Social attitude: beliefs that turn into actions

It is very difficult to describe the reality of human relations - the object of research is very ephemeral . It is all the more difficult to describe the social part of people's relationships, there may be conscious or unconscious distortions of information. Nevertheless, some methods and theories of social psychology have been developed. Their goal is to understand and explain the behavior of a person in society.

Naturally, behavior begins with beliefs. The researchers have made the term "social setting" central to understanding behavior. What is it?

This is a conscious or unconscious, rather complex formation in the psyche, which is a relationship to people, objects, phenomena. Not everyone can answer the question "What is your social attitude?", But opinions form everything. Not every opinion can be considered an installation, but only relatively stable (for a given person).

As we have already mentioned, the "social attitude" is a complex concept. It distinguishes three main components.

First, emotional. This means that this or that phenomenon or person regularly causes the same kind of feelings. This component is very important for politicians who are learning how to please the audience. Knowledge will be useful to the manager, whose social attitude affects the profit and loyalty of employees.

Secondly, the cognitive component. In contrast, this emotional aspect, this almost completely exists in the sphere of abstract concepts. When formulating an opinion, you receive information about the object of a social setting, a mental image is created. If the social attitude of the individual in relation to the object is negative, then the information that a person is inclined to "filter" will be negative. We are more likely to notice negative features, if in general are set on rejection and denial. Conversely, if we are well-tuned, then the thinking image will be positive.

Third, the activity component is also important. The social orientation of the personality encourages her to be active in accordance with her opinions and perceptions. Of course, it is not always possible to act in accordance with the installation, but in general, one can predict human behavior based on his beliefs and opinions.

The settings are developing and becoming more complex from early childhood to the old age, there are a number of factors that significantly affect the formation of these entities in the psyche.

The most important factor in the early years is the parental influence . In this case, the child often quotes parents. For example, "Dad says that they are poor, why should they be friends"? When children grow up, they become seemingly independent. But research proves that religious and political views of parents and adult children are rare.

As you mature, a period of critical rethinking of the setting begins. It lasts from 12 to 30 years, and after it social settings almost do not change. Therefore, young people have more flexibility than mature people.

The influence factor of peers begins to act in adolescence and can be significant for a very long time.

The awareness factor is becoming more important. Of course, the social attitudes of so many people are formed by television, but more independent mechanisms are possible - an independent analysis of the facts, for example.

The factor of education - the higher the level of education, the more liberal are the views of a person, judging from the numerous studies. In general, there are more positive attitudes among people who have more knowledge. The unknown usually scares a person.

The most important factor for changing the installation is the awareness factor. Having received new facts, a person can change his mind, although this is rare.