadze) there is another designation in English – “set”. The study of attitudes is a completely independent line of research that does not follow the development of the ideas of set (“set”) and has become one of the most developed areas of social psychology. Current situation American research on attitude is characterized by an abundance of mini-theories (Shikhirev) and the absence of any generalizing theoretical concept.

The term “attitude” was proposed in 1918 by the American sociologist and social psychologist William Isaac Thomas and the greatest sociologist of the 20th century, Florian Witold Znaniecki. Later, many definitions of this concept were developed; after 10-12 years there were more than 100 of them, but all researchers’ understanding of attitude included the following: attitude – an individual’s psychological experience of the value, significance, and meaning of a social object. Attitudes are an evaluative attitude because they contain a positive or negative reaction to something. This state is formed on the basis of previous experience; it necessarily has a guiding and dynamic influence on human behavior.

The attitude serves to satisfy some important needs of the subject, but it was necessary to establish which ones. Four functions of attitudes were identified:

1) adaptive (sometimes called utilitarian, adaptive) - the attitude directs the subject to those objects that serve to achieve his goals;

2) knowledge function - attitude gives simplified instructions regarding the method of behavior in relation to a specific object;

3) the function of expression (sometimes called the function of value, self-regulation) - attitude acts as a means of freeing the subject from internal tension, expressing oneself as an individual;

4) protection function - attitude contributes to the resolution of internal conflicts of the individual.

The attitude is able to perform all these functions because it has a complex structure.

Later, in 1942, Brewster M. Smith finds three components in the structure of attitude: cognitive, affective and behavioral (conative). In his opinion, a social attitude is nothing more than awareness, evaluation and readiness to act.

Affective component of attitudes – prejudices . The essence of prejudice is a negative preconceived opinion about a group and its individual members. Although some definitions of prejudice also refer to positive bias, the term “prejudice” is almost always used to refer to negative tendencies. Gordon Allport, in his classic work The Nature of Prejudice, called prejudice "an antipathy based on an erroneous and inflexible generalization."

Racial and gender prejudices have been studied most thoroughly.

Thanks to the mobility of people and migration processes that have marked the last two centuries, the races inhabiting the world have mixed, and their relationships are sometimes hostile and sometimes friendly. However, surveys even today reveal people who are not without prejudices. Agreeing or disagreeing with the statement “I am likely to feel uncomfortable dancing with a black gentleman (a black lady) in a public place” provides a more accurate picture of a white person's racial attitudes than agreeing or disagreeing with the statement “I am likely to , I will feel awkward if a black person (black woman) is on the bus with me.” Many people who are quite supportive of “ethnic diversity” at work or in educational institution, however, carry out free time in the society of people of their own race, among them they choose their lovers and life partners. This helps explain why, according to a survey of students at 390 colleges and universities, 53% of African Americans feel excluded from “social contact.” (24% of Asian Americans, 16% of Mexican Americans, and 6% of European Americans reported this.) And the problem with this majority-minority relationship is not just that the majority is white and the minority is people of color. On NBA basketball teams, white players (and in this case they are the minority) feel a similar disconnect from their teammates.

Prejudice and discriminatory behavior can be not only overt, but also hidden behind some other motives. In France, Great Britain, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands, vulgar racism is being replaced by disguised racial prejudices in the form of exaggeration of ethnic differences, less favorable attitudes towards emigrants from national minorities and discrimination against them on supposedly non-racial grounds. Some researchers call this hidden racism "modern racism" or "cultural racism."

The cognitive component of attitudes is represented by stereotypes . The term is taken from printing - a stereotype literally means an imprint. The eminent journalist Walter Liepmann, who in 1922 first introduced the term stereotype and described the difference between reality and stereotypes, called them “the little pictures that we carry in our heads.”

Stereotypes can be both positive and negative; in fact, people often hold positive stereotypes about groups against which they have negative prejudices. For example, people who dislike fellow citizens of Asian descent may nevertheless consider them intelligent and well-mannered.

The reasons for the emergence of stereotypes are usually a lack of knowledge, dogmatic upbringing, underdevelopment of the individual, or a stop for some reason in the processes of its development.

Stereotypes are generalized ideas about a group of people and that, as such, they can be true, false, or overgeneralized relative to the “rational grain” they contain. Stereotypes are useful and necessary as a form of economy of thinking and action in relation to fairly simple and stable objects and situations, adequate interaction with which is possible on the basis of familiar and experience-confirmed ideas.

According to gender stereotypes men and women differ in their socio-psychological characteristics. Most people are of the opinion that men are characterized by such qualities as independence, self-reliance, emotional restraint, efficiency and professionalism, while women are characterized by softness, emotionality, indecisiveness, helplessness, and dependence. The assessment of all these qualities included in gender stereotypes is ambiguous and depends on the ideological and attitudinal positions of the person.

Indeed, the average man and woman differ somewhat from each other in such parameters as sociability, empathy, social influence, aggressiveness and sexual initiative, but not in intelligence. However, individual differences between men and women vary widely, and it is not uncommon for stereotypes to be misused altogether. Moreover, gender stereotypes often exaggerate differences that are actually minor;

Less noticeable, but perhaps no less powerful, is the effect awareness a person is aware that others hold negative prejudices and stereotypes about the group to which he or she belongs. Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson hypothesized that stereotype threat - fear of confirming the negative stereotypes of others makes it difficult for a person to perform a task at the level of his or her true capabilities. In a series of experiments undertaken to test this idea, students were asked to answer difficult questions taken from the oral section of a final exam. Black students performed worse than their abilities on a task, but only if their race was made visible and they were convinced that a poor answer would confirm the cultural stereotype that blacks are inferior to whites in their intelligence.

The behavioral component of the attitude is manifested in discrimination. Under discrimination usually refers to unfair treatment of others based on their group membership. Prejudice and discrimination are processes that occur at the individual level. When similar processes occur at the group or organizational level, they are called various "-isms" and institutional discrimination.

Jane Eliot, an American educator and anti-racist, became world famous after she invented a psychological experiment showing the groundlessness and complete unfoundedness of racial discrimination. On April 5, 1968, she began the lesson by asking the children what they thought about blacks. The children began to respond, mostly citing various racial stereotypes, such as that all blacks are mentally retarded, or that they are unable to do any kind of work. Then Jane asked the children if they wanted to know what it was like to be black and they agreed. Eliot divided the students into two groups - children with light, blue eyes were placed in the privileged group, and children with dark, brown eyes were placed in the oppressed caste. On the day of the experiment, the Blue Eyes were allowed to play in the new gymnasium, they could get a second helping for lunch, their recess was extended by five minutes, and Eliot praised them for their diligence and good answers in class. The other group, on the contrary, was deprived of all these privileges and, in addition, Eliot tied ribbons around the necks of all brown-eyed students. On the very first day, the results of the experiment were stunning - the blue-eyed people began to behave arrogantly and arrogantly, treating representatives of the other group with disdain. The grades of blue-eyed people improved, even those students who had previously performed worse. With the brown-eyed people the situation was completely opposite - they became quiet and submissive, even those who had previously shown dominant positions in the class. They couldn't cope with simple tasks that previously didn't cause any difficulties. The next day, Jane conducted the same experiment, but switched the groups' roles. And the same situation repeated again - the previously servile and quiet brown-eyed people now began to be caustic and mocking towards the blue-eyed ones, and they, in turn, no longer showed the arrogance that they had shown the day before, having become humiliated and depressed. At 14:30 Jane stopped the experiment - she allowed the blue-eyed ones to remove the ribbons from their necks and the children rushed into each other's arms crying.

Jane then conducted a series of similar experiments in subsequent years with other children. Her experiments caused heated debate among educators and psychologists and brought understanding of the racial problem to a new level. The experiment showed that the backwardness, failure and other unfavorable characteristics of dark-skinned racial groups are caused not by their original origin, but by their oppression by the dominant race.

Racism, sexism, ageism are just a few examples of the many prejudicial thoughts and feelings that large groups of people may harbor towards other groups based on their biological, sociological or psychological characteristics

Institutional discrimination is discrimination that occurs at the level of a large group, society, organization or institution. These are unequal or unfair patterns of behavior or preferential treatment of people by a large group or organization solely on the basis of group membership. These patterns may or may not be conscious and intentional. We see daily reports of similar institutional discrimination occurring in the education system, commercial and industrial organizations, legal and judicial systems, and professional sports.

Three components have been identified in numerous experimental studies. Although they produced interesting results, many problems remained unresolved. Another difficulty arose regarding the connection between attitude and actual behavior. This difficulty was discovered after the famous experiment of Richard LaPierre in 1934.

LaPierre traveled around the United States with two Chinese students. They visited 252 hotels and in almost all cases (with the exception of one) they received a normal reception that met the service standards. No difference was found in the service provided to LaPierre himself and his Chinese students. After completing the trip (two years later), Lapierre contacted 251 hotels with letters, which contained a request to answer whether he could hope for hospitality again if he visited the hotel accompanied by the same two Chinese, now his employees. The answer came from 128 hotels, and only one contained consent, 52% refused, and the rest were evasive. Lapierre interpreted these data to mean that there is a discrepancy between the attitude (attitudes towards people of Chinese nationality) and the actual behavior of hotel owners. From the responses to the letters, one could conclude that there was a negative attitude, while in actual behavior it was not manifested; on the contrary, the behavior was organized as if it were carried out on the basis of a positive attitude.

This finding was called Lapierre's paradox and gave rise to deep skepticism regarding the study of attitude. It turned out that real behavior is not built in accordance with the attitude. The decline in interest in attitudes was largely due to the discovery of this effect.

Thus, the attitude is a psychological mechanism for regulating both the unconscious and conscious activity of the subject; it “serves” both the simplest and most complex forms of social behavior. The mechanism of “triggering” of a social attitude depends not only on the needs, situation, their satisfaction, but also on the motivation for committing a specific act by an individual or a group of people. This depends on the so-called disposition in which the subject of activity finds himself.

Leningrad sociologist V.A. Yadov, developed his original dispositional concept of social attitude.

Disposition (or predisposition) - the readiness, predisposition of the subject to a behavioral act, action, deed, their sequence. In personalistic psychology (W. Stern), disposition denotes a causally unconditioned propensity to act; in G. Allport’s personality theory, it means numerous personality traits (from 18 to 5 thousand), forming a complex of predispositions to a certain reaction of the subject to external environment. In Russian psychology, the term “disposition” is used primarily to denote a person’s conscious readiness to assess a situation and behave, conditioned by its previous experience.

The concepts of “attitudes” or social attitudes also emphasize their direct connection with a specific (social) need and the conditions of activity in which the need can be satisfied. The change and consolidation (fixation) of a social attitude is also determined by the corresponding relationships between needs and situations in which they are satisfied.

Consequently, the general mechanism for the formation of a fixed attitude at one or another level is described by the formula P -> D<- С,

where P is a need, D is a disposition, C is a situation or conditions of activity.

Both needs, activity situations, and dispositions themselves form hierarchical systems. Concerning needs , then highlighting in them the needs of the first (lower) level as psychophysiological or vital, as well as more elevated, social ones is generally accepted.

V.A. Within the framework of his concept, Yadov structured the needs according to the levels of inclusion of the individual in various spheres of social communication and social activity. These levels of human inclusion in various spheres of social communication can be designated as

initial inclusion in the near future family environment ,

into numerous so-called contact groups or small groups ,

at one time or another field of work ,

inclusion through all these channels, as well as many others, into a holistic social class system through the development of ideological and cultural values ​​of society.

The basis of the classification here is, as it were, a consistent expansion of the boundaries of the individual’s activity, the need or need for certain and expanding conditions for the full functioning of a person.

The conditions of activity or situations in which certain needs of an individual can be realized also form a certain hierarchical structure.

The basis for structuring is the length of time during which the main characteristics of these conditions are preserved (i.e., the activity situation can be accepted as stable or unchanged).

The lowest level of such a structure is formed by subject situations , the peculiarity of which is that they are created by a specific and rapidly changing subject environment. Over a short period of time, a person moves from one such “objective situation” to another.

Next level - conditions of group communication . The duration of such situations of activity is incomparably longer. For a considerable period of time, the main features of the group in which human activity takes place remain unchanged.

The conditions of activity in one or another are even more stable social sphere - in the areas of work, leisure, family life (in everyday life).

Finally, maximum stability in terms of time (and in comparison with those indicated above) is characteristic of the general social conditions of human life, which constitute the main features (economic, political, cultural) social "situation" » his activity.

In other words, the social situation undergoes significant changes within the framework of “historical” time; conditions of activity in a particular social sphere (for example, in the sphere of labor) can change several times during a person’s life; the conditions of a group situation change over the course of years or months, and the subject environment changes in a matter of minutes.

Let us now turn to the central member of our scheme P -> D<- С , i.e. to personality dispositions, these dispositional formations are also formed into a certain hierarchy.

1. Its lowest level apparently includes elementary fixed installations. They are formed on the basis of vital needs and in the simplest situations. These attitudes, as a readiness for action fixed by previous experience, lack modality (experience “for” or “against”) and are unconscious (there are no cognitive components). According to D.N. Uznadze, consciousness is involved in the development of an attitude when a habitual action encounters an obstacle and a person objectifies his own behavior, comprehends it, when the act of behavior becomes the subject of comprehension. Although not the content of consciousness, attitude “lies at the basis of these conscious processes.”

2. The second level of dispositional structure - social fixed attitudes , more precisely, a system of social attitudes. In contrast to elementary behavioral readiness, a social attitude has a complex structure. It contains three main components: emotional (or evaluative), cognitive and behavioral. In other words, it is an “attitude” or “attitude”. Social attitudes are formed on the basis of the assessment of individual social objects (or their properties) and individual social situations (or their properties).

3. The next dispositional level is the general orientation of the individual’s interests in one or another sphere of social activity, or basic social attitudes . With some simplification, we can assume that these attitudes are formed on the basis of complex social needs of familiarization with a certain field of activity and inclusion in this field. In this sense, the orientation of the individual represents identification with a particular area of ​​social activity. For example, you can find a dominant focus on the sphere of professional activity, in the sphere of leisure, on the family (the main interests are concentrated on family life, raising children, creating home comfort, etc.). It is assumed that social attitudes at this level also contain three components: cognitive, emotional (evaluative) and behavioral. Moreover, the cognitive formations of such dispositions are much more complex than those of the lower level. At the same time, the general orientation of the individual is more stable than attitudes towards individual social objects or situations.

4. The highest level of the dispositional hierarchy is formed by the system value orientations for the goals of life and the means to achieve these goals. The system of value orientations is ideological in its essence. It is formed on the basis of the highest social needs of the individual (the need for inclusion in a given social environment in a broad sense as the internalization of general social, social and class conditions of life) and in accordance with general social conditions that provide opportunities for the realization of certain social and individual values.

The expediency of including in the regulation of activity a certain dispositional formation, fixed in past experience, directly depends

from the needs of the corresponding vital or social level and

on the level of the situation or operating conditions.

To regulate behavior at the level of an elementary behavioral act in a certain objective situation, one or another elementary fixed attitude may be adequate; to regulate a socially significant act in given circumstances, leading dispositions are most likely extracted from a system of fixed social attitudes; in the case of regulation of activity in a certain social sphere, “responsibility” for general readiness lies with basic social attitudes and the direction of an individual’s interests, and in the regulation of an individual’s social activity as a whole, his value orientations acquire dominant importance as the highest level of the dispositional hierarchy.

However, under certain conditions, a relatively elementary behavioral act can be regulated by a higher-level disposition, as is the case if this act is given unusual social significance due to prevailing circumstances.

Based on the concepts of dispositional regulation of behavior, the cognitive, emotional and behavioral components, reflecting the basic properties of the dispositional structure, form relatively independent subsystems within the framework of the general dispositional hierarchy. The basis for this assumption is experimental data from “attitude” studies.

The development of the proposed concept eliminates the “isolation” of a social attitude from a broader context and assigns it a certain, important, but limited place in the regulation of the entire system of individual activity.

Now, from the point of view of dispositional regulation of behavior, the Lapierre paradox is easily explained: cases of inconsistency between a particular social attitude and an observed action can be explained by the fact that the leading role in the regulation of behavior belonged to a disposition of a different level. Thus, the value orientation towards the prestige of the establishment dictated a negative response regarding service to people of color. And the same orientation presupposes compliance with accepted rules of service if the client, as they say, is “standing on the threshold.”

One of the main problems that arises when studying social attitudes is the problem of changing them. Ordinary observations show that any of the dispositions possessed by a particular subject can change. Many different models have been put forward to explain the process of changing social attitudes. These explanatory models are constructed in accordance with the principles that are applied in a particular study.