Enhancing Attitudes

Carlos Mora Vanegas

It is our duty while we remain alive in this physical dimension, pay attention to our growth, optimal use of our potential, creativity, give way to innovations that we needed leading to results that favor us, properly handle our attitudes. Pays little attention to the role many of the attitudes within their reach, impact towards our growth, behavior, achievement.

It is very important to achieve our growth to be fully identified with the scope, impact attitudes bequeathed us, ad more to consider involving the content they are predispositions to respond in a certain way with favorable or unfavorable reactions to something. The members of the opinions or beliefs, feelings and behaviors, which in turn factors are interrelated. Opinions are ideas that one has about a subject and not have to be based on objective information. For its part, the feelings are emotional reactions that occur before an object, subject or social group. Finally, behaviors are tendencies to behave according to opinions or feelings. Attitudes guide the actions if the external influences on what is said or done with minimal impact. Also the guide if the attitude has a specific relationship to behavior, despite the evidence which confirms that, sometimes, the process is usually reversed and the acts do not correspond, one experiences a voltage in the dissonance is called cognitive. (rincóndelvago.com)

Meanwhile, Wikipedia points out that the U.S. Reynaldo Ordonez, defined attitude as a state of nervous and mental readiness, organized through experience, exerting a dynamic influence on the answers or guidance that an individual gives to all objects and situations to which it relates. In this sense, the attitude can be seen as some form of social motivation of character, hence secondary, compared with biological motivation, primary type, which promotes and guides action toward specific goals and objectives. Eiser defines attitude as follows: learned predisposition to respond in a manner consistent with a social object.

In social psychology, attitudes are valuable elements for the prediction of behavior. For the same author, attitude refers to a sentiment in favor or against a social order, which can be a person, a social fact, or any product of human activity.

Based on various definitions of attitudes, Rodriguez, described the attitude as an enduring organization of beliefs and cognitions in general, endowed with an emotional charge for or against a defined object, which predisposes to an action consistent with the cognitive and affective relating to that object. Attitudes are considered intercurrent variables, not being directly observable but subject to inference observable.

We are reminded that there are three attitudes components namely:

. Cognitive component, so that there is an attitude, there must be also a cognitive representation of the object. It consists of the perceptions and beliefs toward an object, as well as the information we have about an object. In this case it is attitudinal model expectation value, especially in reference to studies of Fishbein and Ajzen. The objects are not known or for which no information is unable to generate attitudes. The cognitive representation may be vague or misleading, in the first case related to the object affection tend to be very intense, when it is wrong will not affect the intensity of affection.

• Affective component: it is the sentiment in favor or against a social object. Is the most characteristic attitudes. Herein lies the main difference with the beliefs and opinions - which are characterized by cognitive component -.

• Component behavior: the tendency to react to objects in a certain way. Is the active component of attitude. On this component and the relationship between behavior and attitude, are intervening variables that turn our research. To explain the relationship between attitude and behavior, Fishbein and Ajzen (1980, cited in Rodriguez have developed a general theory of behavior, which integrates a set of variables that are related to decision making at the behavioral level, has been called Theory of Reasoned Action. Functions of attitude

Arnoldo Arana brings us, that attitudes are more important than facts, as Dr. Karl Menniger said. Also, he notes that William James, "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by changing attitudes of your mind?.

The attitude assumed by every day life is the most important decision you can take each morning upon arising. His attitude and actions influence these results. There are circumstances or events are going through that happen to us that determine the results, is the attitude with which we react that makes the difference.

The mental attitude is a choice, it is an attitude towards life. Once you choose a certain position, it creates in you a willingness to see life according to that position. We can choose to focus on the positive side or negative side of life. There are people who only see problems in what they do, others do see in every situation, including adverse, an opportunity. There are people who can only think of the negative, their minds have been used to filter out only the bad, so full of pessimism living, while others choose to emphasize the hopeful side of life and see the opportunities.

Now the attitude is not mere phrases, such cliché, sometimes naive, that you repeat to convince of something or to deny or distract from the reality they are living. For more you repeat phrases "encouraging?: I am the best, all I can, etc., the situation will not change as if by magic. In fact, a positive attitude will not get rid of the real obstacles in his life, but if you put your mind in the best state of mind to face them.

A positive attitude helps your mind to think freely, making the ideas and solutions emerge to the surface. Stephen R. Covey says, "The right attitude allows our response is flush with the challenge we must face

Take into account that the attitude is the most studied variable in social psychology because of a valuable item for the prediction of behavior

Finally do not forget, you can distinguish two types of theories about the formation of attitudes, which are: learning theory and the theory of cognitive consistency.

• Learning Theory: This theory is based on that learning new knowledge received which try to develop some ideas, feelings, and some behaviors associated with these lessons. Learning these attitudes can be reinforced by pleasurable experiences.

• Theory of cognitive consistency: This theory is based or is learning new attitudes linking new information with any other information which is already known, so we try to develop ideas and attitudes compatible.

• Cognitive dissonance theory: this theory was created in 1962 by Leon Festinger, is to make us believe ourselves and our knowledge that something hurts us, but actually knowing what can happen if we continue to maintain this attitude, having conducted a test and fail in the attempt. This conflict can lead us, because we take two incompatible attitudes to ourselves reflexively try to avoid. This impels us to construct new attitudes or change existing attitudes.

No olvideconsiderar indicating rincondelvago.com., That a person of which we know what their attitudes can not predict what will be his conduct. Very few cases in which we can establish relationships between attitudes and behavior. To get to predict behavior, we need to know very deeply very specific attitudes. Normally what people say about their own attitudes often lie and this is because we know almost none of our attitudes towards objects. And these attitudes do not know until we have to act against an object. With this is further evidence that attitudes do not influence both the behavior is more, sometimes they are even behaviors that determine attitudes.