Attitude is expressed when we state whether we like something or not. For instance I may walk into a restaurant and through non-verbal and verbal language I communicate that I don't like it. Therefore my attitude is distaste.
When I am expressing my attitude it also effects how I think. I then start to talk about not liking the restaurant. I may look at the menu through negative eyes and also judge the people around me because of my attitude. The attitude then creates bias where we see through a lens we have created from our past experiences.
Bias can change through assimilation, where you start to absorb what you see through a wider perspective into your own schema. A schema is your own script that you have written through your past experiences.
Accommodation occurs when you feel that you have not altered your thinking enough to the point where you can see that it isn't working or doesn't seem right. For instance when you go the restaurant because your friend dragged you there and the food is delicious. Your script of "poor restaurant" suddenly becomes "the best restaurant in town". Your attitude changes and so does your bias. You become to habituate to the new experiences and this becomes your attitude.
But how do you realise that you have a positive or negative attitude when you have been looking through the same lens for possibly many years. There are many techniques that companies have used to change your attitude, but what about having enough awareness to change your own. This means that you have enough awareness to feel uncomfortable or sense that something is not right and realise that accommodation needs to occur rather than keep going down the road of assimilation where you learn nothing new because your thinking hasn't been altered through new experiences because you like things just as they are.
Mindfulness can teach you how to become aware of the present moment and see each moment as a new experience. Now this doesn't mean to forget your past experience as that shapes your identity. But it teaches you to become open to the now with a sense of newness. If you aren't into mindfulness then there are other techniques.
Another technique is learning through other people. When you socialise you are listening to stories you have never heard before. For instance, the friends I go to the restaurant with may say that they have been going for years and love it. On the other hand they can also agree with my assumptions and I therefore don't change my attitude. But I may then meet somebody else at another time that gives me another version. I can either reject what they say or remain open to their experiences. This depends on another variable, temperament. I may be easy going and adaptable, difficult and stubborn or slow to warm up and feel worse if I am being pushed into a new belief system that I am not ready to accept.
Gregory Maio and Geoffrey Haddock who wrote The Psychology of Attitudes and Attitude Change stated that attitudes contain three components: Cognition, affect and behaviour. Cognition is the thinking; affect is the feelings; and how you behave. It may not be your thoughts that require change, but how you feel because that is what is affecting the assimilation to occur. Or it may be how you behave. Therefore to change y own attitude you will need to recognise the strongest component of the attitude in order to make the change. This means that you will have to feel the pleasantness of the restaurant and not just think it if you feel uncomfortable when you walk in. Once you are aware of your feelings and can talk about it or write it down in a journal you are processing the emotions until it does not affect you the same way. Gregory Maio and Geoffrey Haddock stated that emotional reactions often drive behaviour when cognitive and emotional reactions conflict. Therefore if your emotions and thoughts are in conflict, then you will become more emotional. You can separate your emotions and thoughts in a journal by drawing a "T" on a page and writing Emotion and Thoughts as a heading. Then write what your emotions and thoughts are separately so you can work through the situation more clearly. You can always talk to a friend out your findings. If your emotions consist of "fear" and your thoughts "I don't like it" then write what you don't like and do like to ensure you are open about all experiences.
Once you are more open to seeing the world through a different lens but you continue to have the same experiences then you have the right to feel uncomfortable. You have the right to choose another restaurant and you have the right to talk about how you feel. But at least you were open enough to see the world through different eyes.
When you change your attitude you develop. You have experienced the now and altered or schema to think differently. If you think the same, you will never experience the world as an evolving, wonderful world but the same as it always was.
Josie is a professional counsellor who can help you improve your life situation and social skills. Visit http://www.mindfulconnexions.com.au to find out more or email on jb@mindfulconnexions.com.au to enquire about the wide range of services or make a booking.
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