Social attitudes - one of key concepts in social psychology, a separate area of research.
The active study of the phenomenon of the formation of social attitudes was begun in the first decades of the 20th century.
At the heart of the phenomenon is the closest relationship of personality and societywhose integral part is man.
The concept of attitudes
What is a social setting?
With the growth and maturing of the individual, the accumulation of life experience, in the human mind a steady look is formed on people, objects and events of the world.
This tuning of consciousness acts as a regulator of reactions and behavior of a person in his interaction with life.
In psychology, the phenomenon has received the name attitudor social setting.
Most often, the wording of an American psychologist is used to determine social attitudes. Gordon Allport: a person's past forms in him a predisposition to act in the present in a certain way. This psychological readiness is a social installation.
In general, the installation is formed not only on the basis of a person’s personal experience, but also through their perception of the experience of other people. Basically, people convey their views on life, experience, in ordinary communication.
Personal installation, man-made as a result of an experienced event, is strengthened if he hears the conclusions and opinions of other people confirming his own observations (the concept of a generalized attitude in psychology).
The social attitude in psychology is called the attitude from the English word “attitude”, which means “attitude”.
Structure
Back in the middle of the 20th century, an American psychologist Manuel smith identified three main components of the social installation:
- Formed Conscious Opinion. There is in relation to objects, objects, phenomena and events, about what properties and qualities they possess (in the view of the carrier of a social setting), about the ways of effective and ineffective interaction with them.
- Emotional relationship (affect). It is manifested by the experience of certain emotions, feelings, sensations in the form of a reaction to objects, people, and events. There is a clear understanding, whether they are pleasant or repelled (the option is not hurt, they leave indifferent) phenomena, incidents, subjects or objects.
- Behavior. A person is ready to act according to a certain pattern in response to an event or a model of communicating with people.
Thus, social installation includes cognitive, affective and behavioral levels.
Kinds
Speaking about the types of social attitudes, have in mind their certain specifications:
- the person is ready to behave in accordance with the stereotype (installation on the object);
- the action caused by similar phenomena may manifest itself in different ways in different cases (situational);
- differences in emotional color: causing pleasant or unpleasant emotions, option - neutral colored.
In psychology, the concepts of stereotype and socialization are highlighted.
Stereotypes
The concept of stereotype is highlighted in the 30s of the 20th century by an American publicist Walter Lippman.
The writer drew attention to a filter through which, in obedience to the formed life experience, a person recognizes and interprets information about the world around him.
Formed stereotype is related to the phenomenon before sanity begins to work:
- the stereotype at the moment of perception of information imposes its “filter” on the presented facts;
- the stereotype formed resists (or does not lend at all) its critical assessment;
- when a stereotype collides with a new experience, the first one often wins a new information: a person is convinced beforehand that he faced only an exception, he is sure in advance that the information received is incorrect if she refutes the established stereotypical opinion.
Of course, if the ability to think, analyze and perceive new not lost by personality, it is possible to change the picture of the world and even the established stereotypical social attitudes.
Socialization phenomenon
Contacting with a certain society, a person gradually learns the behavioral norms, values and beliefs of those around him.
In order to successfully interact with people, an individual is forced to accumulate and systematize knowledge about the world, master communication skills, communication, allowing him to establish productive relationships and achieve the desired.
All this is included in the concept of socialization, which, in fact, starts from the very birth and continues throughout a person’s life. In psychology, the concept of socialization is considered in several aspects:
- formation of human individuality, character in contact with the environment of existence, adaptation to its norms and conditions of survival in society (the process of social adaptation);
- having a community of people (society), which is necessary for the development of a person in him, as a person with certain attitudes and character traits (phenomenon as a condition);
- human reaction to society and what is happening in ithis personal perception of social phenomena, depending on the age group and social development (socialization as a manifestation);
- the main characteristic of the individual as a full member of the human community, taking into account its age (socialization as a result).
Primary socialization affects small groups. closest human environment. This is his father, mother, relatives, friends and peers, teachers and educators in educational institutions, that is, the closest circle of real communication.
When in psychology they talk about secondary socialization, they mean the processes that occur already in large social groups.
For example, in circle of secondary socialization administrative authorities, people who formulate laws and social communication at the level of the school, higher education institution, city, region, and the state as a whole.
Installation examples
Popular, common examples of social attitudes:
- Negative attitude to the group of persons by race (racism), for example, contempt for blacks, blacks, or any "colored" nationalities. The formation of a public belief that people who are not related to the “white race” are more stupid, tend to immoral immoral behavior, are lazy, etc.
- The manner of dressing in a specific way.For example, in Eastern countries, it is a tradition for women to wear completely hiding body and face clothing.
- Common Life Rules, Traditionscharacteristic of a social group: for example, marry or get married before a certain age, work or not work for women, etc.
- Norms and standards, patterns and rules of decency, etiquetteaccepted in society.
All these factors are often perceived by a person who grew up in a particular society as the only correct, correct, just because of the social attitudes formed from early childhood.
Functions
Any social setting has a number of important functions (the person himself is usually not conscious). There are four main purposes of social installations:
- Resolving internal doubt, conflicts, the ego from the perception of unpleasant information. Subconsciously, a person aspires to be of high opinion about himself and about the social group to which he belongs, and whose social attitudes he shares. According to this principle, the traditions and the foundations of "their" society are recognized as worthy and significant, "good", and contradicting the traditions of another group - often as dangerous misconceptions, negative "bad" phenomena.
- With the formation of a social installation occurs systematization, ordering knowledge about the world. The attitude gives an opportunity to quickly analyze and evaluate the information received: whether it is important or not, whether it corresponds to the values of a person, his vital interests. The prevailing stereotype greatly simplifies the study and processing of information.
- Adaptation to people, events, phenomena. Social installations help an individual to find those people and those objects that contribute to the achievement of his personal goals, with less loss, as efficiently as possible. A person realizes that, by supporting those or other canons adopted by society (social installation), he will be accepted, will receive the approval of the social group. But the attitude can oppose a person to a society (if the existing attitudes do not match).
- Assistance in self-realization, the expression of their values and views on life. Social installations help a person to act according to a ready-made scheme, to be realized in a society. They also become an element of self-determination: a person understands “who he is” - as it relates to different events, objects, people.
Thus, the attitude is a powerful construction of consciousness, which at the same time serves to automate and simplify life processes, mental self-defense and stabilize a person in life.
Social set and real behavior
If the inner beliefs and views of the individual determine the actions of a person in society, then to change behavior enough to change his way of thinking?
And according to the voiced attitudes of the individual, can one predict its actions?
The practice of psychological research has proven that not true: the connection between the attitudes of a person and his real behavior is often absent.
A simple and frequent example of such a discrepancy: a common belief in the benefits of a healthy lifestyle does not mean taking concrete actions.
A person may be a carrier of the installation about the benefits of healthy lifestyles, but there is junk food, drink alcohol, smoke and do not play sports.
Disunity of social attitudes and behavior explained in psychology by several factors:
- The behavior of the individual is determined not only by the overall installation, but also by the specific situation.
- Setting the assessment of the phenomenon as a whole may not coincide with the assessment of the particular case.
- Several social attitudes came into conflict in a particular case, which affected the choice of behavior.
For example, in one of the first scientific experiments on the study of the conformity of social attitudes and specific situational behavior, conducted in 1934 by Stanford psychologist Richard Lapierreinteresting facts were presented.
In the first half of the 20th century, the attitude towards dark-skinned and yellow-skinned nations in the United States was negative.
However, LaPierre, traveling with a couple of Chinese friends, visited more than 250 hotels, restaurants and cafes, and in each of them (except for one and only), the Chinese were given a warm welcome and a high level of service.
After half a year, Lapierre sent letters to the same establishments asking whether the establishments would accept Chinese guests. AND rejection of racial prejudice answered more than 90% of institutions.
The experiment clearly showed how in a particular situation, when it was necessary to deny service to real people, the laws of hospitality and humanity outweighed the prevailing prejudice.
The basis of the formation of social attitudes lies complex system of human perception of the world, natural adaptation in it.
Scientists highlight A number of reasons for the formation of attitudes: from the genetic characteristics of a person to the consolidation of successful patterns of behavior at the level of reflexes, the awareness of all the pros and cons in the process of securing the social attitude.
Attitudes (social attitudes) - structure and functions:
