---
title: "Attitude, Moral & Political Attitudes (GS-4) Guide"
description: "Define attitude and its components, distinguish moral and political attitudes, and apply persuasion theory to GS-4 answer-writing and case studies for UPSC."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/upsc-ethics-gs4-attitude-moral-political-attitudes"
---

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Attitude, moral & political attitudes

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# Attitude, moral & political attitudes

Defines attitude and its components, distinguishes moral and political attitudes, and maps persuasion theory onto GS-4 answer-writing and case studies.

## Defining the construct

Attitude, in the UPSC GS-4 syllabus, is listed precisely as: *content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.* Examiners expect you to deploy social-psychology vocabulary with precision, not folk definitions.

Gordon Allport (1935) gave the canonical definition: an attitude is *a mental and neural state of readiness, organised through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual's response to all objects and situations with which it is related.* The operative idea is **predisposition** — a learned, evaluative readiness to respond favourably or unfavourably toward an *attitude object* (a person, group, policy, institution).

## The tripartite (ABC) structure

The dominant model is the **tripartite model** of Rosenberg and Hovland (1960):

- **Affective** — feelings and emotions toward the object (e.g., disgust at corruption).
- **Behavioural (conative)** — the action tendency or intention (e.g., refusing a bribe).
- **Cognitive** — beliefs and thoughts (e.g., the conviction that bribery distorts justice).

Mnemonic: **ABC**. A strong, consistent attitude shows alignment across all three components; dissonance arises when they conflict.

## Functions of attitude

Daniel Katz (1960) identified four functions, frequently asked as a direct PYQ:

1. **Adjustment (utilitarian)** — attitudes that maximise reward and minimise punishment.
2. **Ego-defensive** — protecting self-esteem from internal conflict or external threat (the root of prejudice and scapegoating).
3. **Value-expressive** — affirming one's central values and self-concept (a probity-minded officer publicly opposing graft).
4. **Knowledge** — providing a frame of reference to organise an ambiguous world.

## Attitude and behaviour: the gap

The naïve assumption that attitudes predict behaviour was punctured by **Richard LaPiere's 1934 study**: travelling with a Chinese couple across the United States, he was refused service only once in 251 establishments, yet 90% of those same establishments later replied by post that they would *not* serve Chinese guests. Attitudes and conduct diverged sharply.

The gap was theorised by **Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein** in the **Theory of Reasoned Action (1975)** and the **Theory of Planned Behaviour (1985)**: behaviour follows *intention*, which is shaped by attitude toward the behaviour, subjective norms, and **perceived behavioural control**. For a civil servant this is operationally vital — changing public behaviour (open defecation, vaccine uptake, tax compliance) requires moving more than belief; it requires shifting norms and the felt capacity to act.

## Formation

Attitudes are *learned*, not innate, principally through: **classical conditioning** (associating an object with affect), **operant conditioning** (reinforcement of expressed views), **observational learning** (Bandura's social learning, 1977), and **socialisation agents** — family, school, peer groups, religion, and media. This learnability is the foundation of administrative reform: attitudes formed by experience can be reformed by designed experience.

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