Question: Explain how you would change the attitude of a group of young people who have a negative attitude towards physical exercise.
Mednick defined an ‘attitude’ as “a predisposition to act in a certain way towards some aspects of a person’s environment including other people”. An attitude is directed towards attitude objects, which can be places, situations or the behaviour of other people.
The triadic model suggests that an attitude is formed as a result of past experiences, socialisation and culture. If a group of young people have had a negative experience within PE lessons at school, with little success or positive reinforcement, then they are more likely to have a more pessimistic attitude to completing physical exercise. Additionally, if they interact with others that share a negative attitude towards exercise, they are likely to be influenced and modify their attitude. This could include, peer groups, parents, teachers, role models and the media. Finally, a culture (prejudice, race, class, gender, religion) is very likely to influence an individual’s attitude, and construct a negative perception towards completing physical exercise.
Furthermore, the formation of an attitude can be made up be three components; cognitive, affective and behavioural.
Cognitive (BELIEF) – This is what an individual perceives to be true, despite it possibly being factually incorrect.
Affective (EMOTIONS/FEELINGS) – A person’s emotional response to a certain concept.
Behavioural (ACTIONS/RESPONSES) – Someone’s intended behaviour, which is dependent on their attitude.
However, despite attitudes being a learned concept, they are undoubtedly unstable and inconsistent. For instance, an individual may believe that participating in physical exercise is beneficial for their health, although, they may rarely conduct this activity due to lack of time or motivation. Beliefs do not always correspond with behaviour and, hence, attitudes are poor predictors of behaviour.
There are a number of strategies to change the negative attitude of a group of young people who do not participate in physical activity and endure a inactive lifestyle, or show prejudiced behaviour. The two prominent methods are by a means of persuasive communication and cognitive dissonance. However, other strategies could involve:
- Ensuring positive, successful experiences
- Praising positive attitudes on non-prejudicial behaviour
- Punishing prejudice, such as e.g. substitution or bans
- Using positive role models in the media to highlight positive attitudes towards activity or non-prejudicial behaviour
- Merging groups so that individuals work together across gender, age etc.
- Generating cognitive dissonance
To ensure the adaption of a given attitude is successful, persuaders must be significant others and their reasons given to make a person change an attitude must be clear and balanced. It is made easier if peers are present to enhance the message, but most importantly, the person must want to change. In summary, the ability to persuade someone to change an attitude is dependent on:
- Status of the persuader – Someone of high status who is knowledgeable and genuine is likely to be successful
- Clarity of the message – A clear, concise and accurate argument should be put forward
- Ability to understand the message – The individual being persuaded must be capable of understanding the message being put forward
When an individual’s attitude components all match, whether positively or negatively, they are in a state of cognitive consonance. Their beliefs, feelings and actions are in harmony and the person’s attitude will be stable. However, generating instability and unease, known as cognitive dissonance for an individual could lead to a changing attitude. A mismatch in the triadic model will cause a dissonance in the group of young peoples’ minds and they could be persuaded to change their perception regarding physical exercise. This is due to the creation of new information affecting the cognitive or affective component of the model. The only way to reduce this inbalance is to change their behaviour towards, and therefore they would have to complete physical activity and change their attitude to feel at ease once again.
In order to alter the cognitive thoughts of the group, they could be educated by a significant other about the benefits of living a healthy active lifestyle. Alternatively, the affective component could be modified by a positive and varied experience. A teacher could attempt to make their lessons fun and enjoyable, and ensure that success for the group is guaranteed. Finally, their behaviour and actions could be adapted by persuasive communication, preferably by a specialist, such as a coach. This person could praise the group to reinforce their behaviour to ensure they begin to participate in physical exercise.
Emily Caswell – 04/11/16
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