ABSTRACT
An attitude is a summary evaluation of an object. Broadly, attitudes capture how positively or negatively we perceive something as being. Attitudes are involved in many areas of life, and the attitudes one holds can affect many types of thinking and behavior. Attitudes help people to navigate their social worlds. Attitudes can also serve a knowledge function—they help people understand events and people around them or organize their social world into objects to approach or to avoid. Rosenberg and Hovland proposed the tripartite model of attitudes. They argued that attitudes consisted of three components: affect—a person's feelings or emotions about the attitude object; cognition—thoughts or beliefs about the attitude object; and behavior—whether the person approaches or avoids an attitude object. Students' attitudes toward their universities might reflect each of these components. Louis Thurstone (1928) developed one of the earliest and best-known methods in an article titled "Attitudes Can Be Measured.".
