Functions of Attitude

Dr. Kalpana Master subtitle style Click to edit Agrawal

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Functions of Attitudes
Based on extensive review of surveys of

employers, an analysis concluded that "the most important consideration in hiring and the biggest deficit among new workforce entrants are the attitudes concerning work that they bring with them to their jobs. Attitudes can help predict work behavior.

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Continue---For example, if an attitude survey shows that

workers are upset by a change in the work rules and the next week absenteeism begins to increase sharply, management may conclude that a negative attitude toward work rules led to an increase in worker absenteeism.

An understanding of attitudes is also

important because attitudes help people adapt to their work environment. Many years ago, Katz noted that attitudes serve four 3/5/13 important functions in this process:

 The Adjustment Attitudes often help people adjust to their Function When employees are well work environment.
treated, they are likely to develop a positive attitude toward management and the orga nization. minimal salary increases, they are likely to develop a negative attitude toward management and the organization.
When employees are berated and given

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These attitudes help employees adjust to

their environment and are a basis for future behaviors. For example, if employees who are well treated are asked about management or the organization, they are likely to say good things.

Just the reverse would probably be true for

those berated and given minimal salary increases. An example would be when Japanese firms did away with lifetime employment, the Japanese workers had a negative attitude and a very difficult time 3/5/13 adjusting.

 The Ego-Defensive Function

Besides helping employees adjust, attitudes

also help them defend their self-images. For example, an older manager whose decisions are continually challenged by a younger subordinate manager may feel that the latter is brash, cocky, immature, and inexperienced. right in challenging the decisions.

In truth, the younger subordinate may be

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The older manager may not be a very

effective leader and may constantly make poor decisions. On the other hand, the older manager is not going to admit this but will try to protect the ego by putting the blame on the other party. negative attitude toward the younger one.

As a result, the older manager will have a

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The same is undoubtedly true for the younger

manager, who will feel that the boss is not doing a good job. This attitude helps the younger person protect the ego. If the subordinate were to change this perception and believe that the boss was doing a good job, this individual would also have to stop criticizing the boss.

Quite obviously, this is some thing that the

younger person does not want to do. So the attitude serves to justify the action and to 3/5/13 defend the ego.

 The ValueAttitudes provide people with a basis for Expressive Function expressing their values. For example, a man
ager who believes strongly in the work ethic will tend to voice attitudes toward specific individuals or work practices as a means of reflecting this value.

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A supervisor who wants a subordinate to work

harder might put it this way: "You've got to work harder. That's been the tradition of the company since it was founded. everyone is expected to subscribe to this ethic." A company president who believes strongly in the need to support the United Way campaign might tell the top management team:

It helped get us where we are today, and

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Continue-"Everyone in this firm from top to bottom

ought to support United Way. It's a wonderful organization and it does a great deal of good for our community. both these cases, attitudes serve as a basis for expressing one's central values.

I don't know where we'd be without it." In

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The Knowledge Attitudes help supply standards and frames of Function reference that allow people to organize and explain the world around them.
For example, a union organizer may have a

negative attitude toward management. This attitude may not be based on fact, but it does help the individual relate to management. regarded by the union organizer as nothing more than a pack of lies, a deliberate distortion of the truth,or an attempt

As a result, everything that managers say is

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Continue--To manipulate the workers.Regardless of how

accurate a persons view of reality is,attitudes toward people,events,and objects help the individual make sense out of what is going on.

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