Attitude -The Key to Success or Failure

In our daily lives, we see people who are incredibly successful in their lives or those who are unemployed and are having a difficult time in their lives. The basic ingredient behind success or failure is attitude. Attitude is the way a person feels, thinks, or behaves toward some object, person, idea, or event. For example, opposition to an argument or supporting a certain football team. Attitudes can be positive, negative, or neutral. If a person likes something, it means he has a positive attitude. And if a person dislikes something, it means he has a negative attitude. People with a neutral attitude don't give any importance to or get affected by any situation. 

Many people define attitude in various ways. According to Michael Hogg, "an attitude is a negative or positive evaluation of an object which influences human behavior towards that object”. Martin Fishbein said that "an attitude is a learned predisposition to respond in a favorable or unfavorable manner towards people, an object, an idea, or a situation”.

Attitude is invisible, but it determines our behavior and affects how we react in various situations. If a person has a favorable attitude toward his work, he'll be able to do it better than someone who has a negative attitude. 

Attitude is not something that comes out of nowhere; rather, it is acquired through learning over time. It is often the result of experience. There are three stages in the development of attitude. they are-

1. Childhood: One of the prime times for attitude development through observing and imitating others is during childhood. But this attitude is like liquid, it is easy to change it.
2. Adolescence: Adolescent attitudes are like semisolid forms. they are not extremely difficult to change, but they are not as simple to change as those from childhood.
3. Adult: Attitudes we develop as an adult are hard to change. It's like solid form. 

Many factors influence our attitude throughout our lives. 

• Family: Family plays a key role in shaping our attitude. Attitudes we adopt as a child, most of them are adopted from our parents and relatives. Parents influence our likes, dislikes, and other behaviors. Research shows that most children support the political party that their parents support. Many of our early attitudes are influenced by our parents, though some of the attitudes will change over time.
• Personal Experience: Our personal experience is the most important factor in forming our attitude. Throughout our lives, we experience different situations which influence our attitude toward an object, people, or event. For example, if we have a good experience with a product, we'll use that product later on and recommend others to try it as well, but if we have a bad experience then it'll be the opposite. 
• Teacher and Friends: Teachers are role models for students. They play a very strong role in building our attitudes. They influence our attitude from a very early age and continue till university level education or furthermore. Teachers have their views and thoughts which influence our views and thoughts as well. For example, If a teacher has an unfavorable attitude towards certain ideologies, then their student might also have the same attitude towards it. Friends' influence is one of the most powerful sources in the formation of our attitudes. They have had a strong influence on our attitudes since our adolescence and teenage years. A good company will help us develop a good attitude, and a bad company will do the opposite. For example, if we hang out with friends who have bad habits like smoking, then it is most likely to influence us as well.
• Society and Culture: Society has its own rules and regulations based on situations. These rules and regulations influence our attitudes. It is a great factor in the formation of our attitudes. Culture is a part of our identity. It has its own set of values, which reflect what is to be liked or disliked. It is an important factor. If a thing is liked in one culture, it might be weird in another.
• Religion and Education: As factors, religion and education have a strong impact on shaping our attitudes. Both teach us moral values, the borderline between good and bad, and many other things.
• Mass media and Social media: Mass communication media like newspapers, television, and radio provide various kinds of news daily, which plays a role in the formation of our attitudes. Besides, television advertisements are specially designed to attract us, which influences our attitude toward the product. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc greatly influence our attitudes. Social media has made it easy for us to communicate with people all around the world, and this mass communication influences our attitude.