1. ATTITUDES Psychological Aspects

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES Definitions and components of attitudes Influences on formation of an attitude and influences on behaviour Changing attitudes through cognitive dissonance and persuasive communication

4. ATTITUDES An attitude is ‘a complex mix of feelings, beliefs and values that predisposes somebody to behave towards something or someone in a consistent way.’ Attitudes are used to explain a pattern of behaviour or a response in a given situation. An enduring emotional & behavioural response, & although it can be established firmly, an attitude is unstable & can be changed & controlled.

5. ATTITUDES Attitudes are directed towards ATTITUDE OBJECTS, which can be PLACES, SITUATIONS & the BEHAVIOUR of other people. Eg. A player dislikes training. The attitude object is the training & the player may adopt a negative attitude towards training.

6. How attitudes are formed..... Formed by experience and learning. This can be influenced by a number of factors. PEER GROUPS Friendship groups and wider peer groups strongly influence an individuals attitude. An acceptance of the groups attitudes towards an attitude object is a way of gaining membership of a group and gaining a sense of identity. A team that has a shared set of attitudes will show a high degree of cohesion. CONDITIONING Rewards will strengthen existing attitudes. A performer who is praised for training will have their attitude towards training strengthened, which in turn will strengthen the intention to train and therefore the likelihood of training.

7. SOCIALISATION AND SOCIAL LEARNING We learn a lot from significant others – parents, teachers, coaches, wider role models and the media – and they are powerful formers of attitudes, including negative ones that may lead to prejudice and stereotyping. FAMILIARITY The more a person experiences an attitude object, the more likely a person is to develop a positive attitude towards it. For example the more often a child is taken to a sports club or to matches by their parents, the more likely the child is to develop a positive attitude towards that sport and to take it up themselves.

8. Positive attitudes are formed by… belief in exercise enjoyable experiences in sport being good at a particular sport being excited by the challenge of sport using sport as a stress release the influence of others where participation is the norm Negative attitudes are formed by… not believing in the benefits of exercise a bad past experience injury a lack of ability fear of taking part suffering stress when taking part the influence of others when non-participation is the norm

9. COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES According to the Triadic model, attitudes have three elements (components). THE COGNITIVE COMPONENT - what we know and believe about the attitude object THE AFFECTIVE COMPONENT - how we feel about the attitude object THE BEHAVIOURAL COMPONENT – how we behave towards, respond to or intend to respond to the attitude object.

10. EXAM STYLE QUESTION Most elite performers have positive attitudes to their preparation and performance. a.What is meant by the term ‘attitude’ and how might an elite performer have developed such a positive attitude? (4 marks) b. Using an example from sport and with reference to the triadic model, discuss how a negative attitude could be altered. (3 marks)