Attitude: Content, Structure and Function

Prerequisites: Attitude — overview · Ethics: essence, determinants and consequences

The Hook: Building Toilets Was the Easy Part

Connect: In the News → Concept

The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on 2 October 2014, and on 2 October 2019 the Government declared rural India open defecation free. Building toilets was an engineering task. Getting people to use them was harder: it meant changing beliefs about purity, feelings of disgust and long-standing habits. The mission leaned heavily on behaviour-change communication — village volunteers, social pressure, pride and public commitment.

That is the subject of this chapter. What is an attitude, why does it not always match behaviour, and how can a public servant change attitudes without coercion?

The Core Concept

Definition

Gordon Allport (1935) defined attitude as “a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related.” Later psychologists, notably Alice Eagly and Shelly Chaiken (1993), put it more simply: a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating an entity with some degree of favour or disfavour.

Three features matter for GS IV:

Attitudes are learned, not inborn — so they can be changed.
They are evaluative — positive or negative towards an object.
They are relatively enduring but not permanent.

Content of attitude

The content of an attitude is what it is about and how it is held:

Property	Meaning	Example
Attitude object	The person, group, idea or thing evaluated	Reservation, migrants, e-governance
Valence (direction)	Positive, negative or neutral	Favourable to digital payments
Extremity / strength	How intensely it is held	Mild preference vs passionate conviction
Centrality	How closely linked to one’s core values and identity	Religious attitudes are usually central
Accessibility	How quickly it comes to mind	Strong attitudes are triggered automatically
Ambivalence	Holding positive and negative evaluations together	Supporting development but fearing displacement

Strong, central and accessible attitudes are the best predictors of behaviour and the hardest to change.

Structure: the ABC model

graph TD
    A[Attitude towards an object] --> AF[Affective: feelings and emotions]
    A --> B[Behavioural: tendency to act]
    A --> C[Cognitive: beliefs and knowledge]
    AF --> E1[I feel disgust at open drains]
    B --> E2[I will join a cleanliness drive]
    C --> E3[I believe dirty water spreads disease]

Component	What it is	Administrative example
Affective	Feelings towards the object	An officer’s sympathy for daily-wage workers
Behavioural (conative)	Predisposition to act	Willingness to stay late to clear pension files
Cognitive	Beliefs, knowledge, opinions	Belief that RTI improves accountability

The three usually move together, but not always. A citizen may know (cognitive) that helmets save lives yet feel they are uncomfortable (affective) and not wear one (behavioural). Prejudice, stereotype and discrimination map neatly onto the ABC model: prejudice is affective, stereotype is cognitive, discrimination is behavioural.

Functions of attitude (Katz, 1960)

Function	What the attitude does for the person	Example
Utilitarian (adjustive)	Helps gain rewards and avoid punishments	Liking a scheme because it benefits you
Ego-defensive	Protects self-image from uncomfortable truths	Blaming “the system” to avoid facing one’s own lapses
Value-expressive	Expresses core values and identity	Supporting environmental causes as part of who you are
Knowledge	Organises the world into simple categories	Stereotypes as mental shortcuts — efficient but often unfair

Why this matters for persuasion: to change an attitude, address the function it serves. A utilitarian attitude changes with incentives; a value-expressive one changes only if the new behaviour fits the person’s identity.

Formation of attitudes

Attitudes are learned through classical conditioning (associating an object with pleasant or unpleasant experiences), operant conditioning (being rewarded or punished for expressing them), observational learning (copying parents, peers, role models), direct experience (the strongest), mere exposure (familiarity breeds liking) and group membership (adopting the views of one’s community).

Relation with thought and behaviour

The common-sense view — attitudes cause behaviour — is only partly true.

The attitude–behaviour gap. In a classic 1930s study, Richard LaPiere travelled across the United States with a Chinese couple and was refused service only once; yet when the same establishments later replied to a letter, most said they would not serve Chinese customers. Stated attitudes did not predict actual behaviour.
When attitudes do predict behaviour: when they are strong, specific to the behaviour, formed by direct experience, and when social pressure does not push the other way.
Theory of planned behaviour (Icek Ajzen, 1991). Behaviour follows intention, and intention is shaped by three things: the attitude towards the behaviour, subjective norms (what important others expect), and perceived behavioural control (whether one feels able to do it).
Behaviour can change attitudes too. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance (1957) holds that inconsistency between beliefs and actions causes discomfort, which people reduce by changing a belief. An officer who accepts a small gift may start believing “it is customary” to reduce dissonance — the slippery slope of corruption.

Moral and political attitudes

	Moral attitudes	Political attitudes
Object	Right and wrong conduct	Power, the State, public policy
Examples	Views on honesty, capital punishment, euthanasia	Views on the role of markets, federalism, welfare
Character	Felt as absolute and universal; tied to conscience	Often organised as ideology; linked to party and identity
Change	Slow; moral conviction resists persuasion	Influenced by socialisation, media, events, economic interest

A common way to describe political attitudes is along a spectrum: radical (wants rapid, fundamental change), liberal (favours reform and individual rights), moderate, conservative (values tradition and gradual change) and reactionary (wants to restore a past order). A civil servant may hold private political attitudes but must keep them out of official work — that is non-partisanship.

Social influence is the change in a person’s attitudes or behaviour caused by others.

Form	Meaning	Classic evidence
Conformity	Matching the group’s behaviour	Solomon Asch’s line-judgement experiments (1950s)
Compliance	Agreeing to a direct request	Foot-in-the-door technique
Obedience	Following an authority’s command	Stanley Milgram’s experiments (1960s)

Herbert Kelman (1958) distinguished three depths of influence: compliance (to gain reward or avoid punishment), identification (to be like an admired person or group) and internalisation (because the belief is accepted as true). Durable change in public behaviour needs internalisation.

Persuasion is deliberate communication to change attitudes. The Yale approach associated with Carl Hovland studies three elements:

Source — credibility, expertise, trustworthiness, likeability (a respected local teacher vs a distant official).
Message — one-sided or two-sided, fear appeals with a clear solution, repetition, framing.
Audience — education, prior attitude, involvement.

The elaboration likelihood model (Richard Petty and John Cacioppo) adds that persuasion runs on two routes: the central route (careful thought about arguments; produces durable change) and the peripheral route (cues such as celebrity endorsement; produces quick but fragile change).

Nudges — changing the “choice architecture” without restricting choice — were popularised by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (2008). The Economic Survey 2018-19 devoted a chapter to applying behavioural economics to Indian policy.

Memory Anchors

ABC: Affect = heart, Behaviour = hands, Cognition = head.

Prejudice–stereotype–discrimination = A–C–B. Feeling, belief, act.

Katz’s functions: “Uncle Ego Values Knowledge” → Utilitarian, Ego-defensive, Value-expressive, Knowledge.

Kelman’s ladder: Comply → Identify → Internalise. Only the top rung lasts.

Definitions to Know

Crisp definitions examiners reward

Attitude: a learned, relatively enduring tendency to evaluate a person, object or idea favourably or unfavourably.
Cognitive dissonance: discomfort from holding inconsistent beliefs or acting against one’s beliefs, which people reduce by changing a belief or behaviour (Festinger, 1957).
Prejudice: a negative feeling towards a group and its members, formed without adequate evidence.
Persuasion: deliberate communication intended to change attitudes or behaviour without coercion.
Social influence: change in attitudes or behaviour due to the real or imagined presence of others — conformity, compliance, obedience.
Nudge: an aspect of choice architecture that predictably alters behaviour without forbidding options or significantly changing incentives.

For Mains

Dimensions: psychological (components, functions), social (norms, groups), political (ideology, polarisation), administrative (attitude of officers towards citizens, change and weaker sections), policy (behaviour change campaigns).
Keywords: valence, ABC model, attitude–behaviour gap, subjective norms, cognitive dissonance, internalisation, source credibility, central route, nudge, choice architecture.
Value-addition:
- Swachh Bharat Mission (2014) as a case of large-scale behaviour-change communication.
- Economic Survey 2018-19’s chapter on behavioural economics for policy.
- LaPiere’s study to show the attitude–behaviour gap; Festinger to explain the slippery slope of small compromises.
- Attitudes a civil servant needs: empathy towards weaker sections, openness to change, respect for dissent, a service rather than a “ruler” orientation.

Common Traps

Trap #1: Confusing attitude with aptitude

Attitude is an evaluative tendency (how you feel about something); aptitude is a capacity to learn or perform (what you can become good at). See Aptitude and Foundational Values.

Trap #2: Assuming attitude always predicts behaviour

Social pressure, lack of control and weak attitudes break the link. A good answer explains when attitudes predict behaviour and when they do not.

Trap #3: Treating persuasion as manipulation

Persuasion respects the listener’s autonomy and relies on reasons and credible sources; manipulation exploits weaknesses or hides intent. Public campaigns must stay on the right side of that line — transparent, truthful and in the public interest.

In the News

February 2020 — the Union Cabinet approved Phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), focused on sustaining open-defecation-free status and solid and liquid waste management.
October 2022 — Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) was launched, seeking to shift individual behaviour towards sustainable consumption — attitude change applied to climate policy.

Practice

Mains

UPSC Practice · Mains GS IV 10 marks · 150 words Qatt-m1

“Attitudes do not always translate into behaviour.” Explain the reasons for this gap and suggest how public policy can bridge it.

Solution

Introduction: An attitude is a learned tendency to evaluate an object favourably or unfavourably. People often hold an attitude yet act otherwise — the attitude–behaviour gap, demonstrated in LaPiere’s 1930s study.

Body:

Reasons for the gap:
- Weak or general attitudes predict specific behaviour poorly.
- Subjective norms push the other way (peer pressure, custom).
- Low perceived control — lack of money, time or infrastructure (Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour).
- Habits override intentions.
- Conflicting attitudes (favouring cleanliness but disliking inconvenience).
Bridging it through policy:
- Make the desired behaviour easy: infrastructure, defaults, simple procedures.
- Change norms: community champions, public commitment (Swachh Bharat’s behaviour-change campaigns).
- Use nudges and feedback (reminders, social comparison).
- Build internalisation through credible local sources.

Conclusion: Attitude change is necessary but not sufficient; policy must also change norms and remove barriers so that good intentions become behaviour.

UPSC-pattern practice question

UPSC Practice · Mains GS IV 10 marks · 150 words Qatt-m2

What is cognitive dissonance? How can it explain the gradual slide of an honest official into corruption, and how can it be used to promote ethical behaviour?