The attitudes of a person considered in psychology are not only his prejudice. This is a certain mood of his physical and mental strengths for this or that situation or specific needs. Moreover, as noted in psychology, the installation of personality is outside the human consciousness. What is this phenomenon? Consider this issue in more detail.
Psychological phenomenon
It is already obvious to the man living in the third millennium how rapidly the world in which he lives is changing. Moreover, any newly coming reality is invariably accompanied by certain changes. This requires a change in the people themselves. But to recognize the need to change yourself is already, you see, much more difficult. In each case, the mechanism of counteracting the newly created conditions, which is called the psychological barrier, starts to work in a person. This is nothing more than a specific form of the syndrome of resistance to change, which has two sides. A man is afraid of losing his old, familiar, and at the same time, he has a fear of something new and unusual for him.
If we consider the concept of "barrier" in a broad sense, then it means a long partition, which is placed as an obstacle to the path, that is, it is a barrier. This word has a similar meaning in the field of psychology. In this science, it denotes those external and internal obstacles that exist in a person that do not allow him to achieve his goal.
Under the psychological barrier is understood the state of an individual in which his inadequate passivity is manifested, which becomes an obstacle to the implementation of certain actions. In emotional terms, the mechanism of this phenomenon is an increase in attitudes toward low self-esteem and negative feelings. Psychological barriers also exist in the social behavior of an individual. They are expressed by communicative obstacles, which are manifested in the rigidity of interpersonal and other attitudes.
How to solve the problem of barriers? This will make it possible to make a broader framework of such a concept as “psychological attitude”. It is expressed in a person’s readiness to act and perceive, as well as interpret the object of thinking and perception or future events in one way or another.
What does the concept of attitude mean in psychology? This is a special vision, which is the basis of human behavior, its selective activity. It is able to regulate conscious as well as unconscious forms of personality activity in the emotional, cognitive and motivational spheres. Any installation is formed thanks to the life experience accumulated by a person and is capable of being a tremendous advantage for him, as well as a significant limitation.
Discovery story
What is an attitude in psychology? This is the internal quality of the subject, a psychological state not realized by him, which is based on his previous life experience, as well as on a certain activity and disposition in a particular situation. Attitude defines and precedes the deployment of any of the existing forms of mental activity. Moreover, its presence allows a person in one way or another to respond to a social or political event.
A similar phenomenon was discovered in 1888 by the German scientist L. Lange. Further, in general psychology, the attitude developed into a whole theory developed by D. N. Uznadze together with students and followers of his school. The stages necessary for the formation of the installation were most fully disclosed thanks to such a concept as a contrasting illusion. At the same time, along with the simplest researchers, they identified more complex types of attitudes - social, value orientations of a person, etc.
Considerable attention was paid to installations by S.R. Rubinstein. He discovered that this phenomenon is closely related to the unconscious.
M. Rokich also worked on the problem of attitudes in psychology. This researcher made a distinction between the attitudes of a person and his values. The latter are the belief that sometimes refers to several situations and objects. Installation is a set of beliefs that relate to only one situation or object.
Theory development
At the early stage of their study, it was believed that the attitude in psychology is one of the forms of nervous activity not realized by a person. This opinion has existed for a long time. He was also adhered to by the psychology of D.N. Uznadze's attitude. This theory continued to develop in this direction. The attitude in Russian psychology was considered by the Georgian school, which consisted of followers and students of Dmitry Nikolayevich Uznadze. This scientist not only created the theory of the phenomenon under consideration, but also organized the development of this problem.
Uznadze explained the phenomenon of perception as a reflection of the reality and behavior of a living being. This can be briefly explained as follows. In the life of every person, installations occupy a critical place. They influence the perception of phenomena and objects, thinking, as well as the will of man. Before the slightest movement of the soul takes place, it will necessarily be preceded by a certain attitude. And then the act of will, perception and cognition will necessarily be affected by a person’s life experience, a goal or mood set by him. However, errors are not excluded. This made it possible to prove the experimental foundations psychology. This is evidenced, for example, by experience with balls. Man was asked to evaluate the magnitude of these objects. And if at first balls of different sizes were shown to him 10-15 times, then in his mind there was an opinion that they must be different. After the researcher offered him the same objects, the reaction did not change. The man continued to perceive the balls as different.
Over time, it became apparent that all the laws and facts that were considered by the theory of installation are, by their nature, general psychological. In this regard, this area began to claim to receive the status of a general psychological concept.
Clarification of the term
What is an attitude in psychology? This phenomenon has a three-part structure, which includes:
- sensual image (effective component);
- actions related to the object of assessment (behavioral component);
- cognitive factor.
According to the students of D. N. Uznadze - T. Sh. Iosebadze and T. T. Iosebadze, the following definition of attitude in psychology can be given. This phenomenon is characterized by scientists as a modus or a specific state inherent in a holistic object. That is, it determines the psychophysical organization of a person and his modification in each specific situation, as well as his willingness to perform one or another activity necessary to meet current needs.
In psychology, the attitude and behavior of an individual are considered a reflection of his internal (subjective) and external (objective) state. Moreover, such a property is considered an indirect link, a kind of “communication principle” that exists between the individual states of the subject, its elements and functions.
A clearer position on this issue belongs to Sh. N. Chkhartishvili. This scientist divided the installation into primary and fixed. Both of them easily differentiate into each other, but at the same time they have different functions and properties.
Disposition concept
There are other theories of attitudes in psychology. One of them is the dispositional concept of V. A. Yadov. This scientist proposed his approach when considering the backbone components that reflect human social behavior.
The concept under consideration is based on a hierarchical system of dispositions. In the triad proposed by D. N. Uznadze, V. A. Yadov replaced the installation with the concept of disposition. This is nothing more than the most diverse states of readiness or predisposition of a person to perceive situations. V. A. Yadov considers dispositions of the personality in the form of a hierarchical system formed as a result of existing needs and conditions. In this system, the scientist identified three levels. They differ from each other in a different composition and in the ratio of their constituent elements (attitudes, needs, working conditions). Each of the levels of disposition determines the level of behavior corresponding to it. Let's consider each of them in more detail.
Fixed installations
It is they who are at the very first and at the same time lower level of disposition. What is an elementary fixed installation? This is in psychology the definition of specific reactions of a subject to an objective, actual situation, as well as his perception of rapidly changing environmental influences. Elementary settings are formed on the basis of the basic needs of physical being, as well as simple situations. One or another behavioral readiness of the individual in this case is fixed by his previous experience.
Social Preferences
A similar phenomenon is found in the second stage of the disposition stage. Social orientation - in psychology, a person’s need to include him in contact groups. What situations of behavior arise in this case? They are social. Similar installations take place based on the assessment of individual public facilities. Social situations are also taken into account. At the same time, the individual performs certain actions. They are an elementary, socially significant unit of behavior.
What else do we mean by this term? The social attitude is in psychology nothing more than a stable attitude of the individual towards people, as well as to all processes and events occurring in society. It is by her that the personality characteristic can be given.
The term "social setting" in psychology has several meanings that differ from each other in their features. So, initially by this definition was meant the readiness of the individual to solve the problem. Moreover, what was the object of social orientation? This is the person himself, as well as people entering his environment, events and processes in society, objects of spiritual and material culture, etc.
A little later, the term in question began to have a slightly different meaning. A social attitude in psychology is a stable attitude of one person or group of people towards something or anyone. A careful study of this phenomenon made it clear that it is quite complex. At the same time, such an attitude began to be classified not only as the mental state of the personality, but also as its psychological property.
General orientation of an individual
Consider the third level of disposition. It characterizes the general orientation of the personality in a certain area of ​​social action. At this level, a person’s needs regarding his social connections are becoming more complex. For example, an individual seeks to join one or another line of activity, wanting to turn it into the main dominant sphere.
Options such as professionalism, leisure or family can be considered here. In this case, purposeful and consistent actions of a person form the basis of his behavior in that area of ​​activity where he pursues more distant and significant goals.
Value orientations
Consider the highest level of the hierarchy of disposition. It is characterized by the formation of value orientations not only for the purpose of life, but also for the means necessary to achieve the objectives. The fourth level includes higher social needs. At the same time, the vital position of a person becomes the important factor in which the self-consciousness of a person is transformed. This is nothing but the principle of individual behavior, which is based on worldviews, norms and ideals, social values, as well as on the willingness to act.
Thanks to dispositional theory, direct connections were established between the socio-psychological and sociological behavior of a person. At the same time, the highest forms of installations according to Yadov include:
- value orientations and life concept;
- generalized attitudes to typical social situations and objects;
- predisposition to behavior and perception in the current conditions and in the given social and subject environment.
Under the value orientations understand the relationship of a person or group of people to the totality of spiritual and material goods, considered as objects or their properties, goals, and also means to satisfy the needs of an individual or group. This concept is expressed in the sense of life, in ideals, and manifests itself in the social behavior of people. The value orientations reflect the attitude of the subject to the existing conditions of his being, which is the result of a conscious choice of objects and objects that are significant for the person.
Types of psychological attitudes
In psychology, human perception is classified into the following groups:
- positive
- negative;
- adequate.
What does each of these species mean? With a positive attitude, the positive qualities of the individual are evaluated. Negative perception leads to consideration of only negative traits of a person's character. The most optimal setting is considered adequate. After all, each person has both positive and negative personal qualities. The presence of each of these attitudes is considered by psychologists as an unconscious predisposition to assess and perceive the qualities of the interlocutor.
Starting their communication, people influence each other with the help of deep psychological mechanisms. Researchers have proven that this creates a property such as infection. It represents the effect of enhancing the emotions of people in contact. An infection occurs at an unconscious level. And most often it is observed in public, in line or in a crowd. For example, laughter, anger, and other emotions can be contagious.
Among psychological attitudes there are also such properties as imitation and suggestion. The first one is dynamic. Its manifestations can be blind copying of gestures and behavior, as well as intonation, up to a conscious imitation of behavior. Suggestion is group and individual, occurring on a conscious or unconscious level, which will depend on the purpose of the contact. In psychology, this property is understood as the ability of a person to perceive the feelings, actions and ideas conveyed to him in such a way that they involuntarily become his own.
Among the psychological mechanisms of communication is also competition. It represents the desire of people not to hit their faces in the dirt, to be no worse than others, as well as the desire to compare themselves with others. Competition helps to create tension of physical, emotional and mental forces. It is good if such installations serve as a stimulus for development. The worst option is when the competition turns into a rivalry.
The next level of human interaction is a reasoned, written or verbal, conscious expression of actions, opinions and ideas with the goal of persuasion. Such an attitude becomes effective only when it is based not only on words, but also on emotions, deeds, as well as on the effects of imitation, suggestion and infection.