preview

Tripartite Model Of Attitudes

Decent Essays

Baker (1992) describes attitudes as hypothetical constructs which are formed from threefold components : Affective, behavioural and cognitive. This tripartite model is one of the most cited models of attitudes. These components are usually connected, but recent research in social psychology suggests that not all of them will necessarily be represented in any given attitude and that they can not always be distinguished from one another ( Bohner & Wanke, 2002 ). The structure of attitudes is clearly described in the following figure :

Figure .1 : Three_Components Model of Attitudes (Baker, 1992, p.13).
The affective component consists of the negative or positive feelings that a person has towards a given object. The behavioural component refers …show more content…

Attitudes’ Formation
In general, attitudes are learned and not inherited or genetically endowed. They are “ learned, particularly over the course of socialization during childhood and adolescence ” (McKenzi, 2010, p.21). Many theories have been developed to explain the way the three components of attitudes are acquired and formed. Thus, attitudes can not be studied in isolation from the factors that have contributed to their formation. Most psychologists agree that these constructs are usually acquired and formed through exposure and learning …show more content…

Among others, Albert Bandura is considered the leading proponent of this theory, which is based on the concept of observational learning which occurs by simply observing a model.This theory was developed by Bandura in the 1960s.It combines both cognitive theory which assumes that learning is influenced by psychological factors and behavioral learning theory which assumes that learning is based on reactions to external stimuli

Get Access