essay attitude

Essay on Attitude

Students are often asked to write an essay on Attitude in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Attitude

What is attitude.

Attitude is how you think and feel about something or someone. It’s the way you view things. It can be positive or negative. For example, if you like dogs, you have a positive attitude towards them. If you don’t like homework, you have a negative attitude about it.

Types of Attitude

There are three main types of attitudes: positive, negative, and neutral. A positive attitude means you see the good in things. A negative attitude means you focus on the bad. A neutral attitude means you don’t feel strongly one way or the other.

Importance of Attitude

Your attitude can affect your life in big ways. If you have a positive attitude, you feel happy and can handle problems better. But if you have a negative attitude, you might feel sad and find it hard to solve problems. So, it’s important to try to have a positive attitude.

Changing Your Attitude

If you want to change your attitude, you can do it! Start by thinking about good things instead of bad ones. Talk to people who make you feel good. And remember, it’s okay to have bad days. Just try to have more good ones.

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250 Words Essay on Attitude

Attitude is how we think, feel, and act towards different things in life. It’s like a mental filter through which we experience the world around us. A good attitude can make us happy and positive, while a bad attitude can make us unhappy and negative.

There are mainly two types of attitude: positive and negative. A positive attitude means you see the good in everything. You stay hopeful, even in tough times. On the other hand, a negative attitude means you focus more on the bad side. You might feel sad or angry most of the time.

Our attitude shapes our actions. If we have a positive attitude, we will act in a positive way. We will be kind to others, work hard, and never give up. But if we have a negative attitude, we might act in a harmful way. We might be mean to others, not work hard, or give up easily.

The good news is that we can change our attitude. We can choose to have a positive attitude. It might not be easy, but it is possible. We can start by thinking happy thoughts, being grateful for what we have, and doing things that make us feel good.

500 Words Essay on Attitude

Understanding attitude.

Attitude is the way you think and feel about something or someone. It is like a mental filter through which you experience the world around you. Your attitude can be positive or negative, and it often affects how you behave. For example, if you have a positive attitude towards studying, you will enjoy learning new things. On the other hand, if your attitude is negative, you might find studying boring and difficult.

There are mainly three types of attitudes: positive, negative, and neutral. A positive attitude means you see the good in things. You are hopeful and optimistic. A negative attitude means you focus on the bad in things. You are often unhappy or unsatisfied. A neutral attitude means you do not feel strongly one way or the other.

The Power of Positive Attitude

The good news is that you can change your attitude. It is not always easy, but it is possible. Here are some ways to do it:

3. Change your thoughts: Pay attention to your thoughts. If you notice negative thoughts, try to replace them with positive ones. This can take time and practice, but it can make a big difference.

4. Be kind to yourself: Treat yourself with kindness and respect. Speak to yourself as you would to a good friend. This can help improve your self-esteem and your attitude.

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Essay on attitude.

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Attitude is the mental state of individuals, which tends to act or respond or is ready to respond for or against objects, situations, etc. with which their vested feelings or effect, interest, liking, desire and so on are directly or indirectly linked or associated.During the course of development the person acquires tendencies to respond to objects. These learned cognitive mechanisms are called attitudes.

Attitude is an enduring evaluation—positive or negative—of people, objects, and ideas. Thus, attitudes are evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. Attitude has three components—cognition, affection, and behaviour of people. A particular attitude of a person can be based on one component or the other.

Cognitive-based attitude is primarily based on beliefs and properties of an attitudinal object. Cognitive component of an attitude is the opinion or belief segment of an attitude. Cognitive dissonance theory helps us to trace any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behaviour and attitudes.

Affection-based attitude stems from people’s feelings (e.g., attitudes towards political candidates). Affective component is the emotion or feeling segment of an attitude. Behaviour-based attitude is based on the self-perception of one’s own behaviour when the initial attitude is weak or ambiguous.

Behavioural component of an attitude is an intention to behave in a certain way towards someone or something. The affection-behaviour (A- B) relationship acts as moderating variables (i.e., importance, specificity, accessibility, social pressures, and direct experience). The self-perception theory uses attitudes after the event, to make sense out of an action taken. For organizational behaviour, the people’s attitude is especially significant, as job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment largely stem from an individual employee’s attitude.

Job satisfaction refers to the general attitude of employees towards their job. Job involvement helps in psychological identification of people with their job, while organizational commitment is the degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organization. In an organization, people seek consistency among their attitudes and seek to reconcile with divergent attitudes in order to appear rational and consistent.

An attitudinal change in a person takes place with change in the behaviour. The cognitive dissonance theory facilitates change of attitude through behavioural reinforcement. Persuasive communication and focus on a particular issue facilitate such change of attitude.

Haviland et al. proposed the Yale Attitude Change Model, which suggests study of conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes. (The Yale Attitude Change Model focuses on effectiveness of persuasive communication, which depends on the credibility and attractiveness of the speakers.)

These conditions are source of communication (i.e., credible speaker), nature of communication, and the nature of audience, etc. Communication between a doctor and a patient on a medical issue (communication source), communication that does not intend to influence people (nature of communication), and persuasive communication to distract an audience within the age group of 18-25 are likely to yield better results in attitudinal changes.

Elaboration-likelihood model (Petty and Cacioppo 1981), on the other hand, shows that people change their attitudes in two ways—concept (central route to persuasion) and conditions for central route to persuasion (motivation). Central route to persuasion motivates people to pay attention to the facts in a communicated message. When facts are logical and compelling, attitudinal changes take place promptly.

Therefore, the contents of the messages are especially important. On the contrary, when facts are not compelling, people get swayed only by peripheral cues such as mood, emotion, attractiveness of the speaker, etc. Such peripheral cues may facilitate to enhance motivation but not the attitudinal changes. The conditions for central route to persuasion are reinforcing motivation by focusing on personal relevance so that people can pay attention to the arguments.

Emotion’s influence on attitude changes depends on the routes to persuasion. Emotion or mood manipulation is only effective for peripheral route to persuasion. People pay more attention to a speech when the argument is strong and effective in changing their attitudes. People in a sad mood take the central route to persuasion, while in a happy mood they take the peripheral route to persuasion.

Therefore, attitudinal changes take place when people take the central route to persuasion, such as fear, greatness of harm, etc., which give better results in inducing attitudinal changes. Therefore, managers should use the central route to persuasion, duly inducing the arousal of fear and combining it with a persuasive and appealing message.

In managing organizational behaviour, like personality and emotional intelligence, an individual employee also differs in terms of attitude. Eagly and Chaiken (1993) defined attitude as ‘a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or dis-favour’. Yet, from another perspective, attitude is defined as the way we reflect our values. For example, innate value systems of employees may make them optimistic, always looking at the brighter side and working smartly to get a positive outcome.

They not only nurture such value-laden attitudes in their own behaviour but also view others from the same perspective. The concept of attitude has a rich history (Fleming 1967). Once used to describe the spatial orientation of physical objects such as statues, the concept has evolved to refer to a person’s mental and neural state of readiness (Allport 1935).

The function of attitudes is to guide the formation of behavioural intentions. Attitude formation and change is viewed as a process of deliberative evaluation and belief updating. Attitudes are thought to impact behaviour indirectly via behavioural intentions.

Definition and Concepts :

Attitude is the mental state of individuals, which tends to act or respond or is ready to respond for or against objects, situations, etc. with which their vested feelings or effect, interest, liking, desire and so on are directly or indirectly linked or associated. During the course of development the person acquires tendencies to respond to objects. These learned cognitive mechanisms are called attitudes. Changes in knowledge are followed by the change in attitudes.

Attitudes are different from knowledge in the sense that attitudes are emotion-laden. Knowledge reinforces attitudes and reinforced attitudes in the long run reinforce individual and group behaviour. Hence, attitude is neither behaviour nor cause of behaviour but it relates to an intervening pre­disposition or a frame of reference that influences the behaviour of an individual.

When the interest, feeling, etc. of individuals are not connected in any way with the object or situation, their responses (towards the said object or situation) will then constitute their opinions and not their attitudes. In many research works, especially by CIPD, UK, employee attitudes and commitments were found to be strongly associated with business perfor­mance, and managers saw employee voice as contributing to performance via better employee contributions and productivity gains.

The informal cli­mate of involvement and consultation appears to be more strongly associated with employee satisfaction and commitment than the collective machinery for negotiation and consultation. Mechanisms in use for employee voice in­clude two-way communications, project teams, and joint consultation, but there is a growing interest in the electronic media, attitude surveys, and part­nership schemes.

The major constraints on employee voice are lack of skills and enthusiasm by managers and employees. The psychological contract model, validated by successive employee attitude surveys, suggests that HR practices strongly affect the way people feel about their work.

Employees’ trust in the organization, their sense of being fairly treated, and the extent to which they believe their employer has delivered on the implicit deal between them affects their attitudes towards job satisfaction, commitment, work-life balance, and the state of employee relations. Attitude essentially stems from three underlying components: the cognitive component, affective component, and behavioural component.

Social psychologists differentiate between these attitudinal components as under:

1. Cognitive component of an attitude is the opinion or belief segment of an attitude. Attitudinal responses of people, which stem from cognitive component, mainly reflect expression of beliefs (e.g., expectancy-value judgments) and nonverbal reactions.

2. Affective component is the emotion or feeling segment of an attitude, and it manifests in verbal expressions of feelings and physiological changes in the organism (e.g., increase of arousal).

3. Behavioural component of an attitude is an intention to behave in a cer­tain way towards someone or something. It is reflected through behavioural intentions and actions.

Attitude theory and research deals with the structure, function, formation, and change of attitudes, and is also concerned with the relationship between attitudes and behaviour. For example, the model of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen 1975) provides a comprehensive approach to all of these aspects.

In this model, the internal structure of an attitude is described in terms of beliefs (expectations), which relate the attitude object (a behavioural alternative) to evaluated attributes. The function of attitudes is to guide the formation of behavioural intentions.

Attitude formation and change is viewed as a process of deliberative evaluation and belief updating. Attitudes are thought to impact behaviour indirectly via behavioural intentions. More recent approaches, however, assume that a deliberative calculation of expectancy and values is not a necessary condition for either intention formation or attitude formation and change.

According to a study conducted by Zajonc in 1980, there is ample evidence to suggest that liking of an attitude object can be enhanced simply by increasing its presentation frequency. Furthermore, attitudes, if they are frequently activated from memory, tend to become activated automatically in the presence of the attitude object and then directly impact behavioural decisions (Fazio 1990).

Related Articles:

• Attitude and Social Cognition (FAQ)
• Attitude: Nature, Components and Formation

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Articles About Attitude: Top 5 and 9 Prompts

Articles about attitude are important in Psychology as they reflect human behaviors and viewpoints. See our top examples and prompts to guide you in writing. 

Attitude is a complex topic that encompasses many aspects of human nature and characteristics. It refers to an individual’s mindset, specifically how they react to something. In Psychology, attitude is divided into cognitive, emotional, and behavioral parts. It can also be explicit or implicit.

Articles about attitude help readers understand why people operate and respond the way they do. They are critical in investigative research to collect further relevant information about thought processes and decision-making techniques that support or hinder human growth. To inspire you, browse some essays about psychology before beginning your article.

5 Article Examples

1. the ‘can do’ attitude that defines hong kong by gary jones, 2. when does a good attitude become toxic positivity by jen rose smith, 3. attitude in psychology: definition, formation, changes by kendra cherry, 4. why attitude beats aptitude when hiring by ned smith, 5. people’s casual attitude to blame for rising covid infections: medical experts by pti, 7 prompts to write articles about attitude, 1. what is attitude, 2. significant influences on attitude, 3. positive and negative attitudes, 4. primary functions of attitude, 5. attitude vs. behavior, 6. bad attitudes in the workplace, 7. is attitude learned or genetic, 8. attitude and current events, 9. political and moral attitude.

“… Hong Kong’s 7.4 million people also take pride in an intangible quality that they claim as their own. The “Lion Rock Spirit” – which describes their collective determination to better their lives against seemingly insurmountable odds – is, believers say, hardwired in the Asian city.”

Jones’s article examines the “Lion Rock Spirit,” which refers to Hong Kong citizens’ old beliefs and attitudes. He explains that this attitude of striving to win opportunities, climb the social ladder, and have a bright future has changed many lives and made Hong Kong a more affluent and better country. He presents Li Ka-Shing ‘s case as an example to prove that this attitude is key to success. Jones believes that one thing will not change, and it’s the people’s attitude of working hard to achieve their goals.

“It’s not that being cheerful is a bad thing. A positive attitude can be a gift to those around you… but it shouldn’t take the place of listening thoughtfully to others’ experiences.”

Smith demonstrates how a positive attitude can inadvertently turn to toxic positivity. With experts’ research supporting her subject, she speaks about the negative impact of constant positivity and whether there’s anything good that results from feeling bad. Smith defines toxic positivity as an attitude in which a person focuses only on a particular or desired perspective and ignores real and challenging experiences.

“Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing. They can have a powerful influence over behavior and affect how people act in various situations. While attitudes are enduring, they can also change.”

This article includes a psychologist’s definition of attitude, stating it’s a learned behavior they use to evaluate people, issues, things, and events in a positive or negative light. Cherry mentions the three components of attitude and the factors that affect attitude formation, such as conditioning, social factors, and experience. 

“Nearly half of them are going to fail before hitting their second anniversary and most of the time it isn’t because they don’t have the right skills — it’s because they don’t have the right attitude.”

This article features an interview with Mark Murphy, a CEO, and author of the book “ Hiring for Attitude , ” which discusses the right way to hire people to improve the company’s future. It explains that while hiring skilled individuals is essential, most employees who are fired just a month after onboarding are those with attitude. Murphy says that competitiveness and individualism undermine a collaborative workplace, especially in a small business, so employees with the right attitude are critical.

Smith and Murphy also speak about “brown shorts,” or the unique way of getting the right people with a specific attitude. This article also briefly addresses questions that an interviewer should avoid during a typical 60-minute interview.

“The attitude of the people is as if Covid-19 has receded and even as if it was never there. Don’t understand how have they forgotten the condition during the two waves so easily and given up using masks and maintaining social distancing.”

This article focuses on the carefree attitude of West Bengal people as the root cause of the resurgence of pandemic positives in the area. Because of their casual attitude of believing that they are immune to the virus because they are fully vaccinated, they stopped following safety protocols. 

When editing for grammar, we also recommend taking the time to improve the readability score of a piece of writing before publishing or submitting

Many put their attitudes in high regard. Some even consider it more important than ability, money, or education. Use this prompt to explain attitude, its classifications, and the three components it has. After clarifying the basics, rationalize why attitude is an interesting research subject, including why people are bound to have it.

Society, culture, and family are just a few factors that shape a person’s attitude. In this prompt, identify and examine other causal factors that significantly affect the development of a person’s attitude. Then, present why a person’s behavior changes and the process by which this occurs using different theories of behavior change.

There are two main classifications of attitude that a person displays depending on their situation. For this prompt, delve into positive and negative attitudes, then look for the difference between them. Add examples that show how people use these attitudes in different settings, including the methods to develop and maintain a positive attitude.

Attitude helps people in many ways, such as expressing themselves or choosing appropriate behaviors. Use this prompt to demonstrate the importance of attitude by considering its primary functions. Then, explain how and why an individual needs to maintain a good attitude regardless of age, situation, or company.

Many think “attitude” and “behavior” are the same, but they are not. Clear up this misunderstanding by acknowledging the two definitions and differences. Use reliable data, preferably from esteemed or known experts in the field. You’ll also need to highlight what connects attitude and behavior. One primary difference is that “attitude” refers to mental tendencies while “behavior” constitutes physical actions.

Employee laziness, rudeness, and tardiness are dangerous behaviors that significantly impact the workplace. This prompt identifies and discusses common workplace attitudes and their harmful effects on the individual, their peers, and the organization. Then, add proven methods for preventing and dealing with bad attitudes in the workplace.

Use this prompt to clarify people’s confusion about where a person’s attitude comes from. Review and include studies that show evidence that attitudes are learned and not inherited and vice versa. Answer whether a big part of attitude came from genetics or experience, then include relevant research that supports your findings.

Review articles that show people’s attitudes at various events and discuss why they reacted the way they did based on research or theories from Social Psychology. Add what types of events make people have positive and negative attitudes.

For example, the Twitter shutdown news shocked all its users. While people unhappy with Twitter’s toxicity show a positive attitude, users who use it to connect with their internet friends are saddened, panicked, and angry by this news.

Political and moral attitudes are two different concepts that people often associate with each other. Use this prompt to analyze their meanings and provide a detailed discourse on the differences and similarities between these concepts. Then, explain the importance of political and moral attitudes to a person.

For help editing your articles, we recommend using the best grammar checker . Our round-up profiles these tools and offers discounts.

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Positive Attitude — The Power Of Having A Positive Attitude

The Power of Having a Positive Attitude

• Categories: Attitude Positive Attitude

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Words: 1677 |

Published: Jun 7, 2021

Words: 1677 | Pages: 4 | 9 min read

“Your attitude determines your altitude”

Attitude is a matter of choice

“Weakness of attitude becomes a weakness of character “ Elbert Einstein

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Charles Swindoll

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.   Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.   It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do.   It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.   It will make or break a company... a church... a home.   The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.   We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.   We cannot change the inevitable.   The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes”

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Attitude and Behavior, Essay Example

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Attitude defined as the view that one has towards an object. It can either be positive, negative or neutral views towards a person, behavior or event. From the theory, of planned behavior (Hogg & Terry, 2000, p. 31), it supports that the intentions of performing certain behaviors can be predicted by the attitudes that one has towards the behavior, the subjective norms, and perceives control of behavior. Therefore, the actual behavior varies considerably as a result of the intentions one has towards the behavior together with the perceptions of behavioral control (Hogg & Terry, 2000, p. 67). By assessing one’s beliefs in regards to the consequences arising from behavior and by evaluating these consequences desirability, this determines the attitude towards behavior.

In the cognitive dissonance theory, it suggests that every person has an inner drive for holding all their attitudes and beliefs in harmony so as to avoid dissonance (Hogg & Terry, 2000, p. 7). This is because the dissonance will lead to the situation where there will be conflicting attitudes, behaviors or beliefs, and as a result, individuals end up feeling pain and cause change in one of the attitudes or beliefs (Hogg & Terry, 2000, p. 227). For example, when one forced, by circumstances, to behave in a way they do not do, their attitude towards their behavior may be re-evaluated to reduce dissonance.

In the self perception theory, it says that people decide on their own attitudes and feelings towards a certain behavior from watching how they behave in different situations. This occurs when a person’s cues are so weak or confusing that they put the same person in the same point, as an exterior observer (Hogg & Terry, 2000, p. 72). Potential implications of a person’s behavior that has a negative attitude towards individual or group would be development of feelings such as anger, frustration, hatred, disgust, sadness. Also, the drainage of energy from a person due to the maintenance of the negative attitude experienced. Implicit attitudes are the thoughts, feelings, or actions towards objects arising due to experiences that one may not be aware of, whereas explicit attitudes are the thoughts, feelings, or actions toward people, objects, or concepts that the person is aware of the feelings he or she holds in a certain context.

Hogg, M. A & Terry, D. J. (2000). Attitudes, Behavior, and Social Context: The Role of Norms and Group Membership. New York: Routledge.

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Essay on Attitude: Top 6 Essays | Employees | Values | Management

In this essay we will discuss about ‘Attitude’. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Attitude’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Attitude

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Importance of Attitude

Essay # 1. Definition of Attitude:

Attitude is defined as ones’ feelings or mood toward things, circumstances or people. Each individual is made up of various physical, vital, and mental parts. Everyone is having physical body and its organs, muscles, etc; the vital being with its sensations, emotions and feelings, and the mental part with its thoughts, memories, reasoning power, beliefs, etc. Somewhere between emotions and thought processing lie attitudes; one’s emotional perceptions about oneself, others, and life itself.

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Attitude is how one behaves towards somebody or something. It is one’s personal view, opinion or judgment. It also describes one’s general emotional approach toward a person or situation.

Attitudes are evaluative statement favourable or unfavourable related to person, object or event. They reflect that how one feel about something. For example if someone says that he likes his job, this statement expresses his attitude towards his job. Each and every person has different attitude at different conditions.

Attitude is the state of mind with which one approach a task, a challenge, a person, love, life in general.

Essay # 2. Components of Attitude:

There are three components of attitude:

(i) Cognitive component.

(ii) Effective component.

(iii) Behavioural component.

(i) Cognitive Component:

It refers to that part of attitude which is related in general know how of a person, for example, if a person says that smoking is injurious to health, such type of idea of a person is called cognitive component of attitude.

(ii) Effective Component:

This part of attitude is related to the statement, which affects another person. For example, if in an organization a personal report is given to the general manager. The report indicates that production staff is not performing their duties responsibilities. The general manager forwards a written notice to production manager to find out the cause of above said.

(iii) Behavioural Component:

The behavioural component refers to that part of attitude, which reflects the intension of a person in short run or in long run. For example, before the development of a new product, a report is prepared by the production department, which consists of their intention in near future and long run, and this report is handed over to top management for the decision.

Essay # 3. Types of Attitude:

Attitude is a way of thinking. People are often identified as having positive or negative, right or wrong, good or bad, optimistic or pessimistic, mindset. Attitudes generally express positively and negatively. For example, when a person is having good feelings towards his/her work or co-worker, his/her attitude is positive. When he/she feels reluctant to do certain things that are necessary, or show hostility towards certain individuals, then his/her attitude is negative.

(i) Positive Attitude:

A positive attitude means having an optimistic outlook. One responds constructively to stress and be able to deal with problems effectively. People having positive attitude see the glass as half full instead of seeing it as half empty.

A person’s attitude influences his/her social status, finances, health, the way he/she challenge obstacles and the kind of people they attract to their life. A positive attitude is important to people’s social status, health, work, the way they challenge obstacles and the kind of people they attract to their life.

A positive attitude will bring more positive opportunities into life. It attracts successful people who share the same goals. A positive attitude helps the body to heal faster from illness. A positive attitude helps in getting a job.

(ii) Negative Attitude:

Negative attitudes come from thinking negative thoughts over and over until they have become a part of person’s subconscious. One may not even realize that he/she is having a negative attitude because it’s been with him/her for so long.

A person having a bad attitude expects failure and disaster. An example of a negative attitude towards life is being pessimistic that things will never turn out well. These are destructive feeling and emotions that cannot help but worsen life’s conditions.

Essay # 4. Functions of Attitude:

Attitudes serve four important functions from the organization’s viewpoint behaviour.

These are as follows:

(i) Adjustment Function.

(ii) Ego-Defensive Function.

(iii) Value-Expressive Function.

(iv) Knowledge Function.

(i) Adjustment Function:

Attitudes often help people to adjust to their work environment. Well treated employees tend to develop a positive attitude towards their job; management and the organization in general while ill-treated organizational members develop a negative attitude. In other words, attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and form a basis for future behaviour.

(ii) Ego-Defensive Function:

Attitudes help people to retain their dignity and self- image. When a young faculty member who is full of fresh ideas and enthusiasm, joins the organization, the older members might feel somewhat threatened by him. But they tend to disapprove his creative ideas as ‘crazy’ and ‘impractical’ and dismiss him altogether.

(iii) Value-Expressive Function:

Attitudes provide individuals with a basis for expressing their values. For example, a manager who values hard and sincere work will be more vocal against an employee who is having a very casual approach towards work.

(iv) Knowledge Function:

Attitudes provide standards and frames of reference that allow people to understand and perceive the world around him. If one has a strong negative attitude towards the management, whatever the management does, it can be perceived as something ‘bad’ and as actually against them.

Essay # 5. Methods of Changing Attitude:

Employee’s attitudes can be changed and sometimes it is in the best interests of managements to try to do so.

Some of the possible ways of changing attitudes are:

(i) Providing New Information.

(ii) Use of Fear.

(iii) Resolving Discrepancies.

(iv) Influence of Friends and Peers.

(v) Co-Opting.

(i) Providing New Information:

Attitude can be changed by providing relevant and adequate information to the person concerned.

(ii) Use of Fear:

Attitudes can be changed through the use of fear. People might resort to change their work habit for the fear of unpleasant consequences.

(iii) Resolving Discrepancies:

Whenever people face a dilemma or conflict­ing situation they feel confused in choosing a particular course of action. For example when a person has to choose from between two alternative courses of action, it is often become difficult for him to decide which is right for him. If someone helps him in pointing out the positive points in favour of the chosen course of action, this helps in resolving his dilemma.

(iv) Influence of Friends and Peers:

A very effective way of changing one’s attitude is through his friends and colleagues. Their opinion and recommendation for something often proves to be more important.

(v) Co-Opting:

Co-opting is another method if there is need to change the attitude of some body that belongs to a different group. This can be done by including that person in the group.

Essay # 6. Importance of Attitude :

Attitude plays an important part in person’s life. It is important to remember attitude is everything. Attitude, whether positive or negative, shows in person’s daily lives. Many people say attitude is more important than experience or education. They often use attitude as the tie-breaker between two equally qualified candidates.

Person’s attitude determines the state of world he/she live in. It is the foundation for every success and every failure one has had and will have. Attitude is important because attitude truly is everything. It drives virtually every decision one makes and how one lives each day of life. Attitude will shape a person’s career. A great attitude will propel him forward, while a poor attitude will get him fired.

It has been found that people who have a good attitude remain healthier than their counterparts. This is because an optimistic attitude helps in preventing sadness, depression, anger, stress and anxiety and this in turn helps in preventing various medical problems.

Related Articles:

• Negative Attitude: Types and Consequences | Values | Management
• Essay on Attitude: Definition, Formation and Functions
• Essay on Ethics: Top 5 Essays | Employees | Management
• Values, Attitudes and Job Satisfaction | Term Paper | Employees | Management

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The Power of Positive Thinking

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Carly Snyder, MD is a reproductive and perinatal psychiatrist who combines traditional psychiatry with integrative medicine-based treatments.

Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images

What Is Positive Thinking?

• Benefits of Positive Thinking

How to Practice Positive Thinking

Potential pitfalls of positive thinking, frequently asked questions.

Do you tend to see the glass as half empty or half full? You have probably heard that question plenty of times. Your answer relates directly to the concept of positive thinking and whether you have a positive or negative outlook on life. Positive thinking plays an important role in positive psychology , a subfield devoted to the study of what makes people happy and fulfilled.

Research has found that positive thinking can aid in stress management and even plays an important role in your overall health and well-being. It can help combat feelings of low self-esteem, improve physical health, and help brighten your overall outlook on life.

This article discusses what positive thinking is and the health benefits of being positive. It also explores some of the strategies you can use to become a more positive thinker.

Positive thinking means approaching life's challenges with a positive outlook. It doesn't mean seeing the world through rose-colored lenses by ignoring or glossing over the negative aspects of life.

Positive thinking does not necessarily mean avoiding difficult situations. Instead, positive thinking means making the most of potential obstacles, trying to see the best in other people, and viewing yourself and your abilities in a positive light.

Some researchers, including positive psychologist Martin Seligman , frame positive thinking in terms of explanatory style. Your explanatory style is how you explain why events happened.

• Optimistic explanatory style : People with an optimistic explanatory style tend to give themselves credit when good things happen and typically blame outside forces for bad outcomes. They also tend to see negative events as temporary and atypical.
• Pessimistic explanatory style : People with a pessimistic explanatory style often blame themselves when bad things happen, but fail to give themselves adequate credit for successful outcomes. They also have a tendency to view negative events as expected and lasting. As you can imagine, blaming yourself for events outside of your control or viewing these unfortunate events as a persistent part of your life can have a detrimental impact on your state of mind.

Positive thinkers are more apt to use an optimistic explanatory style, but the way in which people attribute events can also vary depending upon the exact situation. For example, a person who is generally a positive thinker might use a more pessimistic explanatory style in particularly challenging situations, such as at work or at school.

While there are many factors that determine whether a person has a positive outlook, the way that they explain the events of their life, known as their explanatory style, plays an important role.

Positive Psychology vs. Positive Thinking

While the terms "positive thinking" and "positive psychology" are sometimes used interchangeably, it is important to understand that they are not the same thing. Positive thinking is about looking at things from a positive point of view. It is a type of thinking that focuses on maintaining a positive, optimistic attitude. Positive psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the effects of optimism, what causes it, and when it is best utilized.

Health Benefits of Positive Thinking

In recent years, the so-called "power of positive thinking" has gained a great deal of attention thanks to self-help books such as "The Secret." While these pop-psychology books often tout positive thinking or philosophies like the law of attraction as a sort of psychological panacea, empirical research has found that there are many very real health benefits linked to positive thinking and optimistic attitudes.

Positive thinking is linked to a wide range of health benefits, including:

• Better stress management and coping skills
• Enhanced psychological health
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Increased physical well-being
• Longer life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease-related death

One study of 1,558 older adults found that positive thinking could also reduce frailty during old age.

A 2018 study published in the Journal of Aging Research found that having a positive mental attitude was linked to decreased mortality over a 35-year period. People who had a more positive outlook were also more likely to get regular physical exercise, avoid smoking, eat a healthier diet, and get more quality sleep.

Clearly, there are many benefits of positive thinking . But why, exactly, does positive thinking have such a strong impact on physical and mental health ?

One theory is that people who think positively tend to be less affected by stress. Research suggests that having more positive automatic thoughts helps people become more resilient in the face of life's stressful events. People who had high levels of positive thinking were more likely to walk away from stressful life events with a higher sense of the meaningfulness of life.

Another possibility is that people who think positively tend to live healthier lives in general; they may exercise more, follow a more nutritious diet, and avoid unhealthy behaviors.

While you might be more prone to negative thinking, there are strategies that you can use to become a more positive thinker. Practicing these strategies regularly can help you get in the habit of maintaining a more positive outlook on life.

• Notice your thoughts : Start paying attention to the type of thoughts you have each day. If you notice that many of them are negative, make a conscious effort to reframe how you are thinking in a more positive way.
• Write in a gratitude journal : Practicing gratitude can have a range of positive benefits and it can help you learn to develop a better outlook. Experiencing grateful thoughts helps people to feel more optimistic.
• Use positive self-talk : How you talk to yourself can play an important role in shaping your outlook. Studies have shown that shifting to more positive self-talk can have a positive impact on your emotions and how you respond to stress.

While there are many benefits to thinking positively, there are actually times when more realistic thinking is more advantageous. For example, in some situations, negative thinking can actually lead to more accurate decisions and outcomes.

Some research has found that negative thinking and moods can actually help people make better, more accurate judgments.

However, research suggests that realistic optimism might be the ideal. The results of a 2020 study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin revealed that people who have mistaken expectations, whether those expectations are optimistic or pessimistic, tend to fare worse in terms of mental health when compared to realists.  

The authors of the study suggest that the disappointment that optimists experience when their high hopes are not realized can have a negative impact on well-being. This doesn't mean that people should strive to be pessimistic thinkers. since studies indicate that people with a negative outlook tend to fare the worst. Instead, having a generally positive outlook that is focused on realistic expectations may be the best approach. 

In some cases, inappropriately applied positive thinking can cross the line into what is known as toxic positivity . This involves insisting on maintaining a positive mindset no matter how upsetting, dire, or damaging a situation might be. This type of excessive positivity can impede authentic communication and cause people to experience feelings of shame or guilt if they struggle to maintain such an overly positive outlook.

Positive thinking can have pitfalls at times. While it is important to have an overall positive outlook, unrealistically high expectations can lead to disappointment. Being unable to accept any negative emotions, known as toxic positivity, can also have a negative effect on mental well-being.

A Word From Verywell

Even if you are not a natural-born optimist, there are things you can do to learn how to think more positively and become a positive thinker . One of the first steps is to focus on your own inner monologue and to pay attention to your self-talk.

Strategies that can improve your positive thinking include noticing your thoughts and making a conscious effort to shift from negative thoughts to more positive one. Practicing positive self-talk and practicing gratitude can also be helpful ways to start having a more positive outlook.

Positive thinking is important because it can have a beneficial impact on both physical and mental well-being. People who maintain a more positive outlook on life cope better with stress, have better immunity, and have a lower risk of premature death. Positive thinking also helps promote greater feelings of happiness and overall satisfaction with life.

Positive thinking has been shown to help people live healthier, happier lives. When they have a positive outlook, they are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors such as exercising, eating healthy, and getting plenty of rest. Downsides of positive thinking include the risk of forming overly high expectations that result in disappointment and being affected by toxic positivity.

Practicing mindfulness can be a way to build self-awareness and become more conscious of how your negative thoughts affect your moods and behaviors. As you become better at identifying negative thought patterns, you can then take steps to shift into a more positive mindset. Actively replacing negative thoughts with positive ones can help you eventually learn to become a more positive thinker.

Kim ES, Hagan KA, Grodstein F, DeMeo DL, De Vivo I, Kubzansky LD. Optimism and cause-specific mortality: a prospective cohort study . Am J Epidemiol. 2017;185(1):21-29. doi:10.1093/aje/kww182

Seligman M.  Learned Optimism . Random House.

Chang E, Sanna L.  Virtue, Vice, And Personality: The Complexity of Behavior . American Psychological Association.

Johns Hopkins Medicine. The power of positive thinking .

Park N, Peterson C, Szvarca D, Vander Molen RJ, Kim ES, Collon K. Positive psychology and physical health: Research and applications . Am J Lifestyle Med . 2016;10(3):200-206. doi:10.1177/1559827614550277

Gale CR, Mõttus R, Deary IJ, Cooper C, Sayer AA. Personality and risk of frailty: The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing . Ann Behav Med . 2017;51(1):128-136. doi:10.1007/s12160-016-9833-5

Paganini-Hill A, Kawas CH, Corrada MM. Positive mental attitude associated with lower 35-year mortality: The Leisure World Cohort Study .  J Aging Res . 2018;2018:2126368. doi:10.1155/2018/2126368

Boyraz G, Lightsey OR Jr. Can positive thinking help? Positive automatic thoughts as moderators of the stress-meaning relationship . Am J Orthopsychiatry . 2012;82(2):267-77. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01150.x

Kross E, Bruehlman-Senecal E, Park J, et al. Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: how you do it matters . J Pers Soc Psychol . 2014;106(2):304-24. doi:10.1037/a0035173

Forgas JP. Don’t worry, be sad! On the cognitive, motivational, and interpersonal benefits of negative mood . Curr Dir Psychol Sci . 2013;22(3):225-232. doi:10.1177/0963721412474458

De Meza D, Dawson C. Neither an optimist nor a pessimist be: mistaken expectations lower well-being . Pers Soc Psychol Bull . 2021;47(4):540-550. doi:10.1177/0146167220934577

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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IResearchNet

Attitude Formation

Attitude formation definition.

An attitude is a general and lasting positive or negative opinion or feeling about some person, object, or issue. Attitude formation occurs through either direct experience or the persuasion of others or the media. Attitudes have three foundations: affect or emotion, behavior, and cognitions. In addition, evidence suggests that attitudes may develop out of psychological needs (motivational foundations), social interactions (social foundations), and genetics (biological foundations), although this last notion is new and controversial.

Emotional Foundations of Attitudes

A key part of an attitude is the affect or emotion associated with the attitude. At a very basic level, we know whether we like or dislike something or find an idea pleasant or unpleasant. For instance, we may say that we know something “in our heart” or have a “gut feeling.” In such cases our attitudes have been formed though our emotions rather than through logic or thinking. This can happen through (a) sensory reactions, (b) values, (c) operant/instrumental conditioning, (d) classical conditioning, (e) semantic generalization, (f) evaluative conditioning, or (g) mere exposure.

Sensory Reactions

Any direct experience with an object though seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or touching will lead to an immediate evaluative reaction. We are experts at knowing whether we find a certain sensory experience pleas-ant or unpleasant. For example, immediately upon tasting a new type of candy bar, you know whether you like it or not. This also applies to aesthetic experiences, such as admiring the color or composition of an artwork. We form attitudes about objects immediately upon experiencing them.

Some attitudes come from our larger belief system. We may come to hold certain attitudes because they validate our basic values. Many attitudes come from religious or moral beliefs. For example, for many people their attitudes about abortion, birth control, same-sex marriage, and the death penalty follow from their moral or religious beliefs and are highly emotional issues for them.

Operant Conditioning

Operant or instrumental conditioning is when an attitude forms because it has been reinforced through reward or a pleasant experience or discouraged through punishment or an unpleasant experience. For example, a parent might praise a teenager for helping out at an after-school program with little kids. As a result, the teen may develop a positive attitude toward volunteer work. Similarly, many people find that broccoli has a terrible taste, and so they dislike broccoli because of its punishing flavor.

Classical Conditioning

Classical or Pavlovian conditioning happens when a new stimulus comes to elicit an emotional reaction because of its association with a stimulus that already elicits the emotional response. The Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov took dogs, which naturally salivate to meat powder, and trained them to salivate at the sound of a bell by continually ringing the bell as the meat powder was presented. In humans, some of our attitudes have become conditioned in much the same way. For example, some people have a negative attitude towards “dirty” words. Just the thought of a taboo word will cause some people to blush. The words themselves have come to elicit an emotional reaction because their use is frowned upon in our culture in most contexts.

Semantic Generalization

Not only can we become conditioned to a specific stimulus, but this initial conditioning can generalize or spread to similar stimuli. For example, a bell higher or lower in pitch to the original conditioned sound may elicit the same reaction. In humans, the initial conditioning can spread even to words or concepts similar to the original stimulus. As a result, we can form attitudes about an object or idea without having direct contact with it. When this kind of generalization occurs, the process is called semantic generalization. For example, human subjects who have been conditioned to the sound of a bell may also show a response to the sight of a bell or by the spoken word bell. Semantic generalization can account for the formation of attitudes, like prejudice, where people have formed an attitude without having direct contact with the object of that attitude.

Evaluative Conditioning

An object need not directly cause us to feel pleasant or unpleasant for us to form an attitude. Evaluative conditioning occurs when we form attitudes toward an object or person because our exposure to them coincided with a positive or negative emotion. For example, a couple may come to feel positive toward a particular song that was playing on the radio during their first date. Their positive attitude to the song is a result of its association with the happy experience of a date.

Mere Exposure

Finally, when we see the same object or person over and over, we will generally form a positive attitude toward that object or person. This is true for an object or person we feel neutral or positive about, so long as we are not overexposed to it. For example, many popular styles of clothing seem bizarre at first, but then as we see more of them we may come to accept and even like them.

Behavioral Foundations of Attitudes

Sometimes we form attitudes from our actions. This can happen if we do something before we have an attitude (e.g., going to an art opening of an unknown artist), when we are unsure of our attitudes (e.g., going with a friend to a political rally), or when we are not thinking about what we are doing (mindlessly singing along with a random station on the radio). That is, there are times when just going through the motions can cause us to form an attitude consistent with those actions. In the previous examples, people may come to hate the new artist, support free trade, or like classical music because their actions have led them to engage in these behaviors, which then led to the formation of an attitude. There are at least four lines of evidence that account for how attitudes may form out of actions.

First, self-perception theory suggests that we look to our behavior and figure out our attitude based on what we have done or are doing. Second, cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we strive for consistency between our attitudes and our actions and when the two do not match, we may form a new attitude to coincide with our past actions.

Third, research evidence using the facial feedback hypothesis finds that holding our facial muscles in the pose of an emotion will cause us to experience that emotion, which may then color our opinions. For example, participants who viewed cartoons that were not particularly funny while holding a pen across their teeth—a pose which activates the same muscles involved in smiling—rated the cartoons funnier than subjects who posed with a pen in their mouths, which activated the same muscles involved in frowning. As a result, people may develop positive or negative attitudes toward neutral objects after moving their facial muscles into smiles or frowns, respectively.

Finally, role-playing, such as improvising persuasive arguments, giving personal testimony, taking on another person’s perspective, or even play-acting, are all additional ways that people may come to form attitudes based on their behaviors. For example, in an early study, women who were heavy smokers participated in an elaborately staged play where they played the role of a woman dying of lung cancer. Two weeks later, these women smoked less and held less positive attitudes toward smoking than women who had not been through this role-play procedure.

Cognitive Foundations of Attitudes

The cognitive foundation of attitudes, what might be called beliefs, comes from direct experience with the world or through thinking about the world. Thinking about the world includes any kind of active information processing, such as deliberating, wondering, imagining, and reflecting, as well as through activities such as reading, writing, listening, and talking.

If you believe that insects are dirty and disgusting, then you will probably have the attitude that insects are not food. However, if you read that locusts and other insects are happily eaten in some cultures, then you may come to believe that locusts may not be so bad. Your attitude here comes from thinking about the new facts you read.

Additionally, if the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that exposure to ultraviolet light is the most important environmental factor involved in the formation of skin cancers, and you believe that the CDC is a trustworthy expert, then you might logically reason that excessive sun exposure is not a healthy thing. Here your attitude comes from logically reasoning about the world.

Suppose you didn’t know how you felt about a topic until you were forced to write an essay for a writing class. This also would be an example of attitude formation through cognition, in this case, organizing your thoughts in preparation to write a coherent essay.

References:

• Bem, D. (1970). Beliefs, attitudes, and human affairs. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• Eagly, A. H., & Chaiken, S. (1993). The psychology of attitudes. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• Elms, A. C. (1966). Influence of fantasy ability on attitude change through role-playing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 36-43.
• Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1981). Attitudes and persuasion: Classic and contemporary approaches. Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown.
• Zanna, M. P., & Rempel, J. K. (1988). Attitudes: A new look at an old concept. In D. Bar-Tal & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), The social psychology of attitudes (pp. 315-334). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Psychology Discussion

Essay on attitude: top 8 essays | human behaviour | psychology.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Attitude’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Attitude’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Attitude

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Theories of Attitude

Essay # 1. Meaning and Definition of Attitude :

Attitudes are learned predispositions and represent cluster of beliefs, assessed feelings and behavioural intentions towards aspects of our environment like a person, object or event. Attitudes are evaluative statements either favourable or unfavourable concerning objects, people or events and are a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way toward some object.

Measuring the A-B Relationship Recent research indicates that attitudes:

(A) Significantly predict behaviours

(B) When moderating variables are taken into account.

According to G.W. Allport, “Attitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related.”

Krech and Crutchfield defined “attitude as an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of the individual’s world.”

According to Katz and Scotland, “Attitude is a tendency or predisposition to evaluate an object or symbol of that object in a certain way”. In effect attitude is used in a generic sense, as to what people perceive, feel and express their views about a situation, object or other people. Attitude cannot be seen, but the behaviour can be seen as an expression of attitude.

Essay # 2. Characteristics of Attitude :

The attitude is the evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. More precisely attitudes can be defined as a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way toward some object which may include events or individuals as well.

Attitude can be characterized in three ways:

(a) They tend to persist unless something is done to change them.

(b) Attitudes can fall anywhere along a continuum from very favourable to very unfavourable.

(c) Attitudes are directed toward some object about which a person has feelings (sometimes called “affect”) and beliefs.

Essay # 3. Components of Attitudes :

The three basic components of attitude are cognitive, affective and behavioural part:

(a) Cognitive Component:

Cognitive component of attitude is related to value statement. It consists of belief, ideas, values and other information that an individual may possess or has faith in. Quality of working hard is a value statement or faith that a manager may have.

(b) Affective Component:

Affective component of attitude is related to person’s feelings about another person, which may be positive, negative or neutral.

Example: I do not like Maya because she is not hard working, or I like Mina because she is hard working. It is an expression of feelings about a person, object or a situation.

(c) Behavioural Component:

Behavioural component of attitude is related to impact of various situations or objects that lead to individual’s behaviour based on cognitive and affective components.

Example: I do not like Maya because she is not hard working is an affective component, I therefore would like to disassociate myself with her, is a behavioural component and therefore I would avoid Maya.

Development of favourable attitude, and good relationship with Mina is but natural. Individual’s favorable behaviour is an outcome of the fact that Mina is hardworking. Cognitive and affective components are bases for such behaviour. Former two components cannot be seen, only the behaviour component can be seen. Former is important because it is a base for formation of attitude. These components are explained in Figure.

Essay # 4. Formation of Attitude:

Direct Experience with the Object:

Attitudes can develop from the personally rewarding or punishing experience with an object.

(a) Classical Conditioning:

People develop associations between various objects and the emotional reactions that accompany them.

(b) Operant Conditioning:

Attitudes that are reinforced, either verbally or nonverbally, tend to be maintained.

Vicarious Learning:

Where person learns something by the observation of others helps in attitude development where individual has no direct experience with the object of attitude.

Formation of attitudes is influenced by:

(i) Family and Peer Groups:

A person may learn attitude through the imitation of family members and peers.

(ii) Neighbourhood:

The neighbourhood has a certain structure in terms of having cultural facilities, religious groupings and possibly ethnic differences. The neighbours tolerate condone or deny certain attitudes.

Economic Status and Occupations of the Person:

Mass communication like news-paper, TV, radio etc.

These in turn give rise to development of one’s attitudes.

(a) Attitudes Help Predict Work Behavior:

The following example might help to illustrate it. After introducing a particular policy, it is found from an attitude survey, that the workers are not too happy about it. During the subsequent week it is found that the attendance of the employees drops sharply from the previous standard. Here management may conclude that a negative attitude toward new work rules led to increased absenteeism.

(b) Attitudes Help People to Adapt to their Work Environment:

An understanding of attitudes is also important because attitudes help the employees to get adjusted to their work. If the management can successfully develop a- positive attitude among the employees, they will be better adjusted to their work.

Essay # 5. Functions of Attitude :

According to Katz, attitudes serve four important functions from the viewpoint of organizational behaviour.

These are as follows:

(a) The Adjustment Function:

Attitudes often help people to adjust to their work environment. Well-treated employees tend to develop a positive attitude towards their job, management and the organization in general while berated and ill-treated organizational members develop a negative attitude. In other words, attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and form a basis for future behaviour.

(b) Utilitarian Function:

An attitude may develop because either the attitude or the attitude object is instrumental in helping one to obtain rewards or avoid punishments.

(c) Ego-Defensive Function:

Attitudes help people to retain their dignity and self- image. When a young faculty member who is full of fresh ideas and enthusiasm, joins the organization, the older members might feel somewhat threatened by him. But they tend to disapprove his creative ideas as ‘crazy’ and ‘impractical’ and dismiss him altogether.

(d) The Value-Expressive Function:

Attitudes provide individuals with a basis for expressing their values. For example, a manager who values hard and sincere work will be more vocal against an employee who is having a very casual approach towards work.

(e) The Knowledge Function:

Attitudes provide standards and frames of reference that allow people to understand and perceive the world around him. If one has a strong negative attitude towards the management, whatever the management does, even employee welfare programmes can be perceived as something ‘bad’ and as actually against them.

Essay # 6. Change of Attitudes :

Employees’ attitudes can be changed and sometimes it is in the best interests of managements to try to do so. For example, if employees believe that their employer does not look after their welfare, the management should try to change their attitude and help develop a more positive attitude in them.

However, the process of changing the attitude is not always easy. There are some barriers which have to be overcome if one strives to change somebody’s attitude.

There are two major categories of barriers that come in the way of changing attitudes:

1. Prior commitment when people feel a commitment towards a particular course of action that has already been agreed upon and thus it becomes difficult for them to change or accept the new ways of functioning.

2. Insufficient information also acts as a major barrier to change attitudes. Sometimes people simply see any reason to change their attitude due to unavailability of adequate information.

Some of the possible ways of changing attitudes are described below:

(a) Providing New Information:

Sometimes a dramatic change in attitude is possible only by providing relevant and adequate information to the person concerned. Scanty and incomplete information can be a major reason for brewing negative feeling and attitudes.

(b) Use of Fear:

Attitudes can be changed through the use of fear. People might resort to change their work habit for the fear of fear of unpleasant consequences. However, the degree of the arousal of fear will have to be taken into consideration as well.

(c) Resolving Discrepancies:

Whenever “people face” a dilemma or conflicting situation they feel confused in choosing a particular course of action. Like in the case where one is to choose from” between two alternative courses of action, it is often become difficult for him to decide which is right for him.

Even when he chooses one over the other, he might still feel confused. If someone helps him in pointing out the positive points in favour of the chosen course of action, the person might resolve the dilemma.

(d) Influence of Friends and Peers:

A very effective way of changing one’s attitude is through his friends and colleagues. Their opinion and recommendation for something often proves to be more important. If for example, they are all praise for a particular policy introduced in the work place, chances are high that an individual will slowly accept that even when he had initial reservations for that.

(e) Co-Opting:

If you want to change the attitude of somebody who belongs to a different group, it is often becomes very effective if you can include him in your own group. Like in the case of the union leader who are all the time vehemently against any management decision, can be the person who takes active initiative in implementing a new policy when he had participated in that decision making process himself.

Essay # 7. Types of Attitude :

1. Job Satisfaction:

Job satisfaction is related to general attitude towards the job. A person having a high level of satisfaction will generally hold a positive attitude while dissatisfied people will generally display negative attitude towards life. When we talk about attitude, we generally speak about job satisfaction because they are inter-related in organizational behaviour.

2. Job Involvement:

Job involvement refers to the degree to which a person identifies himself (psychologically) with his job, actively participates and considers his perceived performance level important to self-worth. (Robbins). High level of involvement indicates that the individual cares for his job that has an impact on high productivity. Higher the job satisfaction, lower will be absenteeism and employee turnover.

3. Organizational Commitment:

Organizational commitment refers to degree to which an employee identifies himself with the organizational goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization. He wants to “belong” to the organization and take an active part in its functioning.

Absenting or resigning from the job versus job satisfaction is a predictor of organizational commitment. The concept has been very popular in the recent times. Organizational commitment depends upon job enrichment factor and degree to which the workers enjoy autonomy and freedom of action while performing.

Nature of Employee Attitudes :

Attitudes are the feelings and beliefs that largely determine how employees will perceive their environment, commit themselves to intended actions and ultimately behave. Managers of organizational behavior are vitally interested in the nature of the attitudes of their employees toward their jobs, toward their careers and toward the organization itself. Employee attitudes which are important to employers are Job satisfaction, Job Involvement, Organizational Commitment and Work moods.

Moderating Variables for Attitude in Organization:

1. Importance of the attitude

2. Specificity of the attitude

3. Accessibility of the attitude

4. Social pressures on the individual

5. Direct experience with the attitude

Essay # 8. Theories of Attitude :

(a) Cognitive dissonance

(b) Self-perception theory

(a) Cognitive Dissonance Theory :

Tension arises when we are aware of two simultaneously inconsistent cognitions. To reduce the dissonance, we change our attitudes so that they will correspond to our actions. We correct discrepancies between attitudes & behaviors. Festinger’s Famous Cognitive Dissonance Study Had Ss perform dull tasks (turning knobs).

Afterwards, Ss were told the study was on how expectations affect performance. Experimenter asked Ss to tell a new S outside that the experiment was really exciting. Ss were either given $1 or $20 to lie. Ss told the new S (confederate) how great the experiment was & then filled out a questionnaire asking how much they liked the study.

Those who earned $1 were more likely to say they liked the study. Why? We often experience dissonance when making big decisions. To reduce the dissonance after making our choice, we upgrade the chosen alternative and downgrade the unchosen option.

(b) Self-Perception Theory :

When unsure of our attitudes, we examine our behavior & the circumstances under which it occurs. Wells & Petty (1980) had Ss test headphone sets by making either vertical or horizontal head movements while listening to a radio editorial. Those nodding their heads up & down agreed with the editorial most as it is associated with “yes” responses.

Related Articles:

• How Attitude Influences Our Behaviour
• Attitude: Compilation of Essays on Attitude | Human Behaviour | Psychology
• Essay on Human Behaviour: Top 5 Essays | Psychology
• Essay on Stress: Top 7 Essays | Human Behaviour | Psychology

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Article Contents

1. introduction, 2. conceptualising emotions, 3. classification, 4. emotion-based communication, 5. discussion, conflict of interest statement, emotions: functions and significance for attitudes, behaviour, and communication.

• Article contents
• Figures & tables
• Supplementary Data

James Dennison, Emotions: functions and significance for attitudes, behaviour, and communication, Migration Studies , Volume 12, Issue 1, March 2024, Pages 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnad018

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Emotions are regularly cited as vital components of effective strategic communication. However, there is relatively little guidance about how emotions should be used. Eliciting emotions is key to persuasion because attitudes have a cognitive and emotive component, with predictable physiological outcomes that make messages more resonant and impactful on behaviour, supporting policy objectives. This article shows that communicators—in the field of migration and beyond—should choose their campaign’s emotional frame according to their desired physiological and behavioural reaction. This article applies the emotion schema of Plutchik to offer 32 separate emotions and their theorised physiological reactions, examples of stimuli, and behavioural societal effects. Furthermore, emotional outcomes can be altered via narratives, frames, personal-based messages, facial expressions and body language, aesthetics, ordering (‘emotional flow’), intensities, and combinations. Finally, the limits of emotion-based communication—not least the ‘appeal to emotion’ logical fallacy—and how to overcome those limits—grounding emotion-based communication in facts, values, identities, and efficacy—are considered. Emotion-based communication in the field of migration, although widely used, is largely untested so communicators should test different approaches but also can take lessons from fields such as corporate, health, and climate change communication.

What makes communication effective? What about regarding contentious public policy issues such as migration? How can we use communication to meet policy objectives such as safe, orderly, and regular migration ( United Nations 2018 ), or ‘de-polarised’ debates ( OSCE 2021 ), or ‘re-balanced’ narratives ( ICMPD 2020 )? Moreover, how can communication help governments uphold liberal democratic legal- and rights-based policy frameworks against forces that would undermine them? How can communication contribute to maximising the potential benefits and minimising the potential costs of migration to origin and host country populations and migrants themselves? Strategic communication can have multiple functions: to inform, to persuade, and to motivate behaviour. However, perhaps the most common advice given on all three types of communication—in migration and otherwise—is the deceptively complex instruction to ‘use emotions, not facts’.

In the world of migration communication specifically, Sharif (2019 : 5) suggests that ‘to win the debate’ one must ‘apply value-based and emotive approaches’ in addition to factual evidence, because ‘emotions play a bigger role than facts in attitudes to migration’. Similarly, Welcoming America (2018 : 7) advises migration communicators to appeal to emotion and states simply that ‘Emotion > Logic’. They argue that ‘Logic supports our emotions and is used to justify our decisions, but research indicates we usually apply logic only after we’ve made our emotional decisions. Logic plays a part in decision making, but emotion is always the main ingredient. Emotions will get people passionate about your cause. Appeal to your audience’s emotions first and you’ll win them over’ ( Welcoming America 2018 ). They further argue that ‘No press release, newsletter, petition, or anything else should go out without the personal and emotional touch a story generates’ ( Welcoming America 2018 : 16). The European Union’s (EU) own Fundamental Rights agency argues for the use of ‘real-life examples to trigger emotions’ since ‘triggering emotions can have a lasting impact’ ( European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) 2022 : 15). Finally, a recent article for the European Parliament’s INGE committee argues that the power of online misinformation, particularly that directed at minorities, lay in its emotional appeal, both directly and via the prominence given to such messaging on social media newsfeed algorithms, concluding that ‘it is not effective to respond to disinformation with facts because people engage with the issues on an emotional level’ ( Szakács and Bognár 2021 : 27).

Belief in the persuasive role of emotion-based communication is not limited to public policy. Forbes Magazine recently described emotion as ‘the super weapon of marketing and advertising’ ( Saitarli 2019 ), echoing training and advice given across the corporate world. One study showed that the emotional response elicited by a television advertisement has three times greater impact on the consumer’s decision of whether to buy or not to buy a product than the actual content of the advertisement ( Murray 2013 ). Overall, it seems to be accepted wisdom that ‘using emotions’ is a highly impactful and perhaps even necessary way to communicate across various domains. Despite this, few of the above sources go into detail on several logically ensuing questions: Why are emotions so effective for persuasion? How should they be used to persuade? Which emotions should be used and under what circumstances? And which for migration communication in particular? To what extent and how are emotions currently being used in migration communication? Finally, what recommendations can be made to communicators about the use of emotions ?

Answering these questions is substantively important because the use of emotions is so regularly argued to be a vital tool in communicating and, thus, meeting policy objectives such as those listed above. It is also scientifically interesting because understanding how and why emotion-based communication affects attitudes and behaviours will offer support for more broadly applicable theories that seek to explain why humans think and act as they do in general. Because emotion-based communication in the field of migration has received very little academic study, this article takes an analytical approach based on first principles to answer what such communication is or could be and how it could be applied to migration most effectively based on the theoretical considerations and lessons from other policy areas. As such, it proceeds accordingly. Section 2 overviews how emotions have been conceptualised both in terms of their definitions, classifications, functions, and determinants. Section 3 asks how emotions have been used in communication and what lessons have been learned about what constitutes good emotion-based communication. Section 4 summarises previous findings to offer recommendations for practitioners and a framework of emotion-based migration communication. Finally, Section 5 overviews findings, shortcomings, and next steps for research.

Despite or perhaps because of their absolute centrality to human experience, emotions are notable for their lack of commonly accepted definition ( Barrett, Lewis and Haviland-Jones 2016 ). Broadly and simply, emotions can be thought of as mental states that our bodies use to govern behavioural reactions to stimuli via both immediate physiology and conscious cognition. These mental states are common across humanity though what stimuli induce them may vary from individual to individual. They have partially involuntary physiological components, such as facial expressions, changes in heart rate, and muscular tension that are fairly commonly shared by all humans ( Scherer 2005 ; Barrett and Russell 2015 ). Each emotion in the short term may be pleasurable or unpleasurable—albeit with significant qualitative differences within those two types—and thus give us the immediate motivation to both understand why we feel a certain way and to change our behaviours to achieve or avoid such feelings in the future. As such, emotions allow us to better understand ourselves within the world around us and—as evidenced by the inter-recognisability of facial expressions—our social world and each other.

Some definitions ( American Psychological Association 2022 ) differentiate emotions, as mental states, from feelings (such as pain) that are argued to result from certain emotions, as well as from moods, which are argued to be of lower intensity and more often lack obvious stimuli or starting points, instead being somewhat cyclical. Others, however, define emotions as feelings. Furthermore, some theories see emotion as fundamentally linked with cognition, whereas others see emotion as causing cognition. The extent to which one can: recognise their own and others’ emotions; evaluate their emotions’ sources and meanings; link them to previous experiences; and control and influence them in oneself and others has together been theorised to represent ‘emotional intelligence’ ( Salovey and Mayer 1990 ). A further concept of ‘emotional stability’—long recognised in common parlance as ‘even-temperedness’—reflects the extent to which one’s mental state cannot easily be moved by external stimuli, with very low levels of emotional stability known as neuroticism ( Ellis, Hoskin and Ratnasingam 2018 ).

Much like values ( Dennison 2020a ), academics have sought to understand emotions by classifying, categorising, and relating them to each other to predict what causes distinct emotions and, in turn, what are their effects. If a discrete set of emotions relate to each other in predictable ways across broader dimensions, then they can be arranged along a visual schema that represents each emotion’s relationship to the others in terms of dimensions such as intensity (high or low), arousal (active or passive), affect (positive or negative), or motivation (approach or avoid), with some emotions constituting basic or primary emotions and more complex ones being secondary and formed by combinations of the primary ones.

Interestingly, the distinct schema of emotions, arrived at using diverse methods, draws similar conclusions about what constitutes ‘basic human emotions’. Such theories include Ekman’s (1972) ‘Neuro-cultural theory of emotions’ 1 derived from studies of adult facial expressions; Izard’s (1977) ‘Differential Emotions Theory’ from adult and infant behaviours; Pankseep’s (1988) ‘Affective Neuroscientific’ approaches from animal behavioural responses to direct brain stimulation, and Shaver et al.’s (1987) ‘Prototype approach’ (see also Gu et al.’s more recent and constrained, 2019, Three Primary Color Model of Basic Emotions ).

For example, we can see in Fig. 1 Plutchik’s (1980) ‘wheel of emotions’, as derived from his ‘General Psychoevolutionary Theory of Basic Emotions’, that a discrete number of emotions are arranged according to their intensity (by their verticality in the cone) and their similarity to each other (by their position in the circle) and the basic emotion from which they derive (by their colour with the primary emotion in the middle) giving eight basic emotions with four pairs of opposites. We also see primary ‘dyads’ between each of the eight sectors—these are theorised to be combinations of two primary emotions. As such, for example, disapproval is a combination of—at its most intense—grief and amazement.

In Fig. 2 , we again see these primary dyads in addition to secondary and tertiary dyads formed by primary emotions that are two sectors apart (so that ‘hope’ is a combination of ‘anticipation’ and ‘trust’) or three sectors apart (so that ‘outrage’ is a combination of ‘anger’ and ‘surprise’), respectively.

Plutchik’s ‘Wheel of emotions’.

‘Dyad’ emotions.

Moreover, just as each of the eight primary emotions above have their opposites, so too do the physiological reactions to each of the emotional states, as shown in Table 1 . The physiological reality and behavioural importance of emotions are highlighted by studies that show how differing emotional states are felt in differing places in the body, making them recognisable and encouraging certain behavioural reactions ( Doucleff 2013 ).

Eight opposing primary emotions and their respective physiological reactions

3.1 Functions and determinants

Emotions offer humans a rich source of information to better understand the relationship between themselves and their world. In doing so, they play a key adaptive role in helping us survive issues posed by our natural and social environments. This means, however, that we are left partially subject to our emotions. Whereas happiness rewards us, sadness punishes us, and fear and anger elicit stress ( Gu et al. 2019 ). More complex governing abilities of emotions include the discomfort we feel when undergoing cognitive dissonance—when we come to believe two contrary things—forcing us to reconcile our attitudes, beliefs and so on, often in a painful process of ‘facing up to the facts’; however, our emotions will not let us rest until we do ( Harmon-Jones 2000 ). In fact, this discomfort has been argued to be one of the major sources of persuasion and attitudinal change—our emotional system forcing us to realise that our old beliefs were wrong so that we better survive and thrive in an ever-changing world. The rich variety of emotions we feel guides our attention and gives us qualitative information ( Glore and Gasper 2000 ); the more emotionally intelligent we are, the better we can interpret and manage such information. Repeated emotional experiences can crystalise into longer term sentiments and attitudes ( Frijda and Mesquita 2000 ) and even personalities so that understanding one’s emotions is a key part of individualisation and mental health ( Izard 2013 ). Indeed, Damasio (1994) showed that individuals who had suffered brain damage that disconnected the cognitive and emotional parts of the brain were no longer able to make decisions, despite being able to rationally process information, since they could not identify how they felt about each option.

Many social psychologists ( Zajonc 1980 ) have argued that attitudes to social and political issues result from emotional processes to a greater extent than cognitive processes, so that when in conflict, attitudes reflect emotion over evaluation ( Lavine et al. 1998 ) albeit to varying extents depending on the individual ( Haddock and Zanna 1999 ) and the type of attitude ( Kempf 1999 ). Indeed, attitudes have been argued to include a cognitive component (beliefs), an affective component (feelings), and a behavioural component (intentions) ( Breckler 1984 ), meaning that attitudes entirely free of cognition may be possible. The emotive approach (see Brader and Marcus 2013 ) is also supported by evidence on the effect of motivated reasoning and biases ( Ajzen 2001 ), so that, for example, Burdein, Lodge and Taber (2006) find evidence of motivated scepticism of dissonant information. Despite all this, Gilens (2001) shows that facts do matter, having a large effect on stated policy preferences.

The determinant of which emotion one feels is a complex combination of one’s current circumstances and feelings, the nature of the stimuli, and one’s deep-seated values, narratives, worldview, and ‘self’ ( Dennison 2020a ). However, we do know that an individual’s emotions can be changed via contagion ( Hatfield et al. 1993 ); explanation of the causes and implications of stimuli ( Ross 1977 ) particularly as it relates to personal need-fulfilment ( Izard 2013 ); self-management, often dictated by social norms ( Hochschild 1979 ); and narratives and sense-making ( Weick et al. 2005 ) and beyond. Moreover, the determinants of emotions depend greatly on the theoretical approaches one takes regarding whether cognition precedes emotion or vice versa, or whether both are functions of some broader self-concept ( Izard 2013 : 30–39).

Overall, we know that the emotional system is a fundamental component of how we gain, make sense of, and retain information about our world ( Bless et al., 1996 ; Rieger et al. 2022 ) and acts as a vital source of information affecting our judgements and choices ( Bower 1981 ) so much so that when emotions and cognition clash, it is often emotions that prevail ( Loewenstein, et al. 2001 ).

How are emotions used in communication and what is effective emotion-based communication? How does this differ from the appeal to emotion logical fallacy? Empirical studies have shown that communicators that use emotions are more likely to motivate audiences and persuade them ( Salama and Aboukoura 2018 ). Researchers have also sought to measure and test how commercial advertisements evoke emotion ( Allen, Machleit and Marine 1988 ) building on the classifications outlined above. Hasford, Hardesty and Kidwell (2015) show how consumers use emotions as information to help make purchasing decisions and may also spill over to other decisions. Emotions are particularly vital to persuasive strategic communication because activating them has been shown to over-ride identity-based concerns, lead to deeper consideration of information, and lead people to engage in personal rather than political or ideological reasoning ( Schwarz 2010 ; Bolsen, Palm and Kingsland 2019 ; Feldman and Hart 2018 ).

Probably, the most tested form of strategic emotion-based public policy communication is climate change communication, which is considerably more developed and its effects more verified than the understudied emotion-based migration communication. It has been described as a ‘ booming industry alongside more established “communication enterprises”, such as health communication, risk communication, and science communication’ ( Nerlich, Koteyko and Brown 2010 : 97). Climate change communication is akin to migration policy communication in that both are concerned with a single issue that is relatively novel and which information, persuasion, and behavioural motivation are all likely to be relevant. However, the former has seen so much study that academics have been left asking ‘what more is there to say?’ ( Ballantyne 2016 ; Moser 2016 : 345; Chapman, Lickel and Markowitz 2017 ).

Smith and Leiserowitz (2014) show that people’s emotions when prompted to think about climate change (e.g. hope, worry, interest) explain half of the variance in support for climate policies—more even than socio-demographics (see also Ojala (2012) , on hope and engagement; and Meijnders, Midden and Wilke (2001) , on fear and consideration of solutions). Indeed, Wong-Parodi and Feygina (2021) found that strong negative emotional reactions to learning about climate impacts—via emotive stories about arctic warming and polar animals—made conservative respondents as accepting of climate change and willing to engage in climate action as liberals. Furthermore, Arikan, Melek and Gunay (2022) show that presenting climate change-related threats as diffuse and uncertain elicits greater levels of anxiety, while stories that provide a specific target to blame induce anger, and those that underlined the potential of technology and efficacy of human efforts to solve climate change-related issues elicit greater levels of hope. However, on the topic of climate change research, van der Linden et al. (2017) argue that ‘culture [including emotion] versus cognition is a false dilemma’ and that the two must be used together.

One of the most used emotions in communication is fear, usually elicited via the presentation of threats, which indeed has been shown to have strong persuasive effects ( Tannenbaum et al. 2015 , for review), though can have unintended effects including reactions against the message, the source, and the scale of the problem. Because of these adverse (‘boomerang’) reactions to fear-based campaigns, researchers have experimented with efficacy-only, hope-centred campaigns that focus on individual or collective potential to solve problems ( Roser-Renouf et al. 2014 ). Regarding climate change, these have, however, been shown to be more effective on liberals or moderates than conservatives ( Chadwick 2015 ; Feldman and Hart 2016 ), highlighting that though hope may be useful in encouraging action amongst those already in agreement, it may be less useful in changing minds. Though Feldman and Hart (2018) show that news and text images that elicited fear increased support for climate change policies, especially amongst conservatives.

Beyond climate change communication, the notion that fear-based messages lead to avoidance, denial, and helplessness rather than positive action is supported by findings from the health communication literature which show that provoking fear without offering solutions produces maladaptive coping mechanisms ( Brosch 2021 ) shown to be comparable to populist political attitudes, threats posed by global transformations, and global governance solutions ( Dennison and Turnbull-Dugarte 2022 ). On the other hand, offering overly hopeful messages has been argued to lead to complacency ( Brosch 2021 ). Messages offering positive stories still must emphasise goal-congruence (and so also value-congruence), importance, and feasibility. In response to this, Nabi, Gustafson and Jensen (2018) and Nabi (2015) show that the use of ‘emotional flow’ whereby a fear-based message is used to change minds, which is immediately followed by a hope-based message to encourage action, is more powerful than just one of the emotions for topics as diverse as climate change and the use of sunscreen to avoid skin cancer ( Nabi and Myrick 2019 ).

Furthermore, negative and positive emotional communication has been linked with loss- and gain-based frames, respectively: for example, ‘Stopping immigration threatens our prosperity’ versus ‘Immigration upholds our prosperity’, with gain-based frames having been argued to be more effective ( Davis 1995 ; de Vries, Terwel and Ellemers 2016 ). Loss-based frames have been argued to have the disadvantage of being more likely to have reactive, ‘boomerang’ effects ( Cho and Sands 2011 ; Quick et al. 2015 ) and be more likely to contradict deeply held world beliefs and values ( Feinberg and Willer 2011 ). Moreover, rather than there being right or wrong frames, emotions mediate the relationship between frames and attitudinal or behavioural effects in controversial social issues ( Lecheler, Schuck and de Vreese 2013 ; Lecheler, Bos and Vliegenthart 2015 ; Kühne and Schemer 2015 ).

The narrative has been shown to be a vital component of eliciting emotion ( Damasio 1994 ; Cooper and Nisbet 2016 ) by moving away from abstract concepts to immediate, personal effects and so removing ‘psychological distance’ and heightening character identification and ‘transportation’ while reducing counterarguing in abstract terms ( van Laer et al., 2014 ; van der Linden, Maibach and Leiserowitz 2015 ; Dennison, 2021 ). Storytelling done by down-to-earth and relatable characters have been shown to be especially effective ( Baldwin and Lammers 2016 ). When Gustafson et al. (2020) compared the effects of a North Carolina sportsman’s personal account of how climate change has already affected the places he loves, it was shown to affect the climate change beliefs and risk perceptions of political moderates and conservatives, with the effect resulting from feelings of worry and compassion.

Several studies show that emotions mediate the effects of media frames on immigration attitudes ( Brader, Valentino and Suhay 2008 ; Esses, Medianu and Lawson 2013 ; Lecheler, Bos and Vliegenthart 2015 ; Matthes and Schmuck 2017 ) via enthusiasm positively and anger negatively in the case of Lecheler, Bos and Vliegenthart (2015) . Theorin (2021) randomly exposed individuals in six EU countries to one of the four fictional articles focusing on: a single citizen’s negative experiences of immigration; a single citizen’s positive experiences of immigration; official information from a researcher about the negative implications of immigration for society as a whole; or official information from a researcher about positive implications of immigration for society as a whole. The emotional and positive frames were shown to be the most impactful.

Conversely, Theorin et al. (2021) expose participants to a variety of fictional tweets—some with a negative message on immigration, some with a positive one, and some in ‘episodic’ (or narrative) format and some in thematic (or informative) format—showing that none of the four types has a statistically significant effect on attitudes to free movement. Chkhaidze, Buyruk and Boroditsky (2021) exposed participants to one of the four versions of a passage about an increase in immigrants in one town. Each version included all identical facts and figures and differed in only a single word at the beginning of the passage, describing the increase in immigrant labour as either an ‘increase’, a ‘boost’, an ‘invasion’, or a ‘flood’. This change had a large effect on participants’ attitudes to the increase in immigration and the predictions about its effects on the economy (see also Dennison 2022a ).

Finally, whereas emotion-based communication can be thought of as a tactic to make a logical argument more resonant by showing its importance and relevance, it should not be confused with the appeal to emotion fallacy—arguing that something is true because of its emotional content. This highlights the limits of the idea that communicators should use ‘emotions, not facts’ and instead should use both.

The above conceptual and theoretical considerations regarding the nature of emotions and findings from studies of communication in other fields lead directly to several practical recommendations:

Use emotions in communication to make one’s messages more resonant and impactful on both attitudes and behaviours, supporting broader policy objectives via persuasion.

Choose the desired emotional reaction according to the desired physiological and behavioural reaction using existing psychological schema, one of which this article analyses with 32 separate emotions and physiological reactions.

Narratives, personal-based messages, and aesthetics can all be used to create emotional resonance and reduce psychological distance.

Different frames have different emotional reactions: for example diffuse versus specific; gain-based versus loss-based; threat versus no-threat; the need for action versus the need for no action.

Emotion-based messaging using negative emotions (doom, fear, pity, sadness, shame, guilt, anger) should be combined with solutions to avoid reactive, maladaptive, or ‘boomerang’ effects.

The impact of emotions can be further enhanced (or diminished) by the order in which different emotions are evoked: this is known as ‘emotional flow’.

The intensity of emotions can also matter: for example, intense surprise is amazement, whereas low-intensity surprise is distraction.

Avoid thinking in terms of false dichotomies such as ‘culture versus cognition’—the two must be used in unison. Use emotions as a tactic to enhance one’s message, which should be simultaneously based on facts, values, identities, and efficacy.

Do not confuse emotion-based communication—a tactic to make a logical argument more resonant by showing its importance and relevance—with the appeal-to-emotion logical fallacy, which argues that something is true because of its emotional basis.

Emotion-based communication in the field of migration remains relatively novel and untested—communicators can take lessons from other fields such as corporate communications, health communications, and climate change communication.

Given the relative scarcity of migration-related studies of emotion-based communication, and the relatively limited number of emotions studied in general, as well as the lack of a general theory of how emotions link to physiological reactions, it is worth expanding on the logic of Plutchik’s eight basic emotions and their physiological reactions to each of the 24 ‘emotional dyads’. In Table 2 , we see these combinations with examples of resultant behaviours that are likely to result from each physiological reaction and are likely to form part of migration policy objectives.

Thirty-two emotions and the physiological and behavioural reactions caused by evoking them

Table 2 therefore acts as a guide of which emotions to use when aiming for distinct behavioural outcomes. For example, because it leads individuals to embrace, support, celebrate, and accept, the emotion of trust is likely to most strongly enhance persuasive campaigns to seek to increase support for groups or individuals. Similarly, if we wish to motivate participation, then joy is likely to be an effective emotion, because it leads to connection, while anticipation, which triggers examination, is likely to best support efforts to raise awareness. More complex objectives include a combination of these. Both more and less intense versions of these feelings can be found in Table 1 .

Moreover, migration communication campaigns—the broad umbrella of communication that contributes to migration management and realities at all stages—will have varied objectives that determine the correct emotion to use based on the desired physiological reaction. At least three considerations are of note: (1) the migration domain; (2) stakeholders; and (3) the use of emotions by migrants themselves. Although migration is best viewed as a single phenomenon, rather than the false dichotomy of immigration and emigration ( Sjaastad 1962 ; Leloup 1996 ), it is inevitably viewed from multiple perspectives in each domain (e.g. asylum and labour migration). Given the universal nature of emotions, evoking each emotion should have a predictable physiological reaction, but how that emotion is evoked will be greatly different and how emotion, cognition, and physiology relate to behaviours requires, above all, careful theorising that will vary by domain. Similarly, stakeholders will vary according to their objectives and their reasons for evoking emotions, for example, humanitarian communication ( Ongenaert and Joye 2019 ) and migration deterrence campaigns are highly varied ( Musarò 2019 : 629; Cappi and Musarò 2022 ) with stated aims not necessarily in alignment with actual aims ( Oeppen 2016 ). Indeed, a recent blossoming of critical and media studies of migration communication campaigns focus on their motivations and aesthetic contents, including in terms of emotions ( Bishop 2020 ; Williams 2020 ; van Dessel 2023 ; Williams and Coddington 2023 ) but lack robust testing of their claims. While experiments on the impact of migration communication campaigns tend to be more robust in their measurement of the impact of such campaigns on migrant self-reported propensities, perceptions, and knowledge ( Molenaar and Jucker 2021 ; Pagogna and Sakdapolrak 2021 ; Tjaden and Dunsch, 2021 ; Dennison 2022b ; Tjaden and Gninafon, 2022 ) but pay little attention to the actual content, including emotional, of such campaigns undermining theoretical generalisability. Finally, scholars utilising both approaches have largely overlooked the migration communication campaigns that focus on reducing xenophobia, negative attitudes, and misperceptions amongst host populations, despite such campaigns often being produced by the same international and national organisations, often as part of the same programmes, and possibly being more numerous, and the use of emotions therein. Finally, a further form of migration communication is that done by migrants themselves, including as storytellers ( Bishop 2022 ), for which the function of communication may exist beyond the purely strategic ‘inform’, ‘persuade’, and ‘motivate’ triad ( Rice and Atkin, 2000 ).

Emotions are regularly cited as vital components of effective strategic communication. However, until this article, there was relatively little guidance about how emotions should be used in communication. Emotions are vital to persuasion because attitudes have a cognitive (thinking) component and an emotional (feeling) component. Moreover, eliciting emotions causes involuntary but predictable physiological and behavioural reactions.

This article showed how emotions can be used in communication to make one’s messages more resonant and impactful on both attitudes and behaviours, supporting policy objectives via persuasion. Communicators should choose the desired emotional reaction according to the desired physiological and behavioural reaction using existing psychological schema, one of which this article analyses with 32 separate emotions and physiological reactions. Eliciting unsuitable emotions may have adverse reactions from audiences. Communicators can use this article’s recommendation and framework to ensure that the emotions, and physiological and desired behaviours of their campaigns are aligned and thus effective.

Narratives, personal-based messages, facial expressions and body language, and aesthetics can be used to create emotional resonance and reduce psychological distance. Frames, ordering (‘emotional flow’), intensities, and combinations of certain combinations can also be used to elicit different emotions with predictable outcomes. Emotions should be used to make one’s argument more resonant but the argument should not be simply based on the emotional reaction—the ‘appeal to emotion’ logical fallacy. Indeed, for emotion-based communication to work, it should also use facts, values, identities, and efficacy. However, emotion-based communication in the field of migration, although widely advocated, is still largely untested—communicators should test and use impact assessments and evaluation for different approaches ( Dennison 2020b ) including by domain, stakeholder, and that of migrants themselves, but also can take lessons from other fields such as corporate, health, and climate change communications.

Given the strong indication from the literature that attitudes are emotionally based—and thus qualitatively nuanced far beyond a single spectrum of affect—researchers should consider, first, how to describe such ‘emotion-attitudes’ to various objects of interest. This would see attitudes to policies, issues, groups, and actors measured in nuanced ways far beyond ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ but the extent to which a range of emotions are associated with the object. Secondly, how can such ‘emotion-attitudes’ be used to improve our explanatory capacity regarding a range of human thoughts and behaviours? In the world of immigration, how can, for example, our policy preferences or migration intentions be better explained by these more nuanced ‘emotion-attitude’ components of affect? This may reflect and predict individuals being capable of having multiple nuanced and varied beliefs and perceptions about an object. Finally, following the description and explanation, and building on the recommendations above, research should consider which interventions may affect such ‘emotion-attitudes’ and, conversely, test emotion-based communication using experimental designs.

Leading to the online ‘Atlas of Emotions’ promoted by the Dalai Lama: http://atlasofemotions.org/

None declared.

This work was supported by the EUROMED Migration V Programme, funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the Leverhulme Trust [grant number ECF-2021–342].

Ajzen I. ( 2001 ) ‘ Nature and Operation of Attitudes ’, Annual Review of Psychology , 52 : 27 – 58 .

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Attitude Is Great Essay | Essay on Attitude Is Great For Students and Children in English

Attitude Is Great Essay : Our attitude defines your mood or behaviour towards things, situations, and individuals. All humans are made up of different vital statistics, features, mental abilities, and nature. While every human being similar in structure, what makes them unique is their attitude. Attitude does not only depicts your behaviour but it also includes your emotions, feelings, and the way you look at things.  

Having the right attitude is essential for a human being to keep moving successfully in life. Not every situation is the same but what matters is your attitude towards it. By feeling positive and taking things forward with the right attitude one can change their life. Today, the topic, ‘Attitude is Great’ is popular among students studying in school. If you want to know more about the topic, we have provided a few samples for you.

You can read more  Essay Writing  about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more.

Long and Short Essay on Attitude is Great for Kids and Children

A long essay of 450-500 words has been provided it is useful for students in classes 7, 8, 9, and 10. For the reference of students in Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, a short essay of 100-150 words has been provided.

Long Essay on Attitude is Great of 500 words in English

Attitude refers to one’s behaviour and thinking. A person’s attitude is quickly analysed by anyone by reading their body language, communication skills, and facial expressions. Since every human being has a different perspective on life, the attitude also differs in each individual. Some take life positively and lightly, while some do not believe in this agenda and tend to take too much stress in their daily lives which causes anxiety and depression. In simpler words, attitude is one’s behaviour and approach towards life. When you are positive, you tend to take everything with the right attitude and the right perspective which leads to fruitful things in life.

There is the belief that when people have the right attitude, they mostly succeed in their lives and every outcome comes out with flying colours. Having a positive attitude towards life can help you make the right decision even in the hard times. We can only drive our goals when we know how to take things with a positive spirit and let poor situations outside from life with a healthy frame of mind. If someone is making fun of your thoughts, looks, belief, and more, and you’re positively taking up each challenge, then nobody can stop you from getting success in life. Moreover, if you think that you will not be able to do anything, you are pessimistic about life and skills. Thus, being optimistic plays a major role in driving through life with the right attitude.

All human creatures have different skills, which a person should explore themselves if you are thinking you’re not the right person by hearing some bad reviews about you. You’re making a wrong decision because this thing will not give you the success that you deserve. So, believing in your looks, skills, and yourself is something that stands you out from the crowd. Some people believe that being rich or having money in your pocket can give you a chance to show yourself. Suppose you have talent that doesn’t just press it under your mouth. Show the world who you are, and people will accept you when you have the right talent, the right platform, and the right attitude to show them.

It does not matter if you are wealthy or jobless, it is only your attitude and outlook towards life that makes a difference. It is said that when there is calmness inside you, the outer circumstances fail to affect your peace of mind. Following this advice, many entrepreneurs, speakers, teachers and monks have fulfilled the purpose of their life. If you have everything such as good wealth, health, supportive friends and family but have an arrogant attitude towards people, nobody will respect or appreciate you. So, the moral for ‘attitude is great’ is that it is necessary to opt for a healthy and positive attitude to strive through life and difficult situations we face as we age. Keep up with the positive attitude and see your life unfolding for the better in the near future.

Short Essay on Attitude is Great 150 words in English

Attitude is a pattern of behaviour that everyone opts in order to move forward in life. It is a way of living life— could be positive or negative. We all have the choice to lead a life with a right and wrong attitude. Attitude is something that can create a path of success and failure. If one has the right attitude towards life, one can get success quickly. No one can change their past experiences and also no one can change the thinking of people towards you. However, the only thing you can change is your attitude and thinking towards the situations.

Attitude is great if it directed towards positivity and helps you determine your success. This is a proven strategy and accepted by almost all successful people that having a positive attitude towards life and people can help you lead a prosperous and happiest life. Hence, the right attitude is the key to success.

10 Lines on Attitude is Great in English

• Attitude is the way of one’s thinking.
• Having the right attitude is the key to success.
• Living with positive thinking keeps you happy and peaceful.
• A positive attitude makes life simpler and comfortable.
• With the right attitude, life can be optimistic whereas pessimistic attitude can destroy life.
• Attitude also defines your mental well-being.
• Attitude is a combination of thinking, beliefs, behaviour, and motives.
• A positive and negative attitude has an impact on one’s behaviour.
• A positive attitude gives a sense of respect and self-esteem.
• Attitude is not only reflected in our personality but also in our actions.

FAQ’s on Attitude is Great Essay

Q1. Is having the right attitude necessary?

Answer. Being positive towards life can help you to get success in your life quickly.

Q2. How can we develop a positive attitude?

Answer. To develop a positive attitude, you need to believe in yourself and remove negative thoughts from the brain.

Q3. Why is having a positive attitude great?

Answer. If you want to lead life happily with joy and success, then having a positive attitude towards life is necessary.

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Gratitude Essay

500 words essay on gratitude.

Gratitude is a beautiful way of enriching our lives. It refers to the feeling and attitude of appreciation and thankfulness for the good which we receive in life. It has been proven scientifically that when we express our gratefulness to other people, we feel happier and calmer. Thus, it allows goodness to enter our lives. For instance, when a stranger holds the door for you or greets you, it makes you feel happy. Thus, a gratitude essay will teach us how advantageous gratitude is.

Advantages of Gratitude

Gratitude can have a lot of advantages to our personal as well as social life. First of all, it strengthens our relationship with others. When you have a thankful feeling, it will strengthen the bond with the other party and enhance the trust factor and feeling of respect and love .

Moreover, it also makes us happy. When we express gratitude or receive it, we feel happy either way. As a result, people who have gratitude do not stress out a lot. Similarly, being full of gratitude makes society sensible.

In other words, people become considerate and never leave a chance to say thank you to others. Thus, it helps society to progress in the right direction with the right tools needed for the development of it.

Most importantly, gratitude reduces comparisons and promotes acknowledgement. When we become thankful, we do not compare ourselves to others. Thus, it helps us acknowledge our own achievements and blessings and remain content.

How to Practice Gratitude

There are a lot of ways through which we can practice gratitude. Some of the most effective ones include making a note of every good thing which happens to us every day. Moreover, also note the people behind it.

This will help you to return the favour at an appropriate time. Never forget to return this favour as they deserve it too. Moreover, always make sure to appreciate everything in life ranging from nature to animals .

We are lucky enough to have animals, green plants, fresh air and much more. Thus, never stop acknowledging the importance of these essential things. Moreover, always remember to say thank you to different community helpers.

It can be anyone, whether your gardener or sweeper or even the police officers. Make sure you thank them for their service whenever it is possible for you. Remember that to wake up every day is no less than a blessing itself.

So, make sure to be grateful for a new day and thank the almighty for making you wiser and stronger with each passing day. Most importantly, try to avoid complaining about things when they don’t go your way. You don’t know about the blessing behind it.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of Gratitude Essay

All in all, gratitude is the most essential human expression which proves that humans are sensible and have emotions. Moreover, this emotion does not just limit to humans but also animals. Often, we see then express their gratitude and return the favour. Thus, we must always express our gratitude.

FAQ of Gratitude Essay

Question 1: Why is gratitude important?

Answer 1: Gratitude is strongly and constantly connected with greater happiness. It is what helps people feel more positive emotions, appreciate good experiences, advance their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

Question 2: How can gratitude change your life?

Answer 2: Gratitude can change your life as it makes you appreciate what you have rather than what you don’t have. It can change your life  because it is the single most powerful source of inspiration that any individual can tap into if they simply stop and pay attention to the simplistic beauty and miracle of life.

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• Travelling Essay
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Essaying Architecture

The word "essay" began its life as a verb—"to ascertain the weight of a thing." As an attitude toward writing, essays take stock of their object from multiple angles, always accounting for the author's own subjectivity. Neither strictly "criticism" nor "research," though they draw on both, essays are testing grounds for an author's intellectual commitments (theoretical, political, architectural) as they refract those ideas through the work of others. We will start from the possibility that the essay genre can be a potent tool for connecting architectural ideas with political life.

This seminar—equal parts reading group and peer-feedback writing workshop—aims to discover something about essay-writing by practicing it. We will examine essays (architectural and otherwise) that offer distinct sensibilities about how we read the world around us, and we will consider current trajectories within architectural writing and publishing. After some introductory weeks that explore various histories and theories of the critical essay, our reading list will evolve collaboratively based on your topics of interest. We will undertake a series of short writing experiments together, before spending the second half of the semester developing your own essay (tailored to a real or imagined publication).