How attitudes are formed

Attitudes are mostly learned, through experience and interaction with others. Genes influence them only indirectly (for example, through temperament).

Processes of attitude learning:

• Association: a student who likes a teacher comes to like the teacher's subject: positive feelings for one thing are linked to another.
• Reward and punishment: attitudes that are praised are strengthened; those punished are weakened.
• Modelling: learning by watching others. Children who see their parents respect elders learn to respect them too.
• Group or cultural norms: the unwritten rules of our group.
• Exposure to information: books, talks and the media.

Sources of attitudes:

• Family and school: the earliest and strongest influences, through association, reward and modelling.
• Reference groups: groups that set the norms of acceptable thinking and behaviour, especially in early adolescence, when friends' opinions matter greatly.
• Personal experiences: these can transform attitudes. The book's example: an army driver survived an attack in which his colleagues died. The experience changed his outlook completely, and he returned to his village to become a community leader working for others.
• Media and the internet: they spread information and can create good attitudes, but can also create consumerist or harmful ones (towards violence, or unrealistic body images).

So we learn what we value: our attitudes come from the people and experiences around us.