How do you feel about the death penalty? Which political party governs the country more effectively? Should schools allow prayer? Should television violence be regulated?
You’re likely to have fairly strong feelings about these and similar issues. You’ve developed attitudes toward such issues, and these attitudes have an effect on both your beliefs and behaviour. Attitudes are a significant area of study in social psychology. However, what is an attitude? How is it formed?
Attitudes as Defined by Psychologists
Attitudes are defined by psychologists as a learned proclivity to evaluate things in a particular way. This may include assessments of individuals, issues, objects, or events. These assessments are frequently positive or negative, but they can also be ambiguous at times.
For instance, you may have conflicting feelings about a particular person or situation. Additionally, researchers suggest that attitudes are composed of several distinct components. 1 At times, the components of attitudes are abbreviated as CAB or the ABC’s of attitude.
Step 1: Just Do it!
There is no need to wait if you have decided to change. Somehow or rather, it is our mindset that stops us from proceeding to take the action which we should do. Thus, start with your first step today.
The question is what do you decide today for change in our attitude? The answer is many and you need to choose from the simplest to change, one by one till you change your attitude. If we have a lot of negative-thinking people surrounding us, bad situations or environment, difficult tasks or assignments; change them all to change your attitude.
Step 2: Shift your Focus
Focus on what is right instead of focus on what is wrong. Use your judgment and wisdom to decide on these. the Same thing goes to your possession of the material to make things happen. There is no point to focus on what you do not have. In this matter, we might as well focus on what you do have instead. So let’s change to focus on solutions than on problems too.
Step 3: Be more curious instead of judgemental
When things do bad, you should not jump to the conclusion of blaming and complaining to make things even worse. To put things better, stay curious to ask yourself a question – why is this person or situation like that? To be more effective, ask yourself what can I change here in this situation or with this person.
Step 4: Develop an attitude of gratitude
A lot of people may wonder how. Here is a good example, “I was crying for a pair of shoes until I saw a man without legs; I thanked God that at least I have legs”. Flashback some time to find something in tough times / tough situations / tough people now. Just think about what you have gained or learned instead of lost. Whenever you feel down, depressed, frustrated see what can be acknowledged.
Step 5: Decide not to be perfect all time
When you expect the result too high, you will feel very stressed when the expectations do not match. That is the beginning of the negatives. Do you others feel happy when the results are not met? So stop having high expectations from yourself and others.
Step 6: Believe in yourself
Remember that it is not an inflated EGO but when you think and feel good about yourself, then you too will be able to see the same in others. So long as you continue to believe, you can achieve your dream.
Step 7: Take action … Now.
You can’t just stand in front of the mirror and shout “Positive Attitude”. That is not enough as there is no result at all. Stop procrastination and start right NOW to take action. You need a timeline so write down an action plan for the next 7 days on what you want to achieve.
