Attitude is the degree to which we favour or disfavor something. It is an indicator of whether we like or dislike something. If we favour or like something, it means we have a positive attitude towards it. If we disfavor or dislike something, it means we have a negative attitude towards it. Different people can have an opposing attitude towards the same thing. For instance, some people may have a positive attitude towards the practice of marriage at an early age while many other people may have a negative attitude towards the practice of marriage at an early age.

Similarly, some people may have a positive attitude towards living in urban areas due to the availability of modern facilities. On the other hand, some people may have negative attitudes towards living in urban areas because of air pollution in urban areas due to a high number of vehicles and factories in urban areas. Attitude is a predictor of behaviour. For instance, people, having a negative attitude towards living in urban areas, would prefer to live in rural areas with a natural environment.

We develop a positive or negative attitude towards something based on several factors of attitude formation. The way, an attitude is formed, determines the strength of the attitude and that how much it will predict the behaviour linked with that attitude. Let’s discuss these ways and factors of attitude formation.

Direct personal experience is the most important factor of attitude formation. We come across many things in life. Our good or bad experience with these things shapes our judgement towards them accordingly. If a person finds something pleasant, he forms a positive attitude towards it. On the other hand, if a person has a bad experience with something, he develops a negative attitude towards it.

For instance, a person buys a new mobile phone and finds it good and suitable for his needs, he wishes to always have such a phone and also advise others to buy such a phone. On the other hand, if a person buys a mobile phone made by some company and then, he comes to know that the processing speed of the mobile phone is slow; its battery time is short; and that it does not support some applications of his choice, he will develop a negative attitude towards phones made by that specific company. He would refrain from buying phones made by that company and will also advise others not to buy that phone.

Similarly, when we meet someone for the first time, the way he greets us, talks to us, and treats us, influences our attitude towards that person. Likewise, if we join a new company and find that the co-workers are supportive and cooperative, we develop a positive attitude towards them.

Attitudes, that are formed as a result of our personal experience, are long-lasting and hard to change. These attitudes are more predictive of the behavior of the person.

Family plays a major role in shaping our attitudes. We usually express the common beliefs and values of our parents. Children, through social learning and modeling, learn the attitudes of their parents. In other words, children generally adopt the preferences of their parents. For instance, people may show liking or disliking towards things in a similar fashion their parents do. Similarly, people may generally talk, dress and behave in the way their parents do. The mind of a child is like a blank paper, on which anything can be written. Since children spend more time with their parents, they get more influenced by their parents. The influence of parents on children’s attitudes is stronger in the early years of the life of children. However, in later years and adolescence, the influence of parents decreases and is largely replaced by the influence of peers.

Attitudes are also formed by associating one thing with another thing. It is different from direct experience of something because here individual develops an attitude by making an association between two things. It involves principles of classical conditioning. For instance, eating sugar causes diabetes. By associating sugar consumption with the risk of diabetes, a person may also develop a negative attitude to other types of sweets or foods containing carbohydrates (sugar). Another example: a girl likes the fragrance of a specific perfume because it reminds her of her deceased mother who used to wear that perfume when she was alive. This is not the fragrance itself but the association (since her late mother used it when she was alive) between the fragrance and remembrance of her mother which makes her like the fragrance.

Teachers and peers play important role in the formation of attitude. Kids generally join a school at a very early age. Therefore, teacher’s influence starts from the early age of a child and continues till the completion of their university-level education. Students listen to their teachers and generally view them as their role-models. Teachers have their own perceptions and attitudes regarding different things and thus, their discussions in class do influence the perception and attitudes of students in different ways. For instance, at the college level, in a class of political science, the teacher’s personal political ideas may also influence students’ attitude towards different political systems, ideologies, figures and activities in different ways.

The peers also have a strong influence on one another in adolescence and teenage. This is the age when peer pressure is at its peak. Young people try to identify themselves with their peers' groups. They imitate and develop the attitude of their peers. This is the reason members of a peer circle share common preferences and choices. Due to such influence of peers, parents generally advise their children to be in the company of good friends because the good company would help them develop good attitudes towards different things. On the other hand, if a person joins an antisocial gang, he may become like them. For instance, some people at teenage starts smoking and other drugs due to peer pressure.

The society, where a person lives, has a profound impact on his attitudes. The society or neighbourhood is generally composed of people with more or less similar attitudes. Due to frequent interaction with one another and proximity to one another, people exchange ideas and influence one another’s choices and preferences.

The cultural setup in an area is also an important factor. Every culture has its value system which reflects what to be liked or disliked. A thing may be seen as good in one culture but weird in another culture. For instance, in some societies, covering the face by women is a valued practice but in other cultures, this practice may be seen as a weird practice. Similarly, in some cultures, the joint family system (where all brothers and their wives and kids live together) is the preferred family system but in many other societies, the nuclear family system (where husband, wife and children live as a small family) is the preferred system.

This means that culture determines how people perceive different things and form a positive or negative attitude towards them.

The economic status or financial background of a person also has a role in shaping attitude. People from higher economic class holds different choices than people from lower economic classes. People from higher classes usually get quality education and high-status profession while those from marginalized sections of society rarely get the chance to attend school. Therefore, the economic status will shape the overall orientation of a person in relation to different things. For instance, an unemployed person may get frustrated and develop an unusual attitude towards different things. They may display different attitudes towards state laws because of their miserable circumstance which may compel them to involve in crimes without fearing the laws of the country.

Similarly, uneducated people may develop many stereotyped attitudes because of a lack of knowledge. On the other hand, attitudes of educated persons are more likely to be based on informed decisions and rational choices.

The electronic and print media also play a role in the formation of attitudes. These sources provide us with political and general information on a daily basis which shapes our attitudes accordingly. For instance, we come to know about different political policies; and their pros and cons as discussed by news anchors and journalists in TV talk shows. Thus, it provides us with sufficient information to gauge different policies and activities of the government, which in turn shape our attitude towards these policies and political activities accordingly.

Television advertisements are purposefully made to attract customers towards a product. These advertisements are tactfully designed to alter the attitudes of consumers towards the product positively. For instance, attractive actors are used to glorify the product; and the glorified benefits of the product are conveyed to the audience in a persuasive manner.