Attitude has three components, which
are as follows:
- Affective component
- Cognitive component
- Intentional component
The figure 8.1 shows the components of
attitude.
The affective component of an attitude
reflects 'feelings and emotions' that an individual has towards a situation.
The cognitive component of an attitude is derived from 'knowledge' that an
individual has about a situation. Finally, the intentional component of an
attitude reflects how an individual 'expects to behave' towards or in the
situation. For example, the different components of an attitude held towards a
firm, which supplies inferior products and that too irregularly could be
described as follows:
·
"I don't like that
company"—Affective component.
·
"They are the worst supply firm I
have ever dealt with"—Cognitive component.
·
"I will never do business with
them again"'—Intentional component.
People try
to maintain consistency among the three components of their attitudes. However,
conflicting circumstances often arise. The conflict that individuals may
experience among their own attitudes is called 'cognitive dissonance.