There are three components of attitude–
- Cognitive
This represents our thoughts, beliefs, and ideas about something. Typically these come to light in generalities or stereotypes, such as ‘all teenagers are lazy,’ or ‘all babies are cute.’
- Affective
This component deals with feelings or emotions that are brought to the surface about something, such as fear or hate. Using our above example, someone might have the attitude that they hate teenagers because they are lazy or that they love all babies because they are cute.
- Conative
This can also be called the behavioural component and centres on individuals acting a certain way towards something, such as ‘we better keep those lazy teenagers out of the library,’ or ‘I cannot wait to kiss that baby.’
