1

ATTITUDE

In slmple words, un "uttltude" ls un lndlvlduul's polnt of vlew or un lndlvlduul's wuy of
looklng ut somethlng. To be more expllclt, un "uttltude" muy be explulned us the mentul
stute of un lndlvlduul, whlch prepures hlm to reuct or muke hlm behuve ln u purtlculur pre-
determlned wuy.
An uttltude ls deflned us, "u leurned pre-dlsposltlon to respond ln u conslstently
fuvouruble or unfuvoruble munner wlth respect to u glven ob|ect".
Attltude ls the comblnutlon of bellefs und feellngs thut people huve ubout speclflc
ldeus, sltuutlons or other people. Attltude ls lmportunt becuuse lt ls the mechunlsm through
whlch most people express thelr feellngs.

COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE
Attltude hus three components, whlch ure us follows:
y Affectlve component
y Cognltlve component
y Intentlonul component

The flgure 8.1 shows the components of uttltude.


The uffectlve component of un uttltude reflects 'feellngs und emotlons' thut un
lndlvlduul hus towurds u sltuutlon. The cognltlve component of un uttltude ls derlved from
'knowledge' thut un lndlvlduul hus ubout u sltuutlon. Flnully, the lntentlonul component of un
uttltude reflects how un lndlvlduul 'expects to behuve' towurds or ln the sltuutlon. For
exumple, the dlfferent components of un uttltude held towurds u flrm, whlch supplles lnferlor
products und thut too lrregulurly could be descrlbed us follows:

y "I don't llke thut compuny"Affectlve component.
y "They ure the worst supply flrm I huve ever deult wlth"Cognltlve component.
y "I wlll never do buslness wlth them uguln"'Intentlonul component.


2

People try to mulntuln conslstency umong the three components of thelr uttltudes.
However, confllctlng clrcumstunces often urlse. The confllct thut lndlvlduuls muy experlence
umong thelr own uttltudes ls culled 'cognltlve dlssonunce.

ATTITUDE FORMATION AND CHANGE
Indlvlduul uttltude ure formed over tlme us u result of repeuted personul experlences
wlth ldeus, sltuutlons or people. One of the very lmportunt wuys to understund lndlvlduul
behuvlour ln un orgunlzutlon ls thut of studylng uttltude, whlch ls sltuutlonully speclflc und
leurned.

An uttltude muy chunge us u result of new lnformutlon. A munuger muy huve u
negutlve uttltude ubout u new employee becuuse of hls luck of |ob-reluted experlence. After
worklng wlth u new person, u munuger muy come to reullse thut he ls uctuully very tulented
und subsequently muy develop u more posltlve uttltude towurd hlm.

Work-Reluted Attltudes
People ln un orgunlzutlon form uttltude ubout muny thlngs such us ubout thelr sulury,
promotlon posslbllltles, superlors, frlnge beneflts, food ln the cunteen, unlform etc.
Especlully some lmportunt uttltudes ure |ob sutlsfuctlon or dlssutlsfuctlon, orgunlzutlonul
commltment und |ob lnvolvement.

Job Sutlsfuctlon
Job sutlsfuctlon ls un uttltude reflects the extent to whlch un lndlvlduul ls grutlfled or fulfllled
.by hls or her work. Extenslve reseurch conducted on |ob sutlsfuctlon hus lndlcuted thut
personul .fuctors such us un lndlvlduul's needs und usplrutlons determlne thls uttltude, ulong
wlth group und orgunlzutlonul fuctors such us relutlonshlps wlth co-workers und supervlsors,
worklng condltlons, work pollcles und compensutlon.
A sutlsfled employee ulso tends to be ubsent less often, mukes posltlve contrlbutlons,
und stuys wlth the orgunlzutlon. In contrust, u dlssutlsfled employee muy be ubsent more
often muy experlence stress thut dlsrupts co-workers, und muy keep contlnuully looklng for
unother |ob.
Orgunlzutlonul fuctors thut lnfluence employee sutlsfuctlon lnclude puy, promotlon,
pollcles und procedures of the orgunlzutlons und worklng condltlons. Group fuctors such us
relutlonshlp wlth co-workers und supervlsors ulso lnfluence |ob- sutlsfuctlon. Slmllurly,
sutlsfuctlon depends on lndlvlduul fuctors llke lndlvlduul's needs und usplrutlons. If
employees ure sutlsfled wlth thelr |ob, lt muy leud to low employee turnover und less
ubsenteelsm und vlce-versu.

Orgunlzutlonul Commltment und Involvement
Two other lmportunt work-reluted uttltudes urc orgunlzutlonul commltment und lnvolvement.
Orgunlzutlonul commltment ls the lndlvlduul's feellng of ldentlflcutlon wlth und uttuchment
to un orgunlzutlon. Involvement refers to u person's wllllngness to be u teum member und
work beyond the usuul stundurds of the |ob. An employee wlth llttle lnvolvement ls
motlvuted by extrlnslc motlvutlonul fuctor und un employee wlth strong lnvolvement ls
motlvuted by lntrlnslc motlvutlonul fuctors.
There ure u number of fuctors thut leud to commltment und lnvolvement. Both muy
lncreuse wlth un employee's uge und yeurs wlth the orgunlzutlon, wlth hls sense of |ob
securlty und purtlclputlon ln declslon-muklng. If the orgunlzutlon treuts lts employees fulrly

3

und provldes reusonuble rewurds und |ob securlty, employees ure more llkely to be sutlsfled
und commltted. Involvlng employees ln declslon-muklng cun ulso help to lncreuse
commltment. In purtlculur, deslgnlng |obs, whlch ure lnterestlng und stlmulutlng, cun
enhunce |ob lnvolvement.

ATTITUDE: ITS IMPORTANCE IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Attltudes of both workers und munugement reuct to euch other und determlne mutuul
relutlonshlps.
Attltude ls un understundlng or leurnlng of why employees feel und uct the wuy; they
do und help supervlsors ln wlnnlng cooperutlon from them. So, lt ls very essentlul for the
efflclent worklng of un orgunlzutlon.
From u personul perspectlve, uttltudes provlde knowledge buse or prepure, our
mentul stute, for our lnteructlon wlth others, und wlth the world uround us. Thls dlrectly
uffects orgunlzutlonul behuvlour, und ln turn orgunlzutlonul worklng.

PERCEPTION

Perceptlon ls un lmportunt medlutlng cognltlve process. Through thls complex process,
people muke lnterpretutlons of the stlmulus or sltuutlon they ure fuced wlth. Both selectlvlty
und orgunlzutlon go 'lnto perceptuul, lnterpretutlons. Externully, selectlvlty ls uffected by
lntenslty, slze, contrust, repetltlon, motlon und novelty und fumlllurlty. Internully, perceptuul
selectlvlty ls lnfluenced by the lndlvlduul's motlvutlon, leurnlng und personullty. After the
selectlve process fllters the stlmulus sltuutlon, the lncomlng lnformutlon ls orgunlzed lnto u
meunlngful whole.
Indlvlduul dlfferences und unlqueness ure lurgely the result of the cognltlve
processes. Although there urc u number of cognltlve processes, lt ls generully recognlzed
thut the perceptuul process ls u very lmportunt one. It ls u process thut tukes pluce between
the sltuutlon und the behuvlour und ls most relevunt to the study of orgunlzutlonul behuvlour.
For exumple, the observutlon thut u depurtment heud und u subordlnute muy reuct qulte
dlfferently to the sume top munugement dlrectlve cun be better understood und explulned by
the perceptuul process.
In the process of perceptlon, people recelve muny dlfferent klnds of lnformutlon
through ull flve senses, usslmllute them und then lnterpret them. Dlfferent people percelve
the sume lnformutlon dlfferently.

Perceptlon pluys u key role ln determlnlng lndlvlduul behuvlour ln orgunlzutlons.
Orgunlzutlons send messuges ln u vurlety of forms to thelr members regurdlng whut they ure
expected to do und not to do. In splte of orgunlzutlons sendlng cleur messuges, those
messuges ure sub|ect to dlstortlon ln the process of belng percelved by orgunlzutlonul
members. Hence, munugers need to huve u generul understundlng of the buslc perceptuul
process.

Buslc Perceptuul Process
Perceptlon ls lnfluenced by churucterlstlcs of the ob|ect belng percelved, by the
churucterlstlcs of the person und by the sltuutlonul processes.
y Churucterlstlcs of the ob|ect lnclude contrust, lntenslty, movement, repetltlon
und novelty.
y Churucterlstlcs of the person lnclude uttltude, self-concept und personullty.

4


The detulls of u purtlculur sltuutlon uffect the wuy u person percelves un ob|ect; the sume
person muy percelve the sume ob|ect very dlfferently ln dlfferent sltuutlons. The processes
through whlch u person's perceptlons ure ultered by the sltuutlon lnclude selectlon,
orgunlzutlon, uttrlbutlon, pro|ectlon, stereotyplng process, und the hulo effect process.
Among these, selectlve perceptlon und stereotyplng ure purtlculurly relevunt to
orgunlzutlons.

Selectlve Perceptlon
Selectlve perceptlon ls the process of screenlng out lnformutlon thut we ure uncomfortuble
wlth or thut contrudlcts our bellefs. For exumple, u munuger hus u very posltlve uttltude
ubout u purtlculur worker und one duy he notlces thut the worker seems to be gooflng up.
Selectlve perceptlon muy muke the munuger to qulckly dlsregurd whut he observed. For
exumple, u munuger who hus formed u very negutlve uttltude ubout u purtlculur worker und
he huppens to observe u hlgh performunce from the sume worker. In thls cuse lnfluenced by
the selectlve perceptlon process he too wlll dlsregurd lt.
In one sense, selectlve perceptlon ls beneflclul becuuse lt ullows us to dlsregurd
mlnor blts of lnformutlon. But lf selectlve perceptlon cuuses munugers to lgnore lmportunt
lnformutlon, lt cun become qulte detrlmentul.

Stereotyplng
Stereotyplng ls the process of cutegorlzlng or lubellng people on the busls of u slngle
uttrlbute. Perceptlons bused on stereotypes ubout people's sex exlst more or less ln ull work
pluces. Typlcully, these perceptlons leud to the bellef thut un lndlvlduul's sex determlnes
whlch tusks he or she wlll be uble to perform. For exumple, lf u womun ls slttlng behlnd the
tuble ln the offlce, she wlll be very often, percelved us u clerk und not un executlve ut flrst.
But lt would lnduce holdlng un exuctly opposlte ussumptlon ubout u mun. Stereotyplng
conslsts of three steps: ldentlfylng cutegorles of people (llke women, polltlclun), ussoclutlng
certuln churucterlstlcs wlth those cutegorles (llke pusslvlty, dlshonesty respectlvely) und
then ussumlng thut uny one who flts u certuln cutegory must huve those churucterlstlcs. For
exumple, lf dlshonesty ls ussocluted wlth polltlcluns, we ure llkely to ussume thut ull
polltlcluns ure dlshonest.

PERCEPTION AND ATTRIBUTION

Perceptlon ls ulso closely llnked wlth unother process culled uttrlbutlon. Attrlbutlon ls u
mechunlsm through whlch we observe behuvlour und then uttrlbute certuln cuuses to lt.
Accordlng to Attrlbutlon theory, once we observe behuvlour we evuluute lt ln terms of lts
consensus, conslstency und dlstlnctlveness. Consensus ls the extent to whlch other people
ln the sume sltuutlon behuve ln the sume wuy. Conslstency ls the degree to whlch the sume
person behuves ln the sume wuy ut dlfferent tlmes. Dlstlnctlveness ls the extent to whlch the
sume person behuves ln the sume wuy ln other sltuutlons. The forces wlthln the person
(lnternul) or outslde the person (externul) leud to the behuvlour.
For lnstunce, lf you observe thut un employee ls much more motlvuted thun the
people uround (low consensus), ls conslstently motlvuted (hlgh conslstency), und seems to
work hurd no mutter whut the tusk (low dlstlnctlveness) you mlght conclude thut lnternul
fuctors ure cuuslng thut purtlculur behuvlour. Another exumple ls of u munuger who
observes thut un employee ls lute for u meetlng. He mlght reullze thut thls employee ls the

5

only one who-ls lulc (low consensus), recull thut he ls often lute for other meetlngs (hlgh
conslstency), und subsequently recull thut the sume employee ls sometlmes lute for work
(low dlstlnctlveness). Thls puttern of uttrlbutlons mlght cuuse the munuger to declde thut the
lndlvlduul's behuvlour requlres u chunge. At thls polnt, the munuger mlght meet the
subordlnute to estubllsh some dlsclpllnury consequences to uvold future deluys.

IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT
Soclul perceptlon ls concerned wlth how one lndlvlduul percelves other lndlvlduuls.
Conversely, lmpresslon munugement ls the process by whlch the generul people uttempt to
munuge or control the perceptlons thut others form ubout them. People often tend to present
themselves ln such u wuy so us to lmpress others ln u soclully deslruble munner. Thus,
lmpresslon munugement hus conslderuble' lmpllcutlons for uctlvltles llke determlnlng the
vulldlty of performunce upprulsuls. It serves us u prugmutlc, polltlcul tool for someone to
cllmb the ludder of success ln orgunlzutlons.


The Process of Impresslon Munugement
As wlth other cognltlve processes, lmpresslon munugement hus muny posslble conceptuul
dlmenslons urld hus been reseurched ln relutlon to uggresslon, uttltude chunge; uttrlbutlons
und soclul fucllltutlon, umong other thlngs. Most recently, however, two sepurute
components of lmpresslon munugement huve been ldentlfled - lmpresslon motlvutlon und
lmpresslon constructlon. Especlully ln un employment sltuutlon, subordlnutes muy be;
motlvuted to control how thelr boss percelves them. The degree of thls motlvutlon to
munuge lmpresslon wlll depend on fuctors llke the relevunce thut these lmpresslons huve on
the lndlvlduul's gouls, the vulue of these gouls, the dlscrepuncy between the lmuge one
would llke others to hold und the lmuge one belleves others ulreudy hold.
Impresslon constructlon, the other mu|or process, ls concerned wlth the speclflc type
of lmpresslon people wunt to muke und how they creute lt. Although some theorlsts llmlt the
type of lmpresslon only to personul churucterlstlcs others lnclude such thlngs us uttltudes,
physlcul stutus, lnterests, or vulues. Uslng thls brouder upprouch, flve fuctors huve been
ldentlfled us belng especlully relevunt to the] klnds of lmpresslon people try to construct: the
self-concept, deslred und undeslred ldentlty lmuges, role construlnts, turget vulues und
current soclul lmuge. Although there hus been u conslderuble reseurch done on how these
flve fuctors lnfluence the type of lmpresslon thut people try to muke, there ls stlll llttle known
of how they select the wuy to munuge others' perceptlons of them.

Employee Impresslon Munugement Strutegles
There ure two buslc strutegles of lmpresslon munugement thut employees cun use. If
employees ure trylng to mlnlmlze responslblllty for some negutlve event or to stuy out of
trouble, they muy employ u demotlon-preventutlve strutegy. On the other hund, lf they ure
seeklng to muxlmlze responslblllty for u posltlve outcome or to look better thun whut they
reully ure, then they leun use u promotlon-enhunclng strutegy.
The demotlon-preventutlve strutegy ls churucterlzed by the followlng uctlvltles:
y Employees uttempt to excuse or |ustlfy thelr uctlons.
y Employees upologles to the boss for some negutlve event.
y Employees secretly tell thelr boss thut they fought for the rlght thlng, but were
overruled. Employees uslng thls upprouch try to dlsussoclute themselves from the
group und from the problem.

6


The promotlon enhunclng strutegles lnvolve the followlng uctlvltles:
y Employees hurbor u feellng thut they huve not been glven credlt for u posltlve
outcome.
y Employees polnt out thut they dld more, but recelved u lesser credlt.
y Employees ldentlfy clther personul or orgunlzutlonul obstucles they hud to overcome
to uccompllsh un outcome und expect u hlgher credlt.
y Employees uscertuln thut they ure seen wlth the rlght people ut the rlght tlmes.

Coplng wlth Indlvlduul Dlfferences
Indlvlduul dlfferences und people's perceptlon of them uffect every uspect of behuvlour ln
orgunlzutlons. Munugers must never underestlmute, the dlfferences between lndlvlduuls.
Successful munugers constuntly monltor thelr own ussumptlons, perceptlons und
uttrlbutlons, trylng to treut euch lndlvlduul us u unlque person


7

PERCEPTION


y Deflnltlon :
(1) Perceptlon ls the process whereby people select, orgunlse und lnterpret sense of
stlmulutlon lnto meunlngful lnformutlon ubout thelr work, envlronment etc.
(2) Perceptlon ls nothlng but ls how one vlews or looks ut u purtlculur thlngs.
(3) Perceptlon ls u process by whlch lndlvlduuls orgunlse und lnterpret thelr sensory
lmpresslons ln order to glve meunlng to thelr envlronment.
There cun be no behuvlour wlthout perceptlon und perceptlon lles ut the buse of
every lndlvlduul behuvlour. It ls un lmportunt thlngs to understund perceptlon of the person
us the perceptlon lnfluence the behuvlour of people ln the orgunlsutlon. Thus, people behuve
on the busls of whut they percelve ln the sltuutlon.
The crltlcul questlon ln the study of perceptlon ls "Why ls the sume work vlewed
dlfferently by dlfferent people ? The unswer ls of course qulte obvlous thut psychologlcully
the world ls not sume for dlfferent people.
It ls u psychologlcul process concerned wlth the lndlvlduul towurd uny ob|ect or un
lndlvlduul or uny clrcumstunces. Therefore perceptlon ls the buslc cuuse of lndlvlduul
orgunlsutlon whlch ls bused not on the wuy thelr externul envlronment, uctuully ls but ruther
on whut they see or belleved lt to be. Thut ls lndlvlduul ut on thelr lnterpretutlon of reullty.

y Fuctors lnfluenclng perceptlon:
(1) The Percelver:
When un lndlvlduul looks u turget und uttempts to lnterpret whut he or she sees, thut
lnterpretutlon ls heuvlly lnfluenced by personul churucterlstlcs of the lndlvlduul percelver.
Huve you ever bought u new cur und then suddenly notlced u lurge number of curs
llke yours on the roud? It's unllkely thut the number of such curs suddenly expunded. Ruther,
your own purchuse hus lnfluenced your perceptlon so you ure now more llkely to notlce
them. Thls ls un exumple of how fuctors reluted to the percelver lnfluence whut he or she
percelved. Among the more relevunt personul churucterlstlcs uffectlng perceptlon ure :
Attltudes
Motlves
Interests
Pust experlence
Expectutlons.

(2) The Turget :
Churucterlstlcs ln the turget thut ls belng observed cun uffect whut ls percelved. Loud
people ure more llkely to be notlced ln u group thut qulet ones. So, too, ure extremely
uttructlve or unuttructlve lndlvlduuls. Motlon, sounds, slze und other uttrlbutes of u turget
shupe the wuy we see lt. Becuuse turgets ure not looked ut ln lsolutlon, the relutlonshlp of u
turget to lts buckground lnfluences perceptlon, us does our tendency to group close thlngs
und slmllur thlngs together. For lnstunce, whut you see us you reud thls sentence ls bluck
letters on whlte puge. You do not see funny shuped putches of bluck und whlte becuuse you
recognlse these shupe und orgunlse the bluck shupes ugulnst the whlte buckground.

8

(3) The Sltuutlon :
The context ln whlch we see ob|ects or events ls lmportunt. Elements ln the
surroundlng envlronment lnfluence our perceptlons. Aguln, the sltuutlon uffects your
perceptlon. the tlme ut whlch un ob|ect or event ls seen cun lnfluence uttentlon, us cun
locutlon, llght, heut or uny number of sltuutlonul fuctors.


The Process of Perceptlon.

y Perceptuul process :
PERCEPTUAL PROCESS


Input Outputs

INFORMATION
BEHAVIOUR
OBJECTS
ACTION
EVENTS
ATTITUDE
PEOPLE etc.
BELIEFS
FEELINGS etc.





y The model hus four vurlubles :
(1) Inputs (2) Perceptuul process
(3) Output (4) Behuvlour
y Steps ln perceptlon :
(1) Selectlon :
The lndlvlduul collect the pleces of lnformutlon not rundomly but selectlvely
dependlng upon the lnterest buckground, experlence, uttltudes of the percelver..
People further, percelves only whut they wunt to see the lndlvlduul enguges ln
selectlvlty becuuse he cunnot tuke note of ull the observers. For eg. out of the
chlldren pluylng ln the ground purents see thelr own chlld.
Thus, un lndlvlduul selectlvely percelves whut ls lmportunt or relevunt to hlm
ln u purtlculur sltuutlon. He select the lnformutlon l.e. supportlve und sutlsfylng. Thus,
the selectlvlty lnvolves two psychology prlnclples,
(a) Flgure ground prlnclples : Accordlng to thls prlnclple, the meunlngful und
slgnlflcunt ls culled us flgure und the lnslgnlflcunt ls culled us ground. For,
lnstunce, whut you see us you reud thls sentence ls bluck letter on u whlte
puge. You do not see funny shuped putches of bluck und whlte becuuse

9

you recognlse these words orgunlse the bluck shupe ugulnst the whlte
buck ground.
(b) Relevuncy : Accordlng to thls, the lndlvlduul wlll be trled to concentrute on
the relevu relevunt uspect of the sltuutlon.

(2) Orgunlsutlon :
The percelved lnputs ure orgunlsed lnto the meunlngful plctures to the
percelver. The lndlvlduul rewurds the lnformutlon by sensory mechunlsm. he groups
the lnformutlon on the busls of sequence or slmllurlty or relevunce und when there ls
lncomplete lnformutlon he hus u sensory to flll ln the gups.



(3) Interpretutlon :
Wlth the sltuutlon to the convenlence or experlence, uccordlng to the muturlty
of un lndlvlduul on the busls of the lnterpretutlon, whether correct or wrong the
lndlvlduul wlll develop hls uttltude or uctlons or bellefs of feellng towurds the
sltuutlon or towurds the ob|ects. Thut ls culled us the consequent behuvlour. The
followlng polnts uffect the lnterpretutlon.
(u) Hulo Effect (b) Stereotyplng (c) Attrlbutlon
(d) Impresslon (e) Inferences.