An attitude is an expression of favor or disfavor toward a person, place, thing, or event (the attitude object).

Prominent psychologist Gordon Allport once described attitudes "the most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary social psychology."[1] In lay language, attitude may refer to the distinct concept of mood, or be especially synonymous with teenage rebellion An attitude can be defined as a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, event, activities, ideas, or just about anything in your environment, but there is debate about precise definitions. Eagly and Chaiken, for example, define an attitude "a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor."

Jung's definition
Attitude is one of Jung's 57 definitions in Chapter XI of Psychological Types. Jung's definition of attitude is a "readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way" (Jung, [1921] 1971:par. 687). The main (but not only) attitude dualities that Jung defines are the following. Consciousness and the unconscious. The "presence of two attitudes is extremely frequent, one conscious and the other unconscious. This means that consciousness has a constellation of contents different from that of the unconscious, a duality particularly evident in neurosis" (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 687). Extraversion and introversion. This pair is so elementary to Jung's theory of types that he labeled them the "attitude-types". Rational and irrational attitudes. "I conceive reason as an attitude" (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 785). The rational attitude subdivides into the thinking and feeling psychological functions, each with its attitude.

Emotion and attitude change

Emotion is a common component in persuasion, social influence, and attitude change. Much of attitude research emphasized the importance of affective or emotion components. Emotion works hand-in-hand with the cognitive process, or the way we think, about an issue or situation. Emotional appeals are commonly found in advertising, health campaigns and political messages. Recent examples include nosmoking health campaigns and political campaign advertising emphasizing the fear of terrorism. Attitudes and attitude objects are functions of cognitive, affective and conative components. Attitudes are part of the brains associative networks, the spider-like structures residing in long term memory that consist of affective and cognitive nodes. By activating an affective or emotion node, attitude change may be possible, though affective and cognitive components tend to be intertwined. In primarily affective networks, it is more difficult to produce cognitive counterarguments in the resistance to persuasion and attitude change. Affective forecasting, otherwise known as intuition or the prediction of emotion, also impacts attitude change. Research suggests that predicting emotions is an important component of decision making, in addition to the cognitive processes. How we feel about an outcome may override purely cognitive rationales. Three Main Components of Attitudes: ABC model: Experts have pointed out three basic components of attitude. These are:

(i) Emotional: Emotional components include the feelings of a person about and object. These feeling could be positive, negative or neutral. While customer service representative displays positive feelings, a police officer or a bill collector would exhibit negative feelings. Similarly while discharging administrative duties public servants are required to show neutral feelings. (ii) Informational: The beliefs and information that the individual has about the object are the informational component of attitude. Here it makes little difference if the information is correct or incorrect. (iii) Behavioral: these components of attitude consist of a tendency of an individual to behave in a particular way towards and object. Only this component of attitude is visible as the other two can only be inferred. Major Job Attitudes: Job Satisfaction Definition: refers to a collection of feelings that an individual holds toward his or her job. A high level of job satisfaction equals positive attitudes toward the job and vice versa. 2. Job Involvement Definition: the measure of the degree to which a person identifies psychologically with his/her job and considers his/her perceived performance level important to selfworth. High levels of job involvement are thought to result in fewer absences and lower resignation rates. Job involvement more consistently predicts turnover than absenteeism. 3. Organizational Commitment Definition: A state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals. Affective Commitmentemotional attachment to the organization and belief in its values Continuance Commitmentvalue of remaining with an organization compared to alternatives Normative Commitmentobligation to remain with the organization for moral or ethical reasons. Perceived organizational support (POS)degree to which employees believe the organization values their contribution and cares about their well being. JOB SATISFACTION . JOB SATISFACTION A. How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs? Most people are satisfied with their jobs in the developed countries surveyed. Workers do seem to be less satisfied with their pay and promotion opportunities. B. What Causes Job Satisfaction? Most people prefer work that is challenging and stimulating. Jobs with good compensation have average job satisfaction levels. Money may be a motivator, but may not stimulate job satisfaction. There is a link between a persons personality and job satisfaction. Negative people are usually not satisfied with their jobs. Those with positive core self-evaluation are more satisfied with their jobs. C. Outcomes of Job Satisfaction 2. Job Satisfaction and Job Performance Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive workers are more satisfied! The causality may run both ways.

3. Job Satisfaction and OCB It seems logical to assume that job satisfaction should be a major determinant of an employees organizational citizenship behavior. More recent evidence, however, suggests that satisfaction influences OCB, but through perceptions of fairness. When you trust your employer, you are more likely to engage in behaviors that go beyond your formal job requirements. 4. Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction Evidence indicates that satisfied employees increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customer retention and defection are highly dependent on how front-line employees deal with customers. Satisfied employees are more likely to be friendly, upbeat, and responsive. Customers appreciate that. 5. Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism We find a consistent negative relationship between satisfaction and absenteeism. The more satisfied you are, the less likely you are to miss work. It makes sense that dissatisfied employees are more likely to miss work, but other factors have an impact on the relationship and reduce the correlation coefficient. For example, you might be a satisfied worker, yet still take a mental health day to head for the beach now and again. 6. Job Satisfaction and Turnover Satisfaction is also negatively related to turnover, but the correlation is stronger than what we found for absenteeism. Other factors such as labor market conditions, expectations about alternative job opportunities, and length of tenure with the organization are important constraints on the actual decision to leave ones current job. Evidence indicates that an important moderator of the satisfaction-turnover relationship is the employees level of performance. 7. Job Satisfaction and Workplace Deviance If employees dont like their work environment, they will respond somehow. Job dissatisfaction predicts unionization, substance abuse, stealing, and tardiness.