attitude towards essay

Essays About Attitude: Top 5 Examples Plus Prompts

Your attitude and demeanor affect all aspects of your life. We have found an inspiring list of essays about attitude to help you choose your own angle.

Attitude refers to a person’s way of thinking about something that affects their behavior. One can say that the proper attitude is vital to leading a fruitful life, whatever that might be for specific individuals. A “good” attitude and a positive outlook can better ascertain success, while a “bad” attitude predisposes a person to fail.

One’s attitude is founded upon knowledge, beliefs, and feelings and reflected in behavior. However, it is also shaped by your experiences.

If you want to write an essay about attitude, here are 5 essay examples and 5 prompts we have prepared to make the process easier for you. 

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

1. Attitude changes everything – it can change your life by Kate Darbyshire Evans

2. 6 ways to banish negative thoughts by emily co, 3. our life is a reflection of our attitude. by iqra shehzadi, 4. watch your attitude: your students are counting on you by amber chandler, 5. how to develop a positive attitude in the workplace by jennifer post, 5 writing prompts on essays about attitude, 1. why is a good attitude so important, 2. how can you change your attitude for the better, 3. is a bad attitude really as detrimental as it is said to be, 4. how has your attitude affected your life, 5. does attitude reflect character.

“Attitude changes everything. Change your attitude, and you can change your life. You cannot always control what happens to you in life but you can always control how you respond to the challenges or difficult situations you encounter. The attitude you approach anything with is entirely your choice. The way you choose to respond mirrors your attitude and so by changing your attitude you can change your perspective and change your life.”

Evans talks about how genuinely present one’s attitude is in the different aspects of their life. It can, quite literally, “change your life.” Regardless of your challenges, Evans believes that a positive attitude can help you steady your course and maintain a good life. She also gives readers tips on developing a good attitude and a more positive outlook on life, including being more grateful, not taking life too seriously, and stepping out of your comfort zone. 

“It’s easy to become jaded when life gets tough, but don’t get caught up in negative thoughts because it may hinder your progress. Seeing the world as a glass half empty may lead you to give up easier and not try as hard because you may think that it’s pointless to even make an attempt.”  

In this short essay, Co lists down a few ways in which we can maintain a positive attitude by keeping negative thoughts out of our minds. These include keeping a gratitude journal, keeping good company, being around animals, and looking for new hobbies. Co believes these activities help promote positivity so that we are not as affected when life gets challenging. You might also be interested in these essays about discipline .

“Our mind has sufficient bandwidth to focus on one thought at a time. All you must do is keep it attentive on inspiring thoughts until you achieve your goal or establish a new habit. After adopting a positive attitude, I have noticed amazing changes all around. I also have noticed a major boost in my confidence and I feel more capable of taking on new projects and challenges which might have formerly been outside my comfort zone.”

Shehzadi reflects on the importance of a positive attitude. She briefly goes over its benefits, like increased confidence and reduced stress. To develop a better attitude, surround yourself with positive people. From there, you can practice kindness, patience, and tolerance. As our attitude reflects itself in how we live, a positive attitude leads to a more productive life. Training your mind to be positive is an excellent investment for your well-being, both mentally and physically. 

“It’s human nature to express ourselves, sure, but I think adults underestimate the impact our ‘attitudes’ have on our own children and students. As we deal with the new variants, head back to school and face another uncertain school year, our attitudes are going to shape the experiences of our students. Why not make a concerted, intentional effort to be the one place where your students can let their guard down and take a break from the attitudes that are everywhere?”

Chandler, an educator, discusses the importance of the right attitude in an environment with kids and the importance of setting a good example. She believes that an authentic, positive attitude helps students thrive, but she also stresses the importance of empathy. To her, the ideal attitude is positive, practical, humble, and empathetic. She wants adults to be more mindful of their attitude, especially in front of kids- they may have certain mannerisms or habits that children will quickly pick up on.

“Not everyone is going to be positive all the time. That’s an unrealistic idea. But even when people are down and at their most negative, there are things one can do to deal with those emotions and actions around the office to keep them from impacting others. Even if it’s just one co-worker causing an issue, take matters into your own hands for your own happiness at work.”

Post’s essay elaborates on the importance of having an attitude suited to your work. Like in Co’s essay, Post discusses certain things we can do to improve our attitude and make us more productive in the workplace. Most significantly, she says that simply saying “yes” more can help develop a better attitude. Even if we cannot always be positive, Post wants us to maximize the positivity in every situation, to look at it from a “glass half full” perspective.

Everyone talks about how the proper attitude helps you go far in life, but how does this work? In your essay, you can explore what makes attitude so vital. You can find examples where people have improved their attitude and attribute it to real-life benefits such as happiness or success. You can also check out these essays about character .

Many people often talk about fixing their attitude and getting out of bad habits. You can use the sample essays to decide which methods you can adopt to improve your attitude. Keep your selection short, simple, and meaningful. Do you think they could be successfully applied to anyone?

Would you say that a good attitude is as important as people say it is? And does a bad attitude indeed dictates one’s fortune or misfortune? Based on research and your own beliefs, decide on your position and provide evidence to support your argument.

Write about something as simple as the effects of your attitude on your life. How does your outlook on life affect you? Do you feel that your attitude is helping you live your life well? Do you think there is anything that you can change to optimize your daily life? Try and provide examples of when a different attitude may have produced a different outcome in a scenario.

Often people are told they have a bad attitude and are misjudged for it. However, is their attitude a true reflection of their character or simply masking a hidden agenda? Think of examples when people may be misjudged by their attitude, or perhaps their behavior was misconstrued, and discuss how difficult it is to remedy this after the event. There are numerous examples of this in literature that you can reference. If you cannot think of a real-life example pick one from an appropriate piece and discuss the character’s attitude, and others’ perceptions of them.

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Shaping a Positive Attitude Toward Writing

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

Let's be honest: how do you feel about having to  write ? Do you tend to view a writing project as a challenge or as a chore? Or is it merely a dull duty, one that you have no strong feelings about at all?

Whatever your attitude may be, one thing is certain: how you feel about writing both effects and reflects how well you can write.

Attitudes on Writing

Let's compare the attitudes expressed by two students:

• I love to write and I always have. Even when I was a little kid, if there wasn't any paper I would write on the walls! I keep an online journal and write l-o-n-g emails to my friends and family. I usually get pretty good grades from instructors who let me write.
• I HATE to write. I get so nervous when I have to write that my hands shake. Writing is just about the worst punishment you can give me. Maybe if I had LOTS of time and I didn't get so anxious I could be a halfway decent writer. But I'm really not very good at it.

Although your own feelings about writing may fall somewhere between these extremes, you probably recognize what the two students have in common: their attitudes toward writing are directly related to their abilities. The one who enjoys writing does well because she practices often, and she practices because she does well. On the other hand, the one who hates writing avoids opportunities to improve.

You might be wondering, "What can I do if I don't especially enjoy writing? Is there any way I can change the way I feel about having to write?"

"Yes," is the simple answer. Certainly, you can change your attitude--and you will, as you gain more experience as a writer. In the meantime, here are a few points to think about:

• Sharpening your ​ writing skills will help you improve your grades in many different courses, not just in English classes.
• Regardless of your ​ career goals , writing is one of the most practical skills you can have. On a typical work day, professionals in fields as diverse as engineering, marketing, computer programming, and management spend upwards of 50% of their time writing .
• According to a study recently conducted by the College Board, more than 75% of managers report that they take writing into account when hiring and promoting employees. "There's a premium placed on well-developed writing skills," observed one human resources director.
• Writing can be personally rewarding and enriching, an outlet for your anxieties rather than a cause of them. Keeping a journal , composing e-mails or text messages to friends, even writing an occasional poem or short story (whether or not you ever intend to show your work to anyone else)--all allow you to practice your writing skills without the fear of being judged.
• Writing can be fun. Seriously! You may just have to trust me on this one for now, but soon you should find that being able to express your thoughts clearly in writing can produce an enormous sense of delight and satisfaction.

You get the point. As you begin working to become a better writer, you'll find that your attitude toward writing improves with the quality of your work. So enjoy! And start writing.

Defining Your Goals

Spend some time thinking about why you would like to improve your writing skills: how you might benefit, personally and professionally, by becoming a more confident and competent writer. Then, on a sheet of paper or at your computer, explain to yourself why and how you plan to achieve the goal of becoming a better writer.

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Transforming students’ attitudes towards learning through the use of successful educational actions

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Department of Linguistic and Literary Education, and Teaching and Learning of Experimental Sciences and Mathematics, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Roles Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Deusto, Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Roles Investigation, Project administration, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation CREA–Community of Research of Excellence for All, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

• Javier Díez-Palomar, 
• Rocío García-Carrión, 
• Linda Hargreaves, 
• María Vieites

• Published: October 12, 2020
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292
• Peer Review
• Reader Comments

Previous research shows that there is a correlation between attitudes and academic achievement. In this article, we analyze for the first time the impact of interactive groups (IG) and dialogic literary gatherings (DLG) on the attitudes that students show towards learning. A quantitative approach has been performed using attitude tests validated by previous research. The data suggest that in both cases, the participants show positive attitudes. The social context has an important influence on students’ attitudes. The items with higher correlations include group work, mutual support, and distributed cognition. In the case of IGs, group work is much more appreciated, while in the case of DLGs, self-image and self-confidence are the two most clearly valued attitudes. The positive impact of IGs and DLGs on students’ attitudes may have potential for teachers in transforming their practices and decision-making within the classroom.

Citation: Díez-Palomar J, García-Carrión R, Hargreaves L, Vieites M (2020) Transforming students’ attitudes towards learning through the use of successful educational actions. PLoS ONE 15(10): e0240292. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292

Editor: Christian Stamov Roßnagel, Jacobs University Bremen, GERMANY

Received: April 9, 2020; Accepted: September 24, 2020; Published: October 12, 2020

Copyright: © 2020 Díez-Palomar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.

Funding: JDP, RGC, LH and MVC want to acknowledge the funding provided by the EU Commission under the grant num. 2015-1-ES01-KA201-016327, corresponding to the project Schools as Learning Communities in Europe: Successful Educational Actions for all, (SEAS4ALL), under the program ERASMUS +; and the Spanish Ramón y Cajal Grant RYC-2016-20967 for open access publication of the article.

Competing interests: No authors have competing interests.

Introduction

In this article, we address the following research question: What impact does participation in interactive groups (IGs) and dialogic literary gatherings (DLGs) have on the attitudes that students show towards learning? To define “attitudes”, we draw on the definition of Harmon-Jones, Harmon-Jones, Amodio and Gable [ 1 ], who characterize attitudes as “subjective evaluations that range from good to bad that are represented in memory” [ 1 ]. This definition is also consistent with the classic definitions about “attitudes” used in social psychology studies [ 2 ].

Previous research suggests that there is a clear relationship between students’ attitudes and their academic achievement [ 3 , 4 ]. Decades ago, classic studies in the field of educational research [ 5 ] concluded that teachers’ expectations about students’ attitudes and behaviors may explain students’ effective academic achievement. According to [ 4 ], the process of the “social construction of identity” explains why there are students who seem destined to obtain poor academic results. Drawing on the theoretical approach developed by Mead [ 6 ], Molina and her colleagues [ 4 ] argue that the way in which a student defines his/her own identity determines his/her own learning expectations and, as a consequence, his/her own academic career. In this sense, the process of constructing identity is social in essence.

According to Mead [ 6 ], the self emerges as a result of social interaction with other people who project their expectations and attitudes on the individual. The identity of a person is formed by two components. The first component is the me , which is of social origin and incorporates the attitudes of others about the individual; the second component is the I , which is the conscious reaction of each individual to those attitudes. A process is thus created in which identity is the result of the dialogue between the individual and others. This somehow explains why some students end up developing an identity as bad students, while others develop an identity as good students. This process has been called the “Pygmalion effect” by educational researchers [ 5 ]. As Flecha [ 7 ] suggests, drawing on successful educational actions (SEAs), teachers get their students to achieve better results, and that, in turn, explains why these students improve their self-concept as students (i.e., their me and I , in Mead’s terms). However, does that mean that they also change their attitudes towards learning in school?

Classic studies such as Learning to Work [ 8 ] suggest that students with low academic performance tend to be children who reject school. These students tend to manifest that feeling of rejection in wayward attitudes. These children also do not see school as a desirable or attractive place. In contrast, they show an attitude of rejection and resistance towards schooling, which is accompanied by low academic performance. Later researchers, such as Bruner, have suggested that this attitude is the result of the failure of the schools to respond to the expectations of these children (and their families) [ 9 ]. Students’ identities are defined in other spaces and with other references. This may have a negative impact on the ability of teachers to teach. Various studies have suggested that as some of these children grow, their interest in school diminishes. This happens especially in the transition between primary and secondary school, as some students lose interest in science, mathematics and other subjects. Given this situation, researchers have found that learning initiatives located outside of the school can change these attitudes towards learning, as in the case of visiting museums, laboratories, or research centers [ 10 ].

This article discusses the impact of participating in two educational activities previously defined as successful educational actions (SEAs) [ 7 ] on attitudes towards learning shown by students who have participated in these actions. Thus far, we have clear evidence of the positive impact that SEAs have on learning outcomes [ 11 – 15 ], and there are studies suggesting that there is also a positive effect on the coexistence and cohesion of the group-class [ 16 , 17 ]. However, previous studies have not explored the impact that such SEAs may have on students’ own attitudes. Therefore, this article discusses this dimension of learning, which, as the studies mentioned above claim, is a relevant aspect to understanding how learning works.

Theoretical framework

Attitudes and learning.

There is an assumed belief in education that there is a direct relationship between student attitudes and academic achievement. Renaud [ 18 ] distinguishes between dispositions and attitudes by stating that the former is more “resistant” to change than the latter. Dispositions are defined as “more general and enduring characteristics”, while attitudes are tendencies or internal states of the person towards anything that a person can evaluate, such as “learning math, extracurricular activities, or the general notion of going to school” [ 18 ]. Previous research that exists on attitudes and learning has found that there is a clear relationship between both aspects. Renaud [ 18 ] quotes literature reviews that indicate that there is a correlation between attitude and achievement in mathematics [ 19 – 21 ] and in science [ 22 ]. According to previous research, the relationship becomes stronger at higher educational levels [ 22 – 24 ].

Ma and Kishor [ 19 ] analyze three indicators that refer to attitude to evaluate their impact on academic achievement: the self-concept about mathematics, the support of the family and the gender role in mathematics. According to their data, the most important correlation corresponds to the self-concept (p. 24). Masgoret and Gardner [ 23 ] found that motivation is more closely related to academic achievement than attitude. Attitude, on the other hand, seems to be related to achievement; however, it is related indirectly through motivation. Motivation and self-concept present a clear relationship (a correlation exists), but the research is not conclusive in regard to which direction the relationship works, i.e., we do not know (yet) if it is the motivation that gives rise to the person’s positive self-concept or if having a positive self-concept translates into an increase in terms of motivation. In any case, both variables seem to correlate directly with academic achievement; higher motivation and self-concept are associated with better academic results (in general terms).

The “symbolic interactionism” approach

The theoretical approach that has devoted the most effort to analyzing the relationship between attitudes, motivation, self-concept and academic achievement is that of symbolic interactionism. George H. Mead [ 6 ] is one of the best-known representatives of this theory. According to his findings, self-concept is of social origin. “The self is something which has a development; it is not initially there at birth” [ 6 ]. To explain this process, Mead proposes the concept of the generalized other. According to him, the generalized other is “the organized community or social group which gives to the individual his or her unity of self” [ 6 ]. Mead illustrates how this concept works to create the self-concept by drawing on the game metaphor. He uses the example of baseball. The baseball team is what Mead calls the generalized other. Each player has a specific role within the team, and he or she acts in accordance with what is expected of him or her in that position. The rest of the team does the same, so that individual actions are defined and carried out within the more global unit that defined is the team (i.e., the generalized other). Using this example and others, Mead [ 6 ] was able to show that the self is the result of a social process. Similarly, Vygotsky [ 25 ] claimed that higher psychological functions emerge through interpersonal connections and actions with the social environment until they are internalized by the individual.

Mead states as follows:

It is in the form of the generalized other that the social process influences the behavior of the individuals involved in it and carrying it on, i.e., that the community exercises control over the conduct of its individual members; for it is in this form that the social process or community enters as a determining factor into the individual’s thinking. [ 6 ]

This social process involves interaction with other individuals in the group through shared activities. The classroom is the perfect example of a group. The teacher and the students are part of a social group with defined norms [ 26 ] as well as an institutional objective (teaching and learning), where each “player” performs a specific role according to those (declared or implicit) norms.

In some investigations, this social unit has been defined as a “community of practice” [ 27 , 28 ]. Brousseau [ 29 ] uses the concept of “contracte didactique” to characterize this social unit and analyze its functioning in the mathematics classroom. According to Brousseau, there is a relationship between the different actors (individuals) participating in the mathematics classroom, in which each plays a specific role and has specific responsibilities. The teacher has the obligation to create sufficient conditions for the appropriation of knowledge by the students and must be able to recognize when this happens. Similarly, the responsibility of the students is to satisfy the conditions created by the teacher. Brousseau studies how the teacher performs what he calls the didactic transposition of scientific knowledge to be taught in school. S/he has to identify the epistemological obstacles and the cognitive obstacles that make it difficult or students to learn in the classroom.

However, other studies have suggested that there are factors of another nature (neither cognitive nor epistemological) that also influence the academic achievements reached by students. This is the case with interactions [ 16 , 30 , 31 ]. As Mead [ 6 ] suggested, the self-concept created by an individual is the result of the internalization of the expectations that each individual has of himself or herself by the role s/he plays in the group to which s/he belongs. For example, the student who always tries hard and answers the teacher’s questions is fulfilling his or her role within the good student group. The group expects him or her to play that role. It is part of his/her identity. In addition, s/he acts accordingly. The effect of the positive or negative projection of expectations on students has been widely studied in education [ 32 , 33 ]. What we know is that teachers have to be cautious and try not to project negative expectations on students because that has a clear effect on their academic achievements, giving rise to well-studied interactions such as the Pygmalion effect, or the self-fulfilling prophecy [ 5 ].

However, the impact of successful educational actions [ 7 ] on the attitudes that students have towards learning at school in the context of interactive groups and dialogic literary gatherings has not been studied so far. This impact is what is discussed in this article.

The successful educational actions of interactive groups and dialogic literary gatherings

The research question discussed in this article is framed in the context of the implementation of two successful educational actions identified by the European Commission in the research project titled INCLUD-ED : Strategies for inclusion and social cohesion from education in Europe [ 34 ]. A successful educational action is defined as an action carried out in the school, the result of which significantly improves students’ learning [ 7 ]. The two successful educational actions that are discussed herein are interactive groups and dialogic literary gatherings.

Interactive groups.

Interactive groups (IGs) consist of a particular group-based teaching practice in which students are put together in small groups of approximately six or seven students, with an adult person facilitating the task. IGs must be heterogeneous in terms of their composition, including children with different ability levels, gender, socioeconomic background, etc. The adult person (the facilitator) is a volunteer who encourages dialogic interaction among the group members while performing the task designed by the teacher. The teacher splits the students among four or five IGs (depending on the number of children in the classroom and the time available for the lesson). Each group of students has a task assigned, which the teachers have previously designed. There is a total of four or five tasks (the same number as the number of IGs). The assignments are about the subject that is being focused on in the lesson plan (i.e., mathematics, language, science, history, etc.). To perform the assigned task, groups have fifteen or twenty minutes of time (depending on the total time allocated for that activity in the school day). After this interval, the teacher asks the students to move to the next IG, where they will find another task. When the class is over, each of the children must have gone through all of the tasks. All of the children perform four or five different tasks designed by the teacher to cover the curriculum requirements. In some schools, the kids move from one IG to the next. In other cases, the teachers prefer to ask the facilitators to move between the groups to avoid the noise and disorder created by the children getting up and moving to the next table (task).

The facilitators never provide solutions to the tasks executed by the students. Instead, they encourage students to share, justify, explain, their work to their group mates. Their responsibility is encouraging students to use dialogic talk [ 15 ], which is based on the principles of dialogic learning [ 35 ]. Research evidence on IGs suggests that using dialogic talk increases participants’ chances of improving their academic achievements [ 15 , 30 , 36 ]. When students are asked by the facilitator to justify their answers to a task, they need to conceptually defend their claims; this implies that they must be able to not only understand the concept or concepts embedded in the assigned tasks but also explain them to their group mates. The type of talk (speech) that appears when children engage in this type of interaction has been defined as dialogic talk [ 30 ] because it is oriented towards validity claims [ 37 ], not towards the power position that children occupy within the group.

Dialogic literary gatherings.

Dialogic literary gatherings (DLGs) are spaces in which students sit in a circle and share the reading of a classic literary book. The gathering is facilitated by the teacher, whose role is not to intervene or give his/her opinion, but to organize the students’ participation by assigning them turns. Every child who wants to share his/her reading raises his/her hand and waits until the teacher gives him/her a turn. Readings come from classic literature, such as works by Shakespeare, Cervantes, Kafka, Tagore, etc. [ 38 , 39 ]. Students read at home the assigned number of pages (it either could be a whole chapter or a certain number of pages, according to the teacher’s criteria). When reading the assignment, the student highlights a paragraph and writes down the reason for his/her choice. Then, during the DLG session in school, the children bring the paragraph or paragraphs they want to share with the rest of their classmates. At the beginning of the session, the teacher asks who wants to share his/her paragraph. S/he writes down the name of the students offering to share on a list. Then, the teacher starts with the first name on the list and that student reads aloud his/her paragraph; s/he also identifies on which page of the text it is so that the rest of the participants in the DLG can follow the reading and explains the reason for his/her choice. After the reading, the teacher opens the floor for questions. S/he always prioritizes the children who participate less often. When the teacher considers that the topic has been sufficiently commented on either because the idea that led to the intervention has been fully commented on or because the children's questions drifted to other irrelevant topics, s/he moves to the next name on the list. The process is repeated until the session ends.

Children, when talking about their paragraph, become involved in a process called “dialogical reading” [ 40 ], which is based on the application of Bakhtin’s concept of “dialogism” [ 41 ]. Bakhtin explains this concept using the idea of “polyphony” to refer to the use of multiple voices in a narrative work, such as the case of Dostoevsky’s poetics [ 41 ]. According to Bakhtin, no voice is the result of a single speech but rather it integrates different voices. This concept has been reused and reinterpreted in educational research. Drawing on those authors, knowledge is the result of internalizing the voices of multiple people (teachers, family members, friends, classmates, and other people) that we have encountered throughout our lives. DLGs recreate that multiplicity of voices through the dialogues that generate a space in which all children contribute with their opinions, ideas, and understandings about the paragraph being discussed. In this sense, reading understanding develops in a much deeper way than if the child had to read the material individually because s/he can incorporate the points of view of his/her peers into his/her own final comprehension.

Methodology

The data used to discuss the research question come from a research project titled SEAs4All–Schools as Learning Communities in Europe . The dataset has been submitted to this journal as supporting data for public use. Six schools from the four European countries of Cyprus, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain participated in this project. Five of them were primary schools, and the last one was a middle/high school. All of the schools were selected because they applied successful educational actions (SEAs) [ 7 ]. After implementing IGs and DLGs, a survey was conducted in three of the schools to evaluate the impact of using these two types SEAs on students’ attitudes and perceptions towards learning. Children between 7 and 11 years old participated in the survey. Two of the surveyed schools are located in the United Kingdom, and the third one is located in Italy. All of the schools are located in different contexts. One of the schools in the United Kingdom is in an area where families have a high economic status and high cultural capital (Cambridge), while the other English school is located in a neighborhood considered to be of a medium-level SES (Norwich). The Italian school is located in a low SES area of Naples. A total of 418 children participated in the survey (251 participating in DLGs and 167 engaging in IGs), as shown in Table 1 .

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t001

To collect the data, the SAM questionnaire, developed at the Universities of Leicester and Cambridge, UK, was used as a model for the evaluation of the impact of the implemented educational actions. The original SAM questionnaire consists of 17 items that are measured using a 5-point Likert scale, which ranges between “strongly agree” and “strongly disagree.” The questionnaire used in the current study was amended by drawing on previous results from a pilot test and was thus reduced to 12 items [ S1 File ].

The children answered a paper version of the questionnaire. The data were then coded and entered into an Excel matrix that was later used to analyze the data in SPSS (version 25.0). To debug the database and detect possible errors in the transcription, univariate descriptive analysis was conducted using the table of frequencies for each item to check that all codes and weights were aligned with the data collected through the paper questionnaires. Whenever an anomaly was detected, we proceeded to review the original questionnaire on paper to verify the information and data transcribed in the matrix.

To analyze the data, a descriptive report was first made by tabulating the data in frequency tables using the mean, median and mode, as well as the variance and standard deviation.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t002

Before performing Bartlett’s test, four of the items were recoded (#1, #3, #4, and #6) since the grading vector of the Likert scale used in these three items went in the opposite direction as that used for the rest of the items. These four items were displayed in a negative tone (i.e., “we learn best when the teacher tells us what to do”, “learning through discussion in class is confusing”, “sometimes, learning in school is boring”, and “I would rather think for myself than hear other people’s ideas”), unlike the rest of the items in which the tone of the answers was positive. Therefore, the labels of “strongly agree”, “agree a little”, “not sure”, “disagree a little”, and “strongly disagree” for items #1, #3, #4, and #6 referenced to a scale with a negative associated vector, whereas for the rest of the items, the same labels refer to a positive vector. For this reason, the responses of these four variables were recoded into four new variables that reversed the original direction of the response vector.

In both cases, (IGs and DLGs), Bartlett’s test suggests that we can accept the null hypothesis, which means that we can use factor analysis to discriminate which principal components are the ones that explain the greatest percentage of the variance. The results of this analysis are discussed below.

Ethic statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee of the Community of Research on Excellence for All, University of Barcelona. Schools collected the families’ informed consent approving the participation of their children in this study.

The Ethics Board was composed by: Dr. Marta Soler (president), who has expertise within the evaluation of projects from the European Framework Program of Research of the European Union and of European projects in the area of ethics; Dr. Teresa Sordé, who has expertise within the evaluation of projects from the European Framework Program of Research and is a researcher of Roma studies; Dr. Patricia Melgar, a founding member of the Catalan Platform against gender violence and researcher within the area of gender and gender violence; Dr. Sandra Racionero, a former secretary and member of the Ethics Board at Loyola University Andalusia (2016–2018); Dr. Cristina Pulido, an expert in data protection policies and child protection in research and communication and researcher of communication studies; Dr. Oriol Rios, a founding member of the “Men in Dialogue” association, a researcher within the area of masculinities, as well as an editor of “Masculinities and Social Change,” a journal indexed in WoS and Scopus; and Dr. Esther Oliver, who has expertise within the evaluation of projects from the European Framework Program of Research and is a researcher within the area of gender violence.

Students’ attitudes towards learning

The data collected suggest that the students who participate in the IGs and the DLGs have positive attitudes towards learning in general terms. Table 3 indicates that the answers for almost all the items are clearly positive; this is true for between 75% and 80% of the responses, except for three items (#3, #4, and #6). This outcome is understandable since in these three items, the interviewer changed the meaning of the question, i.e., instead of phrasing the questions positively, as with the rest of the items, the questions were phrased negatively, with the expected outcome being that the positive trend in the answers would be reversed, which is what occurred. Surprisingly, in the case of item #1, which we expected to function similar to items #3, #4 and #6, the responses are aligned with the rest of the items.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t003

The answers to item 1 (“We learn best when the teacher tells us what to do”) may indicate an active role by the teacher, which a priori would not be the expected answer in the context of using IGs and DLGs. In contrast, what we would expect in that context is for students to show a preference for answers related to an active role of the student, which is the case for the rest of the items analyzed. However, the fact that the respondents also claim that they learn better when the teacher tells them what to do either suggests that there is a bias in the student responses that is either due to what Yackel and Cobb [ 26 ] call the “norms”, which are also theorized as the “didactic contract” in Brousseau’s terms [ 29 ] and which regulate the social interactions within the classroom, or because the role of the teacher as a leader is recognized by these students.

Table 4 summarizes the previous results in two categories (agree and disagree). The trend noted above can now be clearly seen.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t004

Items #4 and #10 are crucial to understanding the attitudes that students have towards learning. In the first case, half of the respondents contrarily claim that learning is a boring activity. If we assume that for a boy or a girl between 7 and 11 years old, defining an activity as fun or boring can be a clear way of indicating their attitude towards that activity, the fact that half of the students participating in the survey declare that learning is not boring suggests that their participation in doing mathematics in the IGs and DLGs makes these two activities in some way attractive to them.

On the other hand, another relevant aspect regarding the students’ attitudes is the feeling of self-confidence. Previous research has provided much evidence that suggests the importance of this aspect in the attitudes that children can have towards learning [ 5 ]. Boys and girls who have confidence in themselves tend to show a clearly positive attitude towards learning. The data suggest that this is what happens when students participate within IGs or DLGs, i.e., three out of four children affirm that they feel more self-confident with regard to learning in school than they normally do. This result is relevant because it suggests that both IGs and DLGs have a clear impact on the positive transformation of attitudes towards learning. The data show that this is true for children in the three schools that participated in the survey, regardless of the country or the context in which they are located.

Principal components analysis

The KMO test indicates whether the partial correlations between the variables are small enough to be able to perform a factorial analysis. Table 2 shows that in this case, the KMO test has a value of 0.517 for the students participating in IGs and 0.610 for the students participating in the DLGs, which allows us to assume (although with reservation) that we can perform a factor analysis to find the principal components explaining the variance. Bartlett’s sphericity test (which contrasts the null hypothesis assuming that the correlation matrix is, in fact, an identity matrix, in which case we cannot assume that there are significant correlations between the variables) yields a critical value of 0.000 in both cases, which suggests that we can accept the null hypothesis of sphericity and, consequently, that we can think that the factorial model is adequate to explain de data.

After performing ANOVA several times, considering the several items in the tested models, we managed to find two models (one for the students who had participated in the IGs and another for those engaged in the DLGs) that explained more than half of the variance. Tables 5 and 6 introduce the obtained results.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t005

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t006

As Tables 5 and 6 indicate, the items that are included in the SAM test contribute to better explaining the attitudes that the students participating in the study have regarding DLGs than those they have regarding the IGs. For the DLGs, we observed that there are four components above 1, explaining 74.227% of the variance. In contrast, in the case of IGs, we find only two components above the value of 1, which together explain only 63.201% of the variance. This suggests that the SAM test is probably the best instrument to measure attitudes in the case of the DLGs.

The sedimentation graphs make it easier to visualize this result. In the left image of Fig 1 (the sedimentation graph obtained for the IGs), a clear inflection is observed from component 2. In contrast, in the case of the DLGs, the inflection occurs from component four and onward.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.g001

The matrix of components suggests that, in the case of the IGs, factor 1 is formed by the components that we can label as “active peer-support” (#9 “Helping my friends has helped me to understand things better”) and “active listening” (#8 “It is good to hear other people’s ideas”). Factor 2, on the other hand, is formed by the component of “participation” (#2 “We can learn more when we can express our own ideas”). For the IGs, the component “individualism” (#6 “I would rather think for myself than hear other people’s ideas”) is clearly the least explanatory (-0.616), which is a fact that seems to suggest that collaboration within the groups is a fundamental aspect of the learning dynamic occurring within them. Table 7 shows that the most explanatory factor of the variance is the first factor. On the other hand, factors 2, 3 and 4 are less important since their weights are almost irrelevant.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t007

When we observe the results for the case of the DLGs, the component matrix ( Table 8 ) indicates that factor 1 is formed mainly by the components of “positive discussion” (#11 “I like discussing the books we read with the class”), “self-confidence in school” (#10 “I am more confident about learning in school than I used to be), and “participation” (#2 “We can learn more when we can express our own ideas”). In contrast, Factor 2 contains a single component (#1 “We learn best when the teacher tells us what to do”). In the case of factor 3, the more explanatory component is the sixth component (#6 “I would rather think for myself than hear other people’s ideas”). Finally, factor 4 includes the third component of the SAM test (#3 “Learning through discussing in class is confusing”).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t008

Fig 2 shows the graphs of the loading scores for each component in a rotated space, both for the IGs and the DLGs. The data confirm the interpretation of the previous tables. The graphs show that for the IGs (the left side of Fig 2 ), variables #8 and #9 tend to explain the maximum variance of factor 1, while in the case of DLGs, the three-dimensional component chart shows the two slightly differentiated groups of variables.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.g002

Construction of subscales of attitudes towards learning in IGs and DLGs

The collected data allow us to think that the variables obtained with the SAM test may explain the attitudes that students have towards learning in the context of IGs and DLGs. However, according to previous theoretical models, it would seem plausible to assume that not all variables are equally precise in the explanation of the attitudes towards learning showed by the students interviewed in both contexts. For this reason, in this section, we compare two possible scales for each context (IGs and DLGs) to identify which variables would be more reliable in explaining those attitudes.

In the case of the IGs, we created two subscales. The first subscale (Tables 9 – 11 ) includes items #1 (“We learn best when the teacher tells us what to do”), #7 (“I enjoy learning when my friends help me”) and #10 (“I am more confident about learning in school than I used to be”). In contrast, subscale 2 (Tables 12 – 14 ) incorporates items #2 (“We learn more when we can express our own ideas”), #5 (“Learning in school is better when we have other adults to work with us”) and #11 (“I like discussing the books we read with the class”). Table 9 shows the Cronbach’s alpha value for subscale 1, which is rather mediocre (0.412), while Table 12 indicates that subscale 2 is a much more reliable subscale (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.794), suggesting that the subscale 2 works better than the first one to characterize the components explaining the results obtained within the IGs. The difference between the two subscales is that in the first one, the role of the teacher is not included, while in subscale 2, item #5 (“Learning in school is better when we have other adults to work with us”) is the one that presents the highest correlation (0.613), as seen in Table 13 , which shows the interitem correlation matrix for the variables of subscale 2.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t009

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t010

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t011

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t012

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t013

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t014

Regarding DLGs, we also created two subscales, i.e., subscales 3 (Tables 15 – 17 ) and 4 (Tables 18 – 20 ). Subscale 3 is formed by variables #1 (“We learn best when the teacher tells us what to do”), #5 (“Learning in school is better when we have other adults to work with us”), #10 (“I am more confident about learning in school than I used to be”) and #11 (‘I like discussing the books we read with the class”). In contrast, subscale 4 includes variables #2 (“We learn more when we can express our own ideas”), #7 (“I enjoy learning when my friends help me”), #8 (“It is good to hear other people’s ideas”) and #9 (“Helping my friends has helped me to understand things better”).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t015

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t016

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t017

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t018

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t019

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.t020

Table 15 shows the results for subscale 3 (DLGs), including a high Cronbach’s alpha value (0.820), indicating that this subscale is a good proposal. According to data shown in Tables 16 and 17 , the subscale 3 works better when component #10 is removed from the model (increasing Cronbach’s alpha from 0,820 to 0,829). This result suggests that self-confidence is not a relevant component for attitudes towards participating in DLGs. Subscale 3 is better than subscale 4, which presents a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.767, which, although high, is lower than that found in subscale 3.

The clearest difference between both subscales (3 and 4) is that the first one (subscale 3) includes item #11 (“I like discussing the books we read with the class”), which is the one item more focused on the context of the DLGs. The other items are more related to the interaction among the students (Tables 18 – 20 ). However, the amount of correlation explained is lower than the amount explained by subscale 3. This fact may explain why subscale 3 is more reliable in measuring students’ attitudes towards learning in social/interactional contexts, such as DLGs.

Discussion and conclusions

Previous research in education has provided enough evidence to claim that attitudes have a relevant impact on learning [ 42 – 46 ]. Studies such as those of Fennema and Sherman [ 3 ] have confirmed almost half a century ago that the “affective factors (…) partially explain individual differences in the learning of mathematics” [ 3 ]. Currently, we know that the results of learning depend, to a certain extent, on the attitudes that students have towards it. When there is a clear resistance to school and school practices, it is more difficult for students to achieve good results. Aspects such as motivation or self-concept, for instance, are relevant to explaining a positive attitude towards learning. These aspects often appear to be correlated [ 19 ]. When a child has a poor self-concept as a student, s/he often feels very unmotivated to learn in school. The literature reports numerous cases of students who actively or passively resist or even refuse to make an effort to learn their lessons because they felt that they cannot learn anything. In contrast, when students’ self-image is positive, then it is easier for them to learn. In those cases, the data provide evidence of positive correlations between learning achievements and attitudes. Rosenthal and Jacobson [ 5 ] called this type of behavior the Pygmalion Effect.

SEAs [ 7 ] such as IGs and DLGs are framed within the dialogic learning theory, one of whose main principals is that of transformation. As Freire [ 47 ] claimed, people “are beings of transformation, and not of adaptation.” Education has the capacity to create opportunities for people to transform themselves. Drawing on the assumption that “education needs both technical, scientific and professional training, as well as dreams and utopia” [ 47 ], SEAs integrate practices endorsed by the international scientific community to create real opportunities for learning for children. The data presented in the previous section suggest that children participating either in IGs or DLG have a clear positive attitude towards learning. Table 4 suggests that these children truly enjoy learning. Less than half of the participants say that learning at school is “boring” (41.8%). In contrast, almost eight out of ten children interviewed said they love learning (78.6%). The SAM test items, validated in previous studies [ 10 , 48 , 49 ], have been confirmed as components with which to measure children’s attitudes towards learning. For the first time in the context of studying the impact of actions included within the SEAs [ 7 ], we have been able to identify (and measure) the positive relationship between implementing SEAs, i.e., boys and girls engaged in the IGs and/or the DLGs showed a clear positive attitude towards learning. We can therefore claim that in the context of SEAs, students show positive attitudes towards learning. The data analyzed suggest that participating within IGs and DLGs empower students to transform their own attitudes towards learning.

On the other hand, we know that social contexts have a powerful influence on people’s attitudes. The context of positive empowerment, based on the idea of “maximum expectations” [ 50 , 51 ], is able to transform the attitudes that students have towards learning (especially those who are more resistant to learning and school). In contexts where school and school practices are not valued, children have to overcome the social tendency to openly show resistance against school (and everything that represents the school, such as teachers, attitudes of compliance with the school activities, norms, etc. ) and embrace a new tendency of valuing all these aspects. However, as previous studies framed within the symbolic interactionism approach have largely demonstrated [ 6 , 8 ], it is hard to turn against the social pressure of the group. We define our identity as a result of our interactions with others. If the group finds it attractive to resisting schooling, school norms and practices, then it is going to be difficult for individual students to achieve good academic results (unless they receive a different context from elsewhere) because they have to fight against the social pressure of not valuing school, in addition to the inherent difficulties of learning itself (in cognitive and curricular terms). In contrast, when the context is transformed (to adopt the terms of Freire and Flecha) and learning becomes a valued practice, children usually transform their attitudes, which previous research has correlated with successful learning achievement [ 14 , 15 , 33 ]. The data collected and discussed herein provide evidence for how changing the context (drawing on the two SEAs of IGs and DLGs) can transform students’ attitudes towards learning. As we stated in the previous section, 78.6% of the students participating in the survey claimed that they like to learn after participating in either IGs or in DLGs. They claim that they like “when my friends help me.” Along the same lines, 78.3% of the respondents said that “it is good to hear other people’s ideas,” while 76.7% claim that “helping my friends has helped me to understand things better.” This type of answer clearly demonstrates that IGs and DLGs create a context in which learning is valued positively. Attitudes such as solidarity, willingness to help the other, friendship seem to indicate the preference for a context that is oriented towards learning rather than resisting it. Hence, transforming the context also changes how individuals recreate their own identities using different values as referents, which, drawing on Mead [ 6 ], is how identity creation works. The evidence collected herein suggests that IGs and DLGs work to increase students’ academic performance because they transform the students’ context; hence, students transform their own attitudes (as expected according the theory of symbolic interactionism).

By analyzing more in detail what happens in both the IGs and the DLGs, we have been able to verify that the attitudes that emerge among the students participating either in the IGs or the DLGs are slightly different. In the case of the IGs, the data collected reveal that children value much more the collaborative work with the rest of their classmates, as seen in the answers to items #8 (“It is good to hear other people’s ideas”) and #9 (“Helping my friends has helped me to understand things better”). These two items are the main components explained by the variance detected. On the other hand, in the case of the DLGs, the ability to express one’s ideas is especially valued. In this case, the variance is explained above all by items #2 (“We learn more when we can express our own ideas”), #10 (“I am more confident about learning in school than I used to be”) and #11 (“I like discussing the books we read with the class”). The last component (#11) clearly belongs to a context similar to that of the DLGs. However, the two previous components (#2 and #10) suggest that participation in DLGs is related to the development of a positive self-image as learner. The chi-square test indicates that the correlations are significant in both cases. Therefore, the data obtained suggest that participating in IGs and/or DLGs is related to showing positive attitudes towards learning (both as an individual and as member of the group, i.e., in a social sense).

On the other hand, when analyzing the reliability of the results, it can be verified that in the case of the IGs, the most important correlation appears in the case of item #5 (“Learning in school is better when we have other adults to work with us”). This finding is very relevant since it constitutes empirical evidence of something that Vygotsky already suggested when he proposed his concept of ZPD, which is that in order for the process to work, there must be an adult or a more capable peer to help those who are learning achieve what they can with the support of these adults who act as facilitators. The difference between IGs and other collaborative learning groups is exactly that, i.e., in the IGs, there is always an adult who dynamizes the activity (who does not provide the answers but encourages the children to engage in a dialogic interaction [ 15 ]).

Regarding the DLGs, the most important correlation appears in the case of item #11 (“I like discussing the books we read with the class”), which is an aspect that makes sense in the context of the gatherings. Children affirm that they like to read books together with their other classmates. As we know, this activity has clear advantages from the point of view of the development of reading understanding [ 41 , 52 ].

A surprising finding is the high response rate to item #1 (“We learn best when the teacher tells us what to do”). This would seem to be inconsistent with using IGs or DLGs, where the role of the teacher is rather marginal or passive (the teacher organizes the activity but does not give answers, and they explain the academic content such as in a master’s class, etc.). Perhaps a possible reason to explain this result is that the school, as an institution, is characterized by a series of social norms [ 26 ]. Waiting for teachers’ directions is part of those norms. It is assumed that when attending the school, we must pay attention to what the teacher says. This idea corresponds to the social image of the teacher as a transmitter of knowledge, which is part of the social norm characterizing the school institution. It is possible that even though the children participating in this study have engaged in IGs and DLGs, there are not excluded from the norms of the social context, so that their attitudes are tinged with them.

We can therefore conclude that the SAM test demonstrates that children who participate in IGs and/or DLGs clearly show positive attitudes towards learning after participating in these two SEAs. Perhaps this is one of the fundamental variables explaining the successful learning results that other studies have found among children using SEAs [ 11 – 15 ].

Future implications

This research confirms some aspects of learning, while it leaves others open for further study. We have observed that children who participate in SEAs show positive attitudes towards learning. However, what we do not know (yet) is whether it is the use of these SEAs that explains why these children show these attitudes or if the transformation lies in other reasons. To clarify this lack of information, it is necessary to conduct further experimental research comparing groups of students using SEAs and other groups of students using other types of educational actions.

On the other hand, the data that we have discussed herein suggest that there is a social component that has a critical influence on the type of attitudes that students report in the survey. According to the criteria of how the IGs and DLGs work, solidarity, interaction, and sharing seem to explain why these children develop positive learning attitudes. However, it would be interesting to continue with this line of research to see if this outcome also presents when other educational actions are used in which the principals of action are different (when they are centered on the individual, for example).

Finally, evidence seems to support the statement that the successful academic performance of children who participate in IGs and DLGs is explained by the fact that participating in these two types of SEAs transforms the children’s context to a positive orientation towards learning. Indeed, the results are hopeful. However, we need to further replicate this study to confirm (or refute) that statement. In any case, confirming that statement and covering the preceding research questions presents the clear implication that teachers have to put their effort into designing their lessons, as how they organize their classes truly encourages students’ learning.

Supporting information

S1 file. sam questionnaire: what i think about learning in school..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.s001

S2 File. Dataset.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292.s002

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Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Positive Attitude — The Power Of Having A Positive Attitude

The Power of Having a Positive Attitude

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“Your attitude determines your altitude”

Attitude is a matter of choice

“Weakness of attitude becomes a weakness of character “ Elbert Einstein

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Essay on Attitude And Values

Students are often asked to write an essay on Attitude And Values in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Attitude And Values

Understanding attitude and values.

Attitude is the way we think and feel about something. It is our mental outlook on things. For example, we may have a positive attitude towards studying or a negative attitude towards cleaning.

What are Values?

Values are the things that are important to us. They guide our actions and decisions. For example, if honesty is a value, we will always tell the truth.

Link Between Attitude and Values

Our values shape our attitudes. If we value hard work, we will have a positive attitude towards it. Our attitudes also reflect our values.

Importance of Positive Attitude and Values

Having a positive attitude and good values is important. It helps us to be happy and successful. It also helps us to make good choices and be good people.

In conclusion, our attitude and values are very important. They shape who we are and how we act. So, it is important to have a positive attitude and good values.

250 Words Essay on Attitude And Values

Attitude and values are two important parts of our life. They shape our thoughts, actions, and how we see the world. Attitude is how we feel about something or someone. It can be positive or negative. Values are the things we believe are good and important. They guide our behavior and choices.

The Role of Attitude

Attitude is like a mental filter through which we see the world. It can shape our thoughts and actions. For example, if we have a positive attitude towards school, we will enjoy learning. We will be eager to go to school and study. But if we have a negative attitude, we might not like school. We might feel bored or unhappy there. So, our attitude can change our experiences.

The Importance of Values

Values are like a compass that guides us. They help us decide what is right and wrong. For example, if we value honesty, we will always tell the truth. If we value kindness, we will be kind to others. So, our values guide our actions and behavior.

Attitude and Values Together

Attitude and values are closely related. Our values can shape our attitude. For example, if we value hard work, we will have a positive attitude towards challenges. We will see them as opportunities to learn and grow. So, our values can influence our attitude.

In conclusion, attitude and values are very important. They shape our thoughts, actions, and experiences. They help us become better people. So, we should always try to have a positive attitude and good values.

500 Words Essay on Attitude And Values

Introduction to attitude and values.

Attitude and values are two key concepts that help us understand our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Attitude is the way we think and feel about something or someone. It is like a mental filter through which we experience the world around us. On the other hand, values are the beliefs that guide our decisions and behavior. They are like a compass that shows us the right way to act.

Understanding Attitude

Attitude is a mix of thoughts and feelings. It is not something we are born with, but something we learn from our experiences and surroundings. For example, if you have a positive attitude towards studying, you might see it as a chance to learn new things and enjoy the process. But if you have a negative attitude, you might see studying as a boring task.

Our attitude can change depending on the situation and our experiences. This is why it is important to always try to keep a positive attitude. A positive attitude can help us overcome challenges, make us happier, and lead us to success.

The Role of Values

Values are the deep beliefs that we hold about what is right and wrong, good and bad. They are the rules by which we live our lives. For example, if honesty is a value for you, you will always try to tell the truth. If respect is a value, you will treat others with kindness and understanding.

Values are usually learned from our family, culture, religion, and education. They shape our character and influence our choices. They help us decide what is important in life and guide us in our actions.

Connection between Attitude and Values

Attitude and values are closely linked. Our values often shape our attitudes. For example, if you value hard work, you might have a positive attitude towards challenges and see them as opportunities to grow. On the other hand, if you value comfort and ease, you might have a negative attitude towards hard work and see it as something to avoid.

In the same way, our attitudes can influence our values. If we have a positive attitude towards kindness, we might start to value it more. If we have a negative attitude towards dishonesty, we might start to value honesty more.

In conclusion, attitude and values are two important factors that shape our thoughts, feelings, and actions. They interact with each other and influence our behavior. By understanding our attitudes and values, we can better understand ourselves and make better decisions. We can also work on improving our attitudes and values to become better people and lead more fulfilling lives. Remember, a positive attitude and good values can make a big difference in our lives.

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My Attitude Towards Reading And Writing

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Attitude towards writing and reading.

• Applebee, A. N. (1977). The child's concept of story. The Child's Concept of Story: Ages Two to Seventeen.
• Baker, L., & Wigfield, A. (1999). Dimensions of children's motivation for reading and their relations to reading activity and reading achievement. Reading Research Quarterly, 34(4), 452-477.
• Hidi, S., & Boscolo, P. (2006). Motivation and writing. Handbook of Writing Research, 141-153.
• Kintsch, W., & van Dijk, T. A. (1978). Toward a model of text comprehension and production. Psychological Review, 85(5), 363-394.
• Schunk, D. H., & Pajares, F. (2009). Self-efficacy theory. Handbook of Motivation at School, 35-54.
• Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(4), 360-407.
• Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Self-efficacy: An essential motive to learn. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 82-91.

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What Is Attitude? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples

Attitude definition.

Attitude  (ADD-ih-tood) is the way someone thinks or feels about something, which is usually apparent in their behavior. In literature, attitude refers to the way an author or character thinks or feels about the subject. It’s expressed through the author’s word choice, chosen  point of view ,  tone ,  voice , and  sentence  structure.

Different Types of Attitude

Most forms of attitude fall into two categories: objective and subjective.

Objective attitude focuses on facts instead of emotions. An objective text will usually consist of longer sentences, higher-level vocabulary, fewer descriptive words, and statistics or evidence to back the claim. They’re often written in third-person point of view, which distances the writer from the subject.

Subjective attitude focuses on emotions. The text is more personal, and there’s more descriptive language. Its tone is more casual, so pieces with subjective attitudes often employ  vernacular ,  colloquialisms , and slang. These works are more likely to be written in first person.

Consider these short passages:

• “Disneyland is one of the most popular theme park destinations in the world. Thousands of customers purchase annual passes, which saves them money and allows them to visit the park frequently and enjoy the attractions.”
• “I think Disneyland is overdone. Yeah, lots of people like it, but it doesn’t live up to the hype. Practically everyone I know has an annual pass, but I think it’s a waste of time to go there every week just to go on the same rides.”

The second example has a subjective attitude about Disneyland, evident through the first-person point of view, descriptive words, and casual tone. Readers can clearly tell what the writer thinks about the subject, whereas the first example states facts without providing an opinion on the theme park.

Attitude vs. Perspective

Perspective  is how characters feel and understand what’s happening in the story based on their unique experiences. A work’s perspective helps determine its attitude. For example, if a single mom was being fired from her job, the perspective on the event would depend on who’s telling it—the mom or her boss. If the mom is the narrator, her perspective will be based on elements like how many children she has, how quickly she can find another job, and whether she has a strong support system to help her in the interim. As such, her attitude will likely be subjective and colored with shock or worry. The boss, on the other hand, may have a more objective attitude on the matter; if his decision comes from the company’s need to lay off a certain number of employees, his perspective is focused on the company’s well-being, not the employees’.

Why Writers Use Attitude

Every piece of writing has an attitude. A textbook or scientific research paper will most likely have objective attitudes because they’re communicating facts and data. This gives the reader confidence that they’re getting reliable, unbiased information.

In fiction, attitude has a different purpose. It helps the reader understand how the author or characters feel. Without attitude, the reader would be lost and unable to determine the significance of the story’s events. Because of this, attitude is similar to tone, as both help the reader figure out how they should feel about the story.

Examples of Attitude in Literature

1. Maya Angelou,  Still I Rise

This  poem , in the final section of Angelou’s book,  And Still I Rise , is a testament to the African American life experience and the need to rise above tragedy:

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Words like  broken ,  teardrops ,  soulful cries ,  cut , and  kill  suggest sorrow and defeat, but the final line, “But still, like air, I’ll rise” changes the poem’s whole attitude. By saying that, in spite of all the hardship, she will rise above it all, Angelou gives the poem a positive attitude built on confidence and optimism.

2. Laurie R. King,  The Beekeeper’s Apprentice

A young girl names Mary Russell happens upon the retired Sherlock Holmes on a hillside. To showcase her wit and perspective, Mary tells him her opinion on bees: 

From what I know of them they are mindless creatures, little more than a tool for putting fruit on trees. The females do all the work; the males do…well, they do little. […] Bees are great workers, it is true, but does not the production of each bee’s total lifetime amount to a single dessert-spoonful of honey? Each hive puts up with having hundreds of thousands of bees stolen regularly, to be spread on toast and formed into candles, instead of declaring war or going on strike as any sensible, self-respecting race would do. A bit too close to the human race for my taste .

Though this passage has signs of an objective attitude, like the complex syntax and factual data, Mary clearly gives her opinion with words like  mindless  and  self-respecting . Readers learn that she’s intelligent, a feminist, and believes the human race is malleable and overall unintelligent. So, ultimately, her attitude is subjective, conveyed by her disgusted, haughty tone.

Further Resources on Attitude

Story in Literary Fiction  provides questions authors must ask themselves to determine their attitude (as well as the characters’ attitudes) about the story.

Daniel Droba’s “ The Nature of Attitude ” explores the sociological and psychological implications of attitude.

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Article contents

Attitudes toward women and the influence of gender on political decision making.

• Mary-Kate Lizotte Mary-Kate Lizotte Department of Social Sciences, Augusta University
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.771
• Published online: 28 August 2018

There is a great deal of research, spanning social psychology, sociology, and political science, on politically relevant attitudes toward women and the influence of gender on individual’s political decision making. First, there are several measures of attitudes toward women, including measures of sexism and gender role attitudes, such as the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale, the Modern Sexism Scale, and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. There are advantages and disadvantages of these existing measures. Moreover, there are important correlates and consequences of these attitudes. Correlates include education level and the labor force participation of one’s mother or spouse. The consequences of sexist and non-egalitarian gender role attitudes include negative evaluations of female candidates for political office and lower levels of gender equality at the state level. Understanding the sources and effects of attitudes toward women is relevant to public policy and electoral scholars.

Second, gender appears to have a strong effect on shaping men’s and women’s attitudes and political decisions. Gender differences in public opinion consistently arise across several issue areas, and there are consistent gender differences in vote choice and party identification. Various issues produce gender gaps, including the domestic and international use of force, compassion issues such as social welfare spending, equal rights, and government spending more broadly. Women are consistently more liberal on all of these policies. On average, women are more likely than men to vote for a Democratic Party candidate and identify as a Democrat. There is also a great deal of research investigating various origins of these gender differences. Comprehending when and why gender differences in political decision making emerge is important to policymakers, politicians, the political parties, and scholars.

• public opinion
• attitudes toward women
• political behavior
• gender role attitudes
• feminist identification
• party identification
• political ideology
• political decision making

Introduction

Historically, gendered attitudes toward women effectively excluded women from political participation, silencing women’s policy preferences and public opinion, and preventing them from contributing to political institutions. American women supporting the abolition of slavery attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 . These women, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, were not allowed to participate in the conference proceedings. Realizing that their desire to effect change was hindered by their inability to participate in politics, a desire for change—via women’s rights and eventually suffrage—soon began to develop (Ford, 2017 ). Attitudes toward women were making it impossible for women’s policy preferences to be heard by other citizens or heeded by government officials. This historical example illustrates the importance of understanding attitudes toward women and the influence of gender on public opinion and other political decisions. Stanton and Mott epitomize the importance of studying gender and political decision making. This essay discusses both attitudes toward women and gender differences in political decision making. The first section provides an overview of politically relevant attitudes toward women. A discussion of the role of gender in shaping individuals’ political attitudes and decisions follows. This article focuses primarily on political decision makers as its unit of analysis. For more on how candidates are gender stereotyped and its implications, see Bauer (“Gender Stereotyping in Political Decision Making,” this work).

Attitudes Toward Women and Gender Equality

An abundance of research exists studying attitudes toward women, much of which has a particular focus on sexist attitudes and gender role attitudes. This research is predominantly from social psychology and sociology but is relevant to politics and political science because of the consequences such attitudes have for policy preferences and support for women in politics. This section provides a critical overview of several measures of attitudes toward women and their consequences. Gender differences are an important component of this research and are noted throughout this section on attitudes toward women. This section does not provide an exhaustive list of measures of attitudes toward women and does not discuss the reliability or validity of the measures (see McHugh & Frieze, 1997 , for a discussion).

Sexism, Gender Role Attitudes, and Feminism

One of the older measures is the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, which was developed in the early 1970s to measure attitudes about women’s rights, gender roles, proper behavior of women, and women’s responsibilities in the public and private spheres (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1973 ). Women are consistently more egalitarian in their scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Spence & Hahn, 1997 ), meaning that women are more likely to endorse equal opportunity in the workplace, to advocate shared household and parenting duties between men and women, and to oppose a double standard for sex before marriage. Overtime, men’s and women’s attitudes have on average become more egalitarian (Spence & Hahn, 1997 ). Although its widespread usage over the decades makes it useful for comparisons over time, the scale may now be outdated and no longer properly discriminates between individuals with differing attitudes, particularly at the liberal end of the spectrum. This may be due to changes in attitudes and possibly also because of social desirability (Fassinger, 1994 ; Spence & Hahn, 1997 ). For example, this scale measures support for equal opportunity in the workplace, the acceptability for women to engage in sex before marriage, and the sharing of household and parenting responsibilities, all of which have become much more mainstream attitudes and behaviors compared to in the 1970s when the scale originated.

Two more recent measures of sexism exist, which were developed to better capture contemporary sexist attitudes. First, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory measures hostile sexism and benevolent sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996 ). Hostile sexism includes antagonism toward women seeking special favors in the workplace, the belief that women are overly sensitive to sexist remarks, and the belief that women use of their sexuality to control men. Benevolent sexism consists of the desire to protect women, placing women on a pedestal, and believing that women are morally superior. Men are more likely to endorse hostile sexism, and women often endorse benevolent sexism while opposing hostile sexism (Glick & Fiske, 2001 ).

The second category of contemporary measures of sexism, the Modern Sexism Scale and the Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale, measure nuances within contemporary sexist attitudes (Swim, Aikin, Hall, & Hunter, 1995 ). The Modern Sexism Scale is a measure of sexism including the denial of gender discrimination, a lack of understanding for the concerns of women’s groups, and denial of sexism on television (Swim et al., 1995 ). The Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale includes beliefs that women are not as smart as men, that mothers should take on the burden of child care to a greater extent than men, and that having a woman as a boss would be uncomfortable (Swim et al., 1995 ). Men are more likely than women to endorse the measures of Modern Sexism and Old-Fashioned Sexism (Barreto & Ellemers, 2005 ; Swim et al., 1995 ).

It may seem as though there has been an unnecessary proliferation of scales measuring attitudes toward women. While historical and contemporary sexism scales do correlate with one another, they are measuring somewhat distinct underlying beliefs. For example, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale and the Modern Sexism Scale are distinct but correlated measures (Swim & Cohen, 1997 ). The Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale, however, appears to measure the same underlying beliefs as the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Swim & Cohen, 1997 ). The Hostile Dimension of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory moderately correlates with the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Modern Sexism Scale, and the Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale (Glick & Fiske, 1997 ). There is a low correlation between the benevolent dimension and these other measures of sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1997 ). As time goes on, attitudes of interest to researchers change, as does how to best capture culturally prevalent attitudes.

Feminist identity, endorsement of feminist beliefs, or support for the feminist movement are other ways to measure politically relevant attitudes toward women. Gender differences are significant, particularly for male respondents who are less likely to identify as feminists, shaping their attitudes toward women in general. Analysis of 1996 General Social Survey (GSS) data reveals that women are more likely than men to identify as a feminist (McCabe, 2005 ; Schnittker, Freese, & Powell, 2003 ). In the 1996 ANES, men were 8 percentage points less likely to support equal rights for women and 11 percentage points less likely to report favorable views toward the women’s movement (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). In the 2004 ANES, men were 4 percentage points less likely to support equal rights (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). The gender gap in feminist identification appears to range between 9 to 40 percentage points depending on available response options (Huddy, Neely, & Lafay, 2000 ). Attitudes around feminism even shape men’s attitudes toward women who self-identify as feminists: according to feeling thermometer ratings in the 1988 American National Election Study (ANES), men rated feminists less favorably than women (Cook & Wilcox, 1991 ). It is important to note that researchers do not always find gender differences in feminist identification or feminist beliefs (Clark & Clark, 2009 ; Rhodebeck, 1996 ).

Gender ideology, the belief in separate spheres for men and women, and gender role attitudes may be rooted in interest-based or exposure-based explanations (Davis & Greenstein, 2009 ). The interest-based explanation is that women benefit from more egalitarian attitudes and are therefore more likely than men to hold egalitarian gender attitudes, and the exposure-based explanation includes that socialization, like being raised by an educated and/or working mother, leads to more egalitarian gender views (Davis & Greenstein, 2009 ). There is support for the interest-based explanation as women are more likely to identify as feminist, endorse feminist beliefs, and feel positively toward the feminist movement (Clark & Clark, 2009 ; Huddy et al., 2000 ; McCabe, 2005 ; Schnittker et al., 2003 ). Additionally, women have less sexist/more egalitarian views than men on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Ambivalence Sexism Inventory, the Modern Sexism Scale, and the Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale (Barreto & Ellemers, 2005 ; Glick & Fiske, 2001 ; Spence & Hahn, 1997 ; Swim et al., 1995 ).

There is also evidence to support the interest-based explanation using other measures of gender role attitudes. Generally, women have more egalitarian gender attitudes than men (Brewster & Padavic, 2000 ). In one study of GSS data from 1974 to 2006 , black females are the most liberal on gender role attitudes, measured as women’s suitability for politics and women’s traditional family responsibilities, than white females, white males, and black males; there is also a main effect of gender, with females more liberal than males (Carter, Corra, & Carter, 2009 ). Among women, working outside the home and higher education levels lead to greater support for equal gender roles, while frequent church attendance predicts more conservative views (Bolzendahl & Myers, 2004 ). Using a two-wave study of married individuals across both waves, support exists for the interest-based explanation, including female employment and the presence of a small child positively related to women’s levels of egalitarianism (Kroska & Elman, 2009 ).

Evidence exists supporting the exposure-based explanation as well. First, exposure via parents or a spouse appears to lead to more egalitarian gender role attitudes. Among men, having a spouse in the labor force and higher education of one’s mother are associated with more liberal views toward gender roles, while church attendance is associated with more conservative views (Bolzendahl & Myers, 2004 ). A two-wave study of married individuals finds support for the exposure-based explanation with a positive relationship between spouse and individual levels of gender role egalitarianism (Kroska & Elman, 2009 ). For men, having an employed mother is positively associated with feminist identity and holding feminist opinions (Rhodebeck, 1996 ).

Second, exposure via higher levels of education or liberal/Democratic identification leads to attitudes that are more egalitarian on gender roles. For men and women higher education levels predict more egalitarian gender attitudes (Brewster & Padavic, 2000 ). Among men, higher levels of education are positively associated with feminist identity and holding feminist opinions (Rhodebeck, 1996 ). In the 1996 GSS, men and women with higher levels of education, liberal ideology, and Democratic partisanship are also more likely to identify as feminist (McCabe, 2005 ). It is possible that egalitarian gender role attitudes lead to liberal/Democratic identification and not vice versa. Additionally, it may be the case that African Americans are more likely exposed to egalitarian gender roles because of a longer history of black women working outside the home. There are racial and gender differences, with whites and men being less liberal (Carter et al., 2009 ). 1

Consequences

Understanding how sexism, feminist identity, and gender role attitudes correlate with or predict other attitudes and outcomes is important in shaping attitudes toward women in the public sphere, particularly in politics. This section also discusses other evidence of politically relevant attitudes toward women, such as women’s suitability for politics.

With respect to policy preferences, less research has focused on these attitudes as predictors of issue positions. Benevolent sexism predicts support for and hostile sexism predicts opposition to affirmative action policies to promote the hiring of women among New Zealanders (Fraser, Osborne, & Sibley, 2015 ). A recent study employing 2006 Cooperative Congressional Election Study data finds that “modern sexism” predicts anti-abortion attitudes, support for the Iraq War, and less support for employment discrimination legislation to protect women; support for traditional women’s roles also predicts opposition to abortion and support for the war in Iraq (Burns, Jardina, Kinder, & Reynolds, 2016 ).

More research has investigated these attitudes as predictors of candidate evaluations (see “Gender Stereotyping in Political Decision Making,” this work). In an experiment, individuals with more egalitarian scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale rated female candidates as more effective at solving problems of the disabled, the aged, and the educational system as well as at guaranteeing rights for racial minorities (Rosenwasser, Rogers, Fling, Silvers-Pickens, & Butemeyer, 1987 ). Individuals with less egalitarian scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale rated male candidates as more effective at dealing with military issues (Rosenwasser et al., 1987 ). Men possessing hostile sexist attitudes evaluate women in nontraditional roles such as career women more negatively than women in traditional roles (Glick, Diebold, Bailey-Werner, & Zhu, 1997 ). “Hostile sexism” influences competence ratings of female political candidates in an experiment (Carey & Lizotte, 2017 ). Modern sexism and hostile sexism are associated with a greater likelihood of favorability and voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election (Blair, 2017 ; Bock, Byrd-Craven, & Burkley, 2017 ; Cassese & Holman, 2016 ; Valentino, Wayne, & Oceno, 2018 ) and voting for Romney among men in the 2012 presidential election (Simas & Bumgardner, 2017 ). In slight contrast, “benevolent sexism” predicted greater support for Clinton after exposure to a Trump attack on Clinton for “playing the woman’s card” (Cassese & Holman, 2016 ).

In the 1996 GSS, feminist identifiers, which are more likely to be women, are more likely to support abortion legality, affirmative action for women, and gender equality in employment as well as in the home (Schnittker et al., 2003 ). For men, feminist identification is associated with positive views toward women in politics, mothers working outside the home, and career-focused women but is not associated with those attitudes for women according to analysis of the 1996 GSS (McCabe, 2005 ). Perceptions of candidate positions on the issue of equal gender roles leads to greater support for Democratic presidential candidates in the 1988 through 2012 presidential elections (Hansen, 2016 ). Feminism appears to have a substantial influence on partisanship particularly among women, with feminist women being very likely to identify as Democrats and anti-feminist women being increasingly likely to identify as Republican (Beinart, 2017 ; Huddy & Willmann, 2017 ).

There is comparative cross-country data showing that individual attitudes toward women correlate with or predict gender inequality at the national level. Sexism at the individual level, measured as a belief that men make better political leaders and business executives than women, is associated with gender inequality at the nation level across 57 different countries including the United States (Brandt, 2011 ). Similar results exist for hostile and benevolent sexism; men’s average level of sexism, both hostile and benevolent, is correlated with gender inequality at the state level in 19 countries (Glick & Fiske, 2001 ). Egalitarian gender role attitudes, compared to traditional gender role attitudes, predicts higher income levels among women in data including individuals from 28 different countries (Stickney & Konrad, 2007 ).

Finally, there is research in political science that looks at support for women in politics but does not include measures of sexism, feminist identity, or gender role attitudes. This research area is vast, and the following discussion is not exhaustive. Some of this research does not find gender differences. According to analysis of GSS data from 1972 , 1974 , and 1978 , there were no consistent gender differences on women’s suitability for politics, while younger people, more educated individuals, and less religious respondents were more likely to view women as suitable for politics (Welch & Sigelman, 1982 ). In 1974 and 1978 GSS data, white women did not significantly differ from white men in their support for a female president (Sigelman & Welch, 1984 ). In the United States, there has been considerable research and polling that finds men are less likely to believe women are suitable for politics, particularly in higher levels of executive office. Men are less likely to report willingness to vote for a woman for president (Dolan, 2004 ; Lawless, 2004 ) and are less likely to report voting for a woman for the House of Representatives (Dolan, 2004 ). Controlling for a number of other demographic and attitudinal variables, men are more likely to believe that men are better suited to handle a military crisis, to punish terrorists, to prevent terrorism, and to bring peace in the Middle East (Lawless, 2004 ). Analysis of 2000 National Annenberg Election Survey data finds that men were less likely than women to be favorable toward a female president (Kenski & Falk, 2004 ). Finally, men were less likely to vote for Hillary Clinton for president (Burden, Crawford, & DeCrescenzo, 2016 ).

Gender Differences in Political Attitudes

As noted in the prior section, gender has an effect on shaping women’s and men’s attitudes on sexism, feminism, and gender roles. Gender also has a strong effect on shaping men’s and women’s attitudes and issue preferences with gender differences in ideology, party identification, vote choice, and public opinion across several issue areas consistently arising. In the following sections is, first, a summary of the literature on how women are more likely to identify as liberal, to identify as Democrat, and to vote for Democratic candidates. Second, there is an overview of gender differences in policy preferences. Third, there is a critical discussion of existing and potential explanations for gender differences in attitudes and policy preferences.

Gender influences political ideology, party identification, and vote choice. The gender gap in ideology is also a modest gap, in which women tend to identify as more liberal than men (Condon & Wichowsky, 2015 ; Norrander & Wilcox, 2008 ). Well-educated and single women are more likely to identify as liberal, and religiosity predicts conservatism for men and women (Norrander & Wilcox, 2008 ). Abortion and gender role attitudes contribute more to women’s ideology, while social welfare issues contribute more to men’s ideology (Norrander & Wilcox, 2008 ). In contrast, other research finds evidence that the gender gap in ideology results from differences in opinion, not differential prioritizing or weighting of issues (Condon & Wichowsky, 2015 ). In other words, men are more ideologically conservative than women because of different policy preferences, not because men and women differ in how they connect issue positions to ideology with positions on social welfare and abortion contributing equally to men’s and women’s ideological constructs (Condon & Wichowsky, 2015 ). Finally, ideological differences exist among partisans. Within the Republican primary electorate, men are more likely to describe themselves as conservative and women are more likely to identify as moderates (Norrander, 2003 ).

Party Identification

Consistent gender differences in party identification exist, with women more likely to identify with the Democratic Party (Huddy, Cassese, & Lizotte, 2008b ). Additionally, there are gender differences in the propensity to identify with a party at all. Men are more likely than women to identify as Independents (Norrander, 1997 ). Women are more likely to identify as weak partisans, while men identify as leaning Independents (Norrander, 1997 , 2003 ). This has consequences for the partisan gap overall. Failing to take into account the leaning Independents makes the gender gap in partisanship appear to be caused by women’s attraction to the Democratic Party; including leaning Independents shows the partisan gap to be equally due to men’s attraction to the Republican Party and women’s attraction to the Democratic Party (Norrander, 1997 ). Other research argues that the evidence suggests the partisan gender gap is mostly the result of white men leaving the Democratic Party (Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ; Norrander, 1999 ). The most recent analysis finds that the gender in partisanship appears to be the result of both men’s and women’s response to the symbolic images of the political parties, including the gender make-up of congressional delegations and partisan realignments, not simply men’s movement away from the Democratic Party as earlier work often claimed (Ondercin, 2017 ).

Vote Choice

According to analysis of cumulative ANES data ( 1980–2004 ), women are consistently more likely to vote for the Democratic presidential nominee over the Republican (Huddy et al., 2008b ). The gender gap in vote choice exists across several demographic groups (Clark & Clark, 2009 ; Huddy et al., 2008b ). For example, in the 1980 presidential election, women were more likely than men to vote for Carter across most income categories, among all education levels, regardless of union membership, among all racial/ethnic groups, regardless of parental status, among all ages, and across all regions (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Similar findings exist for presidential vote choice for the 1996 , 2000 , and 2004 elections (Clark & Clark, 2009 ) as well as the 2016 election, which featured a woman major-party candidate (Burden, Crawford, & DeCrescenzo, 2016 ). Gender gaps even emerge within parties; women and men within the same party primaries tend to support different candidates on average (Norrander, 2003 ). For example, in the 2000 presidential primaries, female Democrats were more likely to vote for Gore in comparison to male Democrats, who were more likely to vote for Bradley, and female Republicans were more likely to vote for George W. Bush compared to male Republicans, who were more likely to vote for McCain (Norrander, 2003 ). This was also true in the 2016 presidential primaries, with female Democrats more likely to vote for Clinton and male Democrats more likely to vote for Sanders and female Republicans being consistently less likely than male Republicans to vote for Trump (Presidential Gender Watch, 2016 ). In Europe, women also tend to vote for left-leaning political parties (Abendschön & Steinmetz, 2014 ; Annesley & Gains, 2014 ; Emmenegger & Manow, 2014 ; Harteveld & Ivarsflaten, 2016 ; Immerzeel, Coffé, & Van der Lippe, 2015 ). 2

Issue Preferences

There are gender gaps on various policy issues, including the domestic and international use of force, compassion issues such as social welfare spending, equal rights, and government spending more broadly. Women are consistently more liberal on all of these policies, but the size of gender differences vary. Gender differences on the use of force, social welfare, equal rights, the environment, and morality have been the gaps most studied in the literature. Gender gaps in policy preferences are politically consequential. These issue gaps contribute to the gender gap in voting (Chaney, Alvarez, & Nagler, 1998 ; Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Moreover, the gender gap in party identification does not completely account for the gender gap in vote choice (Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ). In recent elections, women have turned out to vote at consistently higher levels than men, increasing the likelihood that these opinion differences could be politically consequential (CAWP, 2015 ). Hence, a gender gap on a single issue, especially a salient issue, could have significant electoral effects.

Use of Force Attitudes

There are robust gender differences on support for the use of force, with women less likely to support the use of force both internationally and domestically. Women are less likely to support defense spending and the use of the military to solve international crises. The gap on defense spending and use of the military was 10 percentage points and 5 percentage points in 1996 and 10 percentage points and 7 percentage points in 2004 (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Differences on support for war in the abstract, troops in Afghanistan, and military intervention in Libya also appear to exist outside of the United States but considerably vary in size across Europe and Turkey, ranging from 0 to 23 percentage points (Eichenberg & Read, 2016 ). Gender differences on the use of international force do not always materialize outside of the United States. For example, only women in the United States have greater support for peacekeeping forces in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and greater favorability for the United Nations (Eichenberg & Read, 2016 ). Moreover, the gender gap on the use of military force consistently fails to appear in the Middle East (Ben Shitrit, Elad-Strenger, & Hirsch-Hoefler, 2017 ; Tessler, Nachtwey, & Grant, 1999 ). Finally, women are also less likely to support the use of torture to prevent terrorist attacks (Lizotte, 2017a ).

With respect to domestic force issues, women are also more supportive of gun control and less supportive of the death penalty. The gap on gun control was 23 percentage points and the gap on the death penalty was 8 percentage points in the 1996 ANES, and in the 2004 ANES the gaps were 19 percentage points and 9 percentage points, respectively (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Women are consistently less likely than men to support the death penalty (Stack, 2000 ; Whitehead & Blankenship, 2000 ). Many studies show a robust gender gap on gun control (Filindra & Kaplan, 2016 ; Haider-Markel & Joslyn, 2001 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ), with women being less likely to own a gun and less likely to see owning a gun as a means of self-protection (Kleck, Gertz, & Bratton, 2009 ). There are, however, important differences in terms of party identification and ideology in support for the death penalty and gun control among women—women, who identify as Democrats and liberals, are more likely than Republican and conservative women to oppose the death penalty and to support gun control (Deckman, 2016 ).

Social Welfare Attitudes

Women are generally more supportive of social welfare spending and domestic spending on services. Generally, women are more supportive of a bigger government with a more activist role (Fox & Oxley, 2015 ). Social welfare issues include support for increased government spending on Social Security, the homeless, welfare, food stamps, child care, aid to the poor, and schools as well as government guaranteeing jobs, providing more services, and providing health insurance (Clark & Clark, 1996 , 2008 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ; Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ). Women are also more likely than men to support the Affordable Care Act (Lizotte, 2016a ). Recent analysis finds small and consistent gender differences on government provision of services, government-guaranteed jobs, government-guaranteed standard of living, government provision of health insurance, and increased government spending on public schools, child care, social security, welfare aid to the poor, and food stamps (Fox & Oxley, 2015 ). Not all women are supportive of increased government aid to the poor; in particular, Tea Party women and Republican women are less supportive than women nationally (Deckman, 2012 ).

These gaps differ in size across these varied issue areas and are generally robust to the inclusion of control variables. For example, on government-funded health insurance and government-guaranteed jobs, the gap ranges from 4 to 5 percentage points (Clark & Clark, 1996 ). In contrast, on Social Security spending the gap has been much larger at 14 or 15 percentage points (Clark & Clark, 1996 ). Spending on the poor, welfare, food stamps, and the homeless tends to produce gaps of 4 to 7 percentage points (Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ). The gap on social welfare spending has recently been the second largest opinion gap at around 10 percentage points (Norrander, 2008 ). These gaps remain significant, controlling for educational attainment, marital status, income, children, age, cohort, occupational status, party identification, religious identification, parental status, and race (Howell & Day, 2000 ; Lizotte, 2017b ). Gender differences on income inequality, however, do not exist in many countries outside of the United States and Western Europe (Jaime-Castillo, Fernández, Valiente, & Mayrl, 2016 ).

Minority Rights Attitudes

There is less consistent evidence of gender differences on racial policy or racial attitudes. In the 1996 ANES and in the 2004 ANES, the gender gap on support for government aid to blacks was only 3 percentage points (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). There appears to be a 4 or 5 percentage point gender gap in support for government spending to help blacks (Clark & Clark, 1996 ; Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ). Women are slightly more likely to support affirmative action (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). For support of affirmative action, the gap for jobs is 4 to 6 percentage points, while support for education quotas results in a 9 percentage point difference, both without control variables (Clark & Clark, 1996 ). Much of the research finds that the gender gap no longer exists when control variables and/or party identification are included (Howell & Day, 2000 ; Hughes & Tuch, 2003 ).

Women are more supportive of gay rights than men. Women are more likely to support civil rights for gays (Clark & Clark, 1996 ; Herek, 2002 ). Women are more supportive of consensual sexual relations between same-sex partners being legal, gay adoption rights, the right to serve in the military, and employment protections (Brewer, 2003 ; Clark & Clark, 2009 ; Herek, 2002 ; Stoutenborough, Haider-Markel, & Allen, 2006 ). Women are more likely to support equal rights and to support same-sex marriage controlling for various demographic and religious variables (Haider-Markel & Joslyn, 2008 ). Of course, not all women are supportive of gay rights; Republican women and Tea Party women are less favorable toward gay rights than women as a whole (Deckman, 2012 ).

Environmental Attitudes

Gender differences often emerge on environmental policy preferences. Women are more likely to support environmental protections even if it reduces the number of jobs (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Conservative women are less likely compared to women nationally to support environmental protections (Deckman, 2012 ). There is also a gender gap on environmental concern (McCright, 2010 ; Mohai, 1992 ). The gap remains significant when demographic variables, ideology, party identification, knowledge about climate change, and parenthood/motherhood are controlled for in the analysis (McCright, 2010 ; Mohai, 1992 ). This gap is not as big as the gaps on the use of force or some of the social welfare gaps. Women are more likely by 5 percentage points to believe global warming is occurring and are more likely by 8 percentage points to believe that humans are causing it (McCright, 2010 ). Women also express by 6 percentage points greater worry about global warming and are more likely by 9 percentage points to believe that it will threaten their way of life (McCright, 2010 ). Additionally, women are more likely to agree that climate change will cause coastal flooding, drought, and loss of animal and plant species (Blocker & Eckberg, 1997 ).

Religiosity and Morality Attitudes

There are gender differences in religiosity, religious fundamentalism, commitment to religion, and frequency of religious behaviors, with women being more religious than men (Cook & Wilcox, 1991 ; Tolleson-Rinehart & Perkins, 1989 ). Republican women and Tea Party women are more religious than women as a whole (Deckman, 2012 ). This could translate into policy preferences. Women are more supportive of school prayer, more opposed to the legalization of marijuana, and more supportive of legal access restrictions on pornography (Eagly, Diekman, Johannesen-Schmidt, & Koenig, 2004 ). Religious belief does not always influence women to be more conservative on moral issues (e.g., the gender gap on gay rights). Gender differences in religiosity and traditional morality may be due to gender role socialization that promotes traits such as passivity and obedience in women (Thompson, 1991 ) or that prepares women for the role of motherhood in which they have the primary responsibility for the moral development of children (Eagly et al., 2004 ).

Gender differences on reproductive issues, which are often framed as morality issues, tend to be small and inconsistent in comparison to other gender gaps. Gender differences do not always emerge on abortion legality—it appears to depend on how abortion attitudes are modeled. In particular, if religious and religiosity indicators are included, women are more likely to support legality under all circumstances (Lizotte, 2015 ). Women are more likely to believe that abortion is morally wrong (Scott, 1989 ). No gender differences exist on the influence of abortion attitudes on party identification or vote choice (Lizotte, 2016b ). Relatedly, women were more likely to support the birth control mandate included in the Affordable Care Act, but men and women were both likely to have their support influence their 2012 presidential vote choice (Deckman & McTague, 2014 ).

Explanations

There are several explanations for gender differences in political attitudes and behavior, with varying levels of evidence to support each one. Examining the different theories put forth in the literature is integral to understanding how and why gender influences political attitudes. The following theories exist in the literature: Feminist Identity, Economic Circumstances, Social Role Theory and Motherhood, Risk and Threat Perceptions, Personality, and Values. There are varying degrees of support for each of these explanations. These explanations are not mutually exclusive, and it may be that more than one explanation simultaneously contributes to each gap, or that different explanations explain different gaps.

Feminist Identity

First, there is the feminist identity or feminist consciousness explanation. There are several different types of feminism, but commonalities exist across the different forms. Specifically, most types of feminism include the following: a belief in sex/gender equality; the belief that historical gender equality is socially constructed and not natural or intended by God; and the recognition of shared experience among women, which ought to inspire a longing for change (Cott, 1987 ). Evidence exists that feminist identity contributes to gender differences on defense spending, environmental attitudes, social welfare spending, and anti-war attitudes (Conover, 1988 ; Conover & Sapiro, 1993 ; Cook & Wilcox, 1991 ; Feinstein, 2017 ; Somma & Tolleson-Rinehart, 1997 ). Early work investigating this explanation finds a link between feminist consciousness and gender gaps on unemployment spending, child care spending, equal opportunity for African Americans, and foreign policy positions (Conover, 1988 ). Much of this research argues that feminist identity likely has an indirect influence on political attitudes and behavior. This research finds that feminist identity correlates with lower endorsement of traditionalism, individualism, and symbolic racism as well as greater endorsement of egalitarianism (Conover, 1988 ; Cook & Wilcox, 1991 ).

Economic Circumstances

Second, there are two economic explanations in the literature: economically independent women or economically vulnerable women are causing gender differences. Economically independent women are more likely than men to work in the public sector, such as in public schools and as health providers, and consequently would be more likely to support the Democratic Party, which is perceived as wanting to maintain or increase funding for that sector (Huddy et al., 2008b ). There is mixed evidence for this explanation. In 1980–2004 ANES data, professional and high-income women are not significantly more likely to vote or identify as Democrats (Huddy et al., 2008b ). Increases in women’s workforce participation explains the gender gap in presidential vote choice in the ANES 1952–1992 data (Manza & Brooks, 1998 ). Educated women as well as women and men working in the public sector are more likely to support social welfare spending, the men even more than the women (Howell & Day, 2000 ).

Economically vulnerable women may support the Democratic Party and greater government spending on social welfare programs because of the potential for them to benefit from such policies and spending. Additionally, economically vulnerable women may oppose defense spending and military interventions because it could lead to less funding of the welfare state. There is moderate evidence for this explanation in that income level is a predictor but does not fully account for gender differences in the following research. In some years but not all of the ANES 1980–2004 , low-income women are more likely to identify as and vote for Democrats (Huddy et al., 2008b ). Time-series analysis shows an association at the aggregate level between the size of the partisan gap and the proportion of economically vulnerable (Box-Steffensmeier, De Boef, & Lin, 2004 ). Low income explains some but not all of the gender differences in wanting more government services and spending (Clark & Clark, 2009 ) and in support for the Affordable Care Act (Lizotte, 2016a ). Finally, low-income individuals are less supportive of military interventions (Nincic & Nincic, 2002 ), but equalizing men’s and women’s income would only reduce the gender gap by about 9% (Feinstein, 2017 ).

Social Role Theory and Motherhood

Third, there is the Social Role Theory explanation, which posits that gender gaps result from gender role socialization (Diekman & Schneider, 2010 ; Eagly et al., 2004 ). Social Role Theory argues for an interaction between the physical characteristics and the features of the local environment leading to a particular male–female division of labor in a given society. Consequently, this division of labor brings about certain gender roles and gender socialization of agentic traits among males and communal traits among females (Eagly & Wood, 2012 ). Communal traits include anti-conflict and nurturance, and agentic traits include aggression and assertiveness. Therefore, women’s anti-force and pro-equality attitudes fit with these gendered socialized traits (Eagly et al., 2004 ). It is somewhat difficult to test this explanation because of the assumption that the vast majority of individuals will receive the same gendered socialization within a given society. Motherhood, however, predicts greater support for aid to the poor, government healthcare, child care spending, public school spending, preference for greater government services, and food stamp spending (Elder & Greene, 2007 ; Greenlee, 2014 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ; Lizotte, 2017b ). These findings show that motherhood contributes to these gaps but does not fully explain the gender differences. Motherhood also predicts opposition to the legalization of marijuana (Deckman, 2016 ; Greenlee, 2014 ); in a piece employing 2013 Pew Research Center data, however, motherhood actually does not predict attitudes toward the legalization of marijuana (Elder & Greene, 2019 ). There is no evidence that mothers are causing gender differences on security and foreign policy (Carroll, 2008 ; Elder & Greene, 2007 ).

Relatedly, gender identity, which may vary as a result of differences in gendered socialization, and the salience of gender identity produce even stronger gender differences in public opinion. In a Canadian sample, greater gender identity salience predicts increased support for social programs, welfare spending, marriage equality, and women in the legislature (Bittner & Goodyear-Grant, 2017a ). Similarly, in an Australian twin study sample, gender identity had a greater influence on vote choice than sex (Hatemi, McDermott, Bailey, & Martin, 2012 ). Sex, however, approximates gender identity well for most people except about a quarter (Bittner & Goodyear-Grant, 2017b ).

Risk and Threat Perceptions

Fourth, gender differences in risk and threat perceptions are a promising, potential explanation for the gender gap in force and environmental attitudes. There is a lot of evidence that women and men differ in risk perceptions. Although men and women often perceive the same things as risky, women perceive greater risk than men with regard to the same risky event or behavior (Gustafsod, 1998 ). Women perceive greater risks than do men in four out of five domains and are less likely than men to report engaging in risky behaviors (Weber, Blais, & Betz, 2002 ). The extant literature provides much evidence of gender differences in risk aversion. Women tend to be more risk averse or avoidant of risky behavior (Byrnes, Miller, & Schafer, 1999 ); this difference even appears to exist between male and female children (Ginsburg & Miller, 1982 ). Women are more likely to feel anxious in response to terrorism and, therefore, be more risk averse about retaliatory measures (Huddy, Feldman, & Cassese, 2009 ). Increased threat perceptions of future terrorist attacks lead men to be more likely to support the use of torture, while perceived threat does not increase women’s support for torture (Lizotte, 2017a ). In non–gender focused work, threat perceptions and risk orientations influence policy views and vote choice (Huddy, Feldman, Taber, & Lahav, 2005 ; Huddy, Feldman, & Weber, 2007 ; Kam & Simas, 2010 , 2012 ).

Relatedly in the biopsychology literature, Taylor and colleagues ( 2000 ) provide a compelling theory based on prior research that women are less likely than men to respond to stress in terms of “fight or flight.” They argue that women’s response to stress is better characterized as “tend and befriend.” Evolutionarily, women have been the primary caregivers of offspring. Taylor et al. ( 2000 ) argue that to prevent harm to themselves and offspring, women may have evolved to tend, which they define as keeping offspring quiet in order to hide from threat, and befriend, which they describe as building networks and making effective use of social groups to provide aid and protection during stressful or threatening times. The idea that women do not exhibit the “fight-or-flight” response could explain why they respond differently than men to threat such as force-related issues.

Personality Traits

Fifth, personality traits is for the most part an untested theory for gender differences in political attitudes. The Big Five Personality Traits, including neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, constitute a widely accepted measure (Goldberg, 1993 ). Studies of the Big Five Personality Traits have found significant, though small, average gender differences in self-reported traits. Meta-analysis found gender differences across cultures on subcomponents of neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, and openness to experience (Costa, Terracciano, & McCrae, 2001 ). Specifically, women score higher on anxiety, a subcomponent of neuroticism; higher on altruism, a subcomponent of agreeableness; lower on assertiveness/dominance, a subcomponent of extraversion; and higher on the feelings subcomponent of openness to experience (Costa et al., 2001 ). These differences in personality could explain many gaps in political decision making. Ideological differences among men and women appear to exist partially because of women being more open to experience, more agreeable, and more emotionally stable than men (Morton, Tyran, & Wengström, 2016 ). Agreeableness appears to have differing consequences for men and women’s partisanship, with increased agreeableness among men being associated with Democratic Party identification and among women with Republican Party identification (Wang, 2017 ). More research on personality and political attitudes could be informative. For example, anxiety and assertiveness differences may explain women’s lower support for military interventions and their greater concerns about climate change. There is a link between altruism and women’s concern about the environment (Dietz, Kalof, & Stern, 2002 ). Altruism may also explain women’s higher levels of support for social welfare spending and equal rights for African Americans and the LGBTQ+ community.

Sixth, value differences offer another explanation for gender gaps in political attitudes. Values are more abstract than attitudes, making them applicable across different attitude objects, and are evaluative expressions of desired behaviors and goals for individuals and society (Feldman, 2003 ). Prior work provides evidence that values such as egalitarianism, humanitarianism, and militarism influence political attitudes (Peffley & Hurwitz, 1985 ; Schwartz, Caprara, & Vecchione, 2010 ). Schwartz ( 1992 ) developed the study of values through the examination of 10 value types, each of which is a set of values that are closely linked conceptually. According to Schwartz, values such as social justice, equality, tolerance, and peace belong to one of 10 key value types known as universalism. The other 9 types are benevolence, tradition, conformity, security, power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, and self-direction.

There are modest gender differences in value endorsements (Feldman & Steenbergen, 2001 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ; Schwartz & Rubel, 2005 ). For example, gender differences exist on benevolence, which measures individuals’ concern for the welfare of others; on power, which encompasses a desire for control of others; and all of the other types (Schwartz & Rubel, 2005 ). Benevolence and universalism could explain gender differences on aid to the poor and environmental protections, while power and security could explain differences in support for the use of force. Women also score higher on measures of egalitarianism (Feldman & Steenbergen, 2001 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ). Value differences reduce the gap on social welfare attitudes, gun control attitudes, and support for the Affordable Care Act (Howell & Day, 2000 ; Lizotte, 2016a ).

Future Directions and Conclusions

Gender is an important factor in understanding attitudes toward women, including sexism and feminist identity, and gender differences in political decision making, such as gender differences in ideology, party identification, vote choice, and issue positions. Future work is needed to better understand the sources and effects of attitudes toward women and to further comprehend the origins and consequences of gender differences in political decision making.

There is little known about the political leanings of those with sexist attitudes or traditional gender role attitudes. For example, are those endorsing hostile sexism more likely to identify as Republican compared to those endorsing benevolent sexism? Do women who score higher on sexism measures identify as Republican? Presumably, the answer to both of these questions is yes because of the overlap between the GOP and conservative ideology. Anti-feminist women are more likely to identify as Republican (Huddy & Willmann, 2017 ). There is some evidence that in 2016 and in 2012 , among men, sexism predicts support for Republican presidential candidates (Blair, 2017 ; Bock et al., 2017 ; Cassese & Holman, 2016 ; Simas & Bumgardner, 2017 ; Valentino et al., 2018 ). In addition, men, whites, and Republicans have higher scores on measures of sexism compared to women, non-whites, and Democrats (Simas & Bumgardner, 2017 ). More research in this area should further explore the electoral consequences of sexism and feminist identity. It would also be of value to understand how these attitudes relate to policy preferences. One recent piece finds that support for traditional roles for women is associated with opposition to abortion legality and support for the War in Iraq; modern sexism also predicts opposition to abortion, opposition to job discrimination protections for women, and support for the Iraq War (Burns et al., 2016 ). The Attitudes Toward Women Scale and other sexism measures could also predict positions on a wide range of policies such as child care spending, insurance coverage of birth control, equal pay, sexual harassment, and Title IX. Additionally, it is unclear what the implications of these types of attitudes are for voter decisions, in particular for female candidates. There is some recent work finding that modern sexism and hostile sexism predict greater favorability of and a greater likelihood of voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election (Blair, 2017 ; Bock et al., 2017 ; Cassese & Holman, 2016 ; Valentino et al., 2018 ). More of the work on voter evaluations of female candidates should strive to measure attitudes toward women. In fact, similar items have been included in the 2016 ANES and presumably will provide insight into presidential and congressional vote choice.

With respect to how gender influences political attitudes, there are a number of unanswered questions. First, there is very little research looking at the gender gap in public opinion among African Americans (for exceptions, see Lien, 1998 ; Welch & Sigelman, 1989 ). There is a great deal of research that looks at gender differences in public opinion and controls for race. There is emerging evidence that black women are more likely to turn out to vote than black men, as well as the fact that according to exit polls, black men were more likely than black women to vote for Trump in 2016 (Dittmar & Carr, 2016 ). This suggests that there may be gender differences in policy preferences among African Americans. There is also work showing gender differences among Latinos in public opinion and ideology (Bejarano, 2014 ; Bejarano, Manzano, & Montoya, 2011 ). Lack of existing data is likely one of the most prominent reasons for the lack of research. It would be of interest to better understand how gender intersects with race/ethnicity when it comes to policy preferences.

Second, it is clear that gender differences in political attitudes are not the result of biological factors. The essentialist notion that all women are born more caring or conflict-avoidant is not borne out in the modestly to moderately sized gaps that exist in public opinion. This approach should simply be put to rest. Relatedly, via gendered socialization and/or because of lived experiences, men and women on average differ slightly in their positions on a number of issues. It would be quite beneficial to further investigate to what extent gendered socialization versus lived experiences explains these gaps. Perhaps including measures of each one in future survey collections could provide insight. For example, are women, who support greater government aid to the needy, more likely to have been raised to care and nurture others through playing with dolls? Or are women, who are opposed to military interventions, past victims or observers of violence, making them reluctant to use violent means to solve conflict?

Third, further research is needed to understand the usefulness of the personality and values explanations discussed here. It may be the case that gender differences in altruism lead to greater support for government aid to the poor. Or, that differences in the power value type account for the gap in gun control attitudes. The 2012 ANES data include a short personality inventory. The inclusion of values beyond egalitarianism in nationally representative data sets would make it possible to better investigate the values explanations. Finally, for both of these explanations (but also for the others discussed throughout), more work is needed to understand how multiple explanations may simultaneously contribute. For example, altruism as a personality trait may lead to greater endorsement of humanitarianism, which then contributes to the gender gap on aid to the poor.

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1. Although sexism and gender role attitudes scales focus mainly on women as the central subject, there are also a few different scales measuring attitudes toward men, including two different Attitudes Toward Men scales (Downs & Engleson, 1982 ; Iazzo, 1983 ) and the Ambivalence Toward Men Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 1999 ). One of the Attitudes Toward Men scales measures attitudes such as men’s enjoyment of power, men’s greater confidence, and men’s household chores (Downs & Engleson, 1982 ). The other scale measures men’s supposed preoccupation with their sexual desire for women and men’s prioritizing of their career over their family (Iazzo, 1983 ). The Ambivalence Toward Men Scale includes a hostile dimension, measuring the belief that men attempt to have power over women and men try to dupe women into sexual relations, and a benevolent dimension, measuring the belief that men provide financial security, men are more stable in emergencies, and men deserve special care from women at home (Glick & Fiske, 1999 ).

2. There are gender differences in political engagement not discussed in depth here with women more likely than men to vote (CAWP, 2015 ) but less likely to participate in other ways (Burns, Schlozman, & Verba, 1997 ).

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Essay on attitude: top 8 essays | human behaviour | psychology.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Attitude’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Attitude’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Attitude

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Theories of Attitude

Essay # 1. Meaning and Definition of Attitude :

Attitudes are learned predispositions and represent cluster of beliefs, assessed feelings and behavioural intentions towards aspects of our environment like a person, object or event. Attitudes are evaluative statements either favourable or unfavourable concerning objects, people or events and are a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way toward some object.

Measuring the A-B Relationship Recent research indicates that attitudes:

(A) Significantly predict behaviours

(B) When moderating variables are taken into account.

According to G.W. Allport, “Attitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related.”

Krech and Crutchfield defined “attitude as an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of the individual’s world.”

According to Katz and Scotland, “Attitude is a tendency or predisposition to evaluate an object or symbol of that object in a certain way”. In effect attitude is used in a generic sense, as to what people perceive, feel and express their views about a situation, object or other people. Attitude cannot be seen, but the behaviour can be seen as an expression of attitude.

Essay # 2. Characteristics of Attitude :

The attitude is the evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. More precisely attitudes can be defined as a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way toward some object which may include events or individuals as well.

Attitude can be characterized in three ways:

(a) They tend to persist unless something is done to change them.

(b) Attitudes can fall anywhere along a continuum from very favourable to very unfavourable.

(c) Attitudes are directed toward some object about which a person has feelings (sometimes called “affect”) and beliefs.

Essay # 3. Components of Attitudes :

The three basic components of attitude are cognitive, affective and behavioural part:

(a) Cognitive Component:

Cognitive component of attitude is related to value statement. It consists of belief, ideas, values and other information that an individual may possess or has faith in. Quality of working hard is a value statement or faith that a manager may have.

(b) Affective Component:

Affective component of attitude is related to person’s feelings about another person, which may be positive, negative or neutral.

Example: I do not like Maya because she is not hard working, or I like Mina because she is hard working. It is an expression of feelings about a person, object or a situation.

(c) Behavioural Component:

Behavioural component of attitude is related to impact of various situations or objects that lead to individual’s behaviour based on cognitive and affective components.

Example: I do not like Maya because she is not hard working is an affective component, I therefore would like to disassociate myself with her, is a behavioural component and therefore I would avoid Maya.

Development of favourable attitude, and good relationship with Mina is but natural. Individual’s favorable behaviour is an outcome of the fact that Mina is hardworking. Cognitive and affective components are bases for such behaviour. Former two components cannot be seen, only the behaviour component can be seen. Former is important because it is a base for formation of attitude. These components are explained in Figure.

Essay # 4. Formation of Attitude:

Direct Experience with the Object:

Attitudes can develop from the personally rewarding or punishing experience with an object.

(a) Classical Conditioning:

People develop associations between various objects and the emotional reactions that accompany them.

(b) Operant Conditioning:

Attitudes that are reinforced, either verbally or nonverbally, tend to be maintained.

Vicarious Learning:

Where person learns something by the observation of others helps in attitude development where individual has no direct experience with the object of attitude.

Formation of attitudes is influenced by:

(i) Family and Peer Groups:

A person may learn attitude through the imitation of family members and peers.

(ii) Neighbourhood:

The neighbourhood has a certain structure in terms of having cultural facilities, religious groupings and possibly ethnic differences. The neighbours tolerate condone or deny certain attitudes.

Economic Status and Occupations of the Person:

Mass communication like news-paper, TV, radio etc.

These in turn give rise to development of one’s attitudes.

(a) Attitudes Help Predict Work Behavior:

The following example might help to illustrate it. After introducing a particular policy, it is found from an attitude survey, that the workers are not too happy about it. During the subsequent week it is found that the attendance of the employees drops sharply from the previous standard. Here management may conclude that a negative attitude toward new work rules led to increased absenteeism.

(b) Attitudes Help People to Adapt to their Work Environment:

An understanding of attitudes is also important because attitudes help the employees to get adjusted to their work. If the management can successfully develop a- positive attitude among the employees, they will be better adjusted to their work.

Essay # 5. Functions of Attitude :

According to Katz, attitudes serve four important functions from the viewpoint of organizational behaviour.

These are as follows:

(a) The Adjustment Function:

Attitudes often help people to adjust to their work environment. Well-treated employees tend to develop a positive attitude towards their job, management and the organization in general while berated and ill-treated organizational members develop a negative attitude. In other words, attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and form a basis for future behaviour.

(b) Utilitarian Function:

An attitude may develop because either the attitude or the attitude object is instrumental in helping one to obtain rewards or avoid punishments.

(c) Ego-Defensive Function:

Attitudes help people to retain their dignity and self- image. When a young faculty member who is full of fresh ideas and enthusiasm, joins the organization, the older members might feel somewhat threatened by him. But they tend to disapprove his creative ideas as ‘crazy’ and ‘impractical’ and dismiss him altogether.

(d) The Value-Expressive Function:

Attitudes provide individuals with a basis for expressing their values. For example, a manager who values hard and sincere work will be more vocal against an employee who is having a very casual approach towards work.

(e) The Knowledge Function:

Attitudes provide standards and frames of reference that allow people to understand and perceive the world around him. If one has a strong negative attitude towards the management, whatever the management does, even employee welfare programmes can be perceived as something ‘bad’ and as actually against them.

Essay # 6. Change of Attitudes :

Employees’ attitudes can be changed and sometimes it is in the best interests of managements to try to do so. For example, if employees believe that their employer does not look after their welfare, the management should try to change their attitude and help develop a more positive attitude in them.

However, the process of changing the attitude is not always easy. There are some barriers which have to be overcome if one strives to change somebody’s attitude.

There are two major categories of barriers that come in the way of changing attitudes:

1. Prior commitment when people feel a commitment towards a particular course of action that has already been agreed upon and thus it becomes difficult for them to change or accept the new ways of functioning.

2. Insufficient information also acts as a major barrier to change attitudes. Sometimes people simply see any reason to change their attitude due to unavailability of adequate information.

Some of the possible ways of changing attitudes are described below:

(a) Providing New Information:

Sometimes a dramatic change in attitude is possible only by providing relevant and adequate information to the person concerned. Scanty and incomplete information can be a major reason for brewing negative feeling and attitudes.

(b) Use of Fear:

Attitudes can be changed through the use of fear. People might resort to change their work habit for the fear of fear of unpleasant consequences. However, the degree of the arousal of fear will have to be taken into consideration as well.

(c) Resolving Discrepancies:

Whenever “people face” a dilemma or conflicting situation they feel confused in choosing a particular course of action. Like in the case where one is to choose from” between two alternative courses of action, it is often become difficult for him to decide which is right for him.

Even when he chooses one over the other, he might still feel confused. If someone helps him in pointing out the positive points in favour of the chosen course of action, the person might resolve the dilemma.

(d) Influence of Friends and Peers:

A very effective way of changing one’s attitude is through his friends and colleagues. Their opinion and recommendation for something often proves to be more important. If for example, they are all praise for a particular policy introduced in the work place, chances are high that an individual will slowly accept that even when he had initial reservations for that.

(e) Co-Opting:

If you want to change the attitude of somebody who belongs to a different group, it is often becomes very effective if you can include him in your own group. Like in the case of the union leader who are all the time vehemently against any management decision, can be the person who takes active initiative in implementing a new policy when he had participated in that decision making process himself.

Essay # 7. Types of Attitude :

1. Job Satisfaction:

Job satisfaction is related to general attitude towards the job. A person having a high level of satisfaction will generally hold a positive attitude while dissatisfied people will generally display negative attitude towards life. When we talk about attitude, we generally speak about job satisfaction because they are inter-related in organizational behaviour.

2. Job Involvement:

Job involvement refers to the degree to which a person identifies himself (psychologically) with his job, actively participates and considers his perceived performance level important to self-worth. (Robbins). High level of involvement indicates that the individual cares for his job that has an impact on high productivity. Higher the job satisfaction, lower will be absenteeism and employee turnover.

3. Organizational Commitment:

Organizational commitment refers to degree to which an employee identifies himself with the organizational goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization. He wants to “belong” to the organization and take an active part in its functioning.

Absenting or resigning from the job versus job satisfaction is a predictor of organizational commitment. The concept has been very popular in the recent times. Organizational commitment depends upon job enrichment factor and degree to which the workers enjoy autonomy and freedom of action while performing.

Nature of Employee Attitudes :

Attitudes are the feelings and beliefs that largely determine how employees will perceive their environment, commit themselves to intended actions and ultimately behave. Managers of organizational behavior are vitally interested in the nature of the attitudes of their employees toward their jobs, toward their careers and toward the organization itself. Employee attitudes which are important to employers are Job satisfaction, Job Involvement, Organizational Commitment and Work moods.

Moderating Variables for Attitude in Organization:

1. Importance of the attitude

2. Specificity of the attitude

3. Accessibility of the attitude

4. Social pressures on the individual

5. Direct experience with the attitude

Essay # 8. Theories of Attitude :

(a) Cognitive dissonance

(b) Self-perception theory

(a) Cognitive Dissonance Theory :

Tension arises when we are aware of two simultaneously inconsistent cognitions. To reduce the dissonance, we change our attitudes so that they will correspond to our actions. We correct discrepancies between attitudes & behaviors. Festinger’s Famous Cognitive Dissonance Study Had Ss perform dull tasks (turning knobs).

Afterwards, Ss were told the study was on how expectations affect performance. Experimenter asked Ss to tell a new S outside that the experiment was really exciting. Ss were either given $1 or $20 to lie. Ss told the new S (confederate) how great the experiment was & then filled out a questionnaire asking how much they liked the study.

Those who earned $1 were more likely to say they liked the study. Why? We often experience dissonance when making big decisions. To reduce the dissonance after making our choice, we upgrade the chosen alternative and downgrade the unchosen option.

(b) Self-Perception Theory :

When unsure of our attitudes, we examine our behavior & the circumstances under which it occurs. Wells & Petty (1980) had Ss test headphone sets by making either vertical or horizontal head movements while listening to a radio editorial. Those nodding their heads up & down agreed with the editorial most as it is associated with “yes” responses.

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Analysis of public viewer comments on the news headlines, negative-other representation and positive-other representation.

The hate against my foreign brothers is real, death could have been avoided by all means. Some of your comments are unnecessary. I know some are bad, but we can’t paint all with the same brush. I have met good foreign people. (SABC News 2020a )

The given statement was a comment by one of the viewers after observing most of the comments made by others in respect of the situation faced by migrants at the border post. This comment suggests that most of the comments carry negative attitudes towards migrants hence saying ‘the hate against my foreign brothers is real’. Acknowledging that ‘some are bad’ presupposes the negative-other representation is true as it suggests that migrants are associated with doing bad and ‘we can’t paint them all with the same brush’ presupposes that although they are associated with bad, but if room is given, a few good can be picked from ‘them’, which refers back to uniformity and stereotyping. The given statement also demonstrates foregrounding, which focuses on making conclusions of a person based on what has been put on the foreground:

They were supposed to stay in their own country, when we said they overpopulated our South Africa they said something about hatred! We don’t care! (SABC News 2020b )

Van Dijk’s ideological square concept as explained by Richardson ( 2007 ) can be observed in the given statement. Positive self-representation and negative-other representation are characteristics of the ideological square. Outsiders are represented in a negative way whereas insiders are portrayed in positive way. The given statement shows emphasis on negative characteristics towards migrants as sentiments are echoed, which show that migrants are overpopulating SA and if ‘they’ stay in ‘their countries’ then SA would not be overpopulated.

in addition, the use of words such as ‘they’ ‘our’ ‘we’ highlights how migrants are associated with a certain social status or group, which is different from the one for South Africans as they refer themselves as ‘we’ and migrants as ‘them’. According to Blommaert (2005) in Richardson ( 2007 ), the use of such terminology signals intended social meanings.

Foregrounding

‘They deserve what they are facing’ (SABC News 2020c ) Foregrounding can also be observed in this statement. Migrants are viewed in negative light and as such, there is no empathy towards the situation that they are facing and conclusions and judgements are made in negative view. This highlights the social values held by some with regard to migrants.

Naming and referencing

Perhaps they will learn to remain in their own countries and build conducive environment to strengthen African economy. (SABC News 2020a )

The naming and referencing using terms such as ‘they’ ‘their’ highlights that migrants are viewed in uniformity and suggests a stereotype associated with migrants. The statement also presupposes that the migrants deserve the suffering experienced at the border and this will make them to stay in their own country and focus instead on developing their home country instead of thinking about returning to SA, which signals some relief for South African citizens.

‘Fact is people are dying at the border and it’s sad. We all deserve to live’ (SABC News 2020c ) the referencing used in this sentence suggests oneness. It echoes the sentiments of one who understands that whether migrant or non-migrant, ‘we’ all deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity and no one should suffer because of their nationality:

Lesson learnt, stay in your own country to avoid such. (SABC News 2020a )

This comment was made by one individual following the news that many were dying at the border because of congestion, excessive heat and no sanitation and resources. It can be observed from the comment that the statement carries negative attitudes towards migrants as the viewer who made the comment strongly believes that the migrants dying at the border are learning their lesson by undergoing the unsettling conditions faced at the border during the festive season, which will make them aware that they should not come into SA. The statement presupposes that the migrants deserve what they are experiencing and maybe by going through it they will learn to stay in their countries and not return to SA.

There was unrest on the comment section as it also became a war zone with some migrants responding and fighting back on some of the comments. In response to the given statement, one viewer commented ‘We are not going anywhere. Death is everywhere’ the statement in the response ‘we’ suggests that the respondent is a migrant as they responded in counter attack to a comment that suggested that migrants should return to their home countries.

‘We can’t continue to take care of foreigners. We are also tired and have enough problems. They must not come back’ ‘Why can’t they boost their own economy instead of painting other people’s houses when yours is a mess’ (SABC News 2020c ) to which others responded asking if they had physically taken care of a foreigner. This statement and counter statements presupposes that local South African citizens view migrants as burdening their economy in line with some literature (Garba 2020 ; Masuku 2020 ), which highlights that local citizens negatively assume that migrants are responsible for unemployment and shortage of resources in SA. Some migrants commented on the Facebook platform that they were paying taxes and boosting the economy of SA and other local South African citizens responded back saying they should boost their economy instead.

Multimodal analysis

On the SABC news webpage on the Facebook platform, there is also an option to react with an emoji-image to any news posted. These images range from faces showing happiness, laughing face, a like button, angry face (a person chooses to react with the image that best describes his or her feelings to the post). With regard to the news posted about the challenges encountered by migrants in travel, there are a number of viewers who reacted with a laughing image to the post. According to Kress and Van Leeuwen ( 2001 )’s analysis of images under the Multimodal Critical Discourse analysis (MCDA), discourse can also be communicated through images, which are often by passed in our everyday lives but carry messages (Dicks 2019 ). As can be observed in this case, a person reacting with a laughing image to a story portraying suffering can be interpreted as having no remorse and in this case, hints on elements of hate existing towards migrants.

Some of the migrant travellers who were interviewed by the SABC News, 26 December 2020d expressed their frustrations regarding the economic situation in their home country and emphasised that they would rather endure the long queues and congestion as they pursue better living conditions.

In news broadcasted by the NewzRoom Afrika, 06 January 2021, the footage revealed people in long queues, other sitting down showing signs of fatigue and others sweating. A few who were interviewed expressed their concerns with the lack of adherence to social distancing or any of the measures implemented to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Others raised frustrations regarding the lack of more personnel to assist at the border posts as the government knew that people would be travelling.

The SABC News ( 2020d ) had an interview with the parliamentary portfolio committee on 25 December 2020. The representative highlighted that the committee had taken measures to make the situation better, such as the local municipality to provide sanitation and water at the border points and the Department of Home affairs also increased personnel at customs and also proposals for a one stop shop implementation in the 2021 calendar.

The views of political leaders on the issues around migrants in SA were also sought to enhance a wide base of information. In an online IOL News ( 2020 ) article with the headline ‘Xenophobic South Africans can’t champion #BlackLivesMatter-Malema’ Julius Malema the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party expressed his concerns over some South Africans’ support of the #BlackLivesmatter global movement whilst remaining silent on the attack of foreigners:

Whilst you kill Zimbabweans, Mozambicans, Nigerians and Somalians here in South Africa and you call them “makwerekwere” and all sorts of names, today you are holding a placard saying #BlackLivesmatter? You supported the killing of your fellow brothers and sisters, … that is narrow nationalism. (IOL News 2020 )

The given statement made by the EFF leader reveals some of the negative actions of local South African citizens towards migrants. In the statement, the EFF leader is clearly against the attacks and discrimination towards foreign nationals by local South African citizens.

‘We are one family. Borders were imposed on us’ in this statement, it can be observed that the political leader is advocating for oneness and unity. With their influence, political leaders can play a major role to advocate for change in perceptions and hate towards foreign nationals.

The results reveal that discourse does contribute to the continued evidence of negative attitudes manifested in hate speech, discrimination and stereotyping in many individuals towards migrants in SA. The echoing of these sentiments on a public platform can be leeway to the reproduction, reinforcement of such attitudes to others through these open platforms. The results show that many of South Africans believe that their economy is being weighed down by foreigners and if they were to return to their countries, then things would be better for them. These findings confirm with the works of Mukumbang et al. ( 2020 ) and Schippers ( 2015 ). Major themes emerging from the results through discourse were negative attitudes and stereotyping.

Negative attitudes

Based on the comments from the comment section of the news report on Facebook, it was observed that many individuals felt that the migrants deserved the harsh conditions that they were facing at their border posts as a result of congestion and long queues at the border posts. Others felt that the borders were supposed to be opened for the migrants to go to their countries, and then closed and not be opened to to allow them to return back, which would be a relief to the citizens of South Africa

Stereotyping

Stereotyping was echoed in most comments as migrants were grouped into a certain class different from that of local citizens in their address. Migrants were stereotyped as poor and a threat to locals’ jobs. The negative attitude towards migrants can be observed in the hate speech, the negative-other representations and discrimination.

However, there were others who showed respect for humanity regardless of nationality, who sympathised with the situation experienced at the border and felt that no human being deserved to experience such challenges and frustrations. These comments that showed empathy were met with negative reproach in some aspects. Other individuals expressed their awareness of socioeconomic realities by highlighting how much migrants contributed towards the socioeconomic development of the nation hence the need to unite and stand as one. They also emphasised on how migrants also benefit the economy and hence are not taking from the economy. Some of the comments between migrants and SA native nationals resembled a war zone as harsh words were exchanged and this revealed the differences that still exist between the two groups, echoing the views of Garba ( 2020 ) and Masuku ( 2020 ).

Negative attitudes and hate towards migrants are still evident in SA and discourse plays a role in their continued existence. Although the government has amended their policies to promote locals first through affirmative action and employment equity acts, beliefs are still held amongst individuals that migrants are the reason behind unemployment and scarcity of resources in SA. There is need for the government and policymakers to raise awareness with regard to such issues through their policy implementations and work policies on the clear criteria that result in employment of migrants in the absence of local qualified personnel. Awareness should also be raised about human rights and the rights to humanity, which everyone should understand and respect. As discourse plays a role in the enactment or reproduction of these attitudes, using the platforms that the majority familiarise with to raise this awareness on oneness, unity and respect for humanity can be one way to dispel negative perceptions and attitudes held in the minds of people one step at a time. This will in turn allow for a smooth flow in implementation of local government policies and benefit from the diverse opportunities presented by locals and migrants, as issues are addressed in a holistic manner.

Acknowledgements

Competing interests.

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationship(s) that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Authors’ contributions

V.S.R. contributed towards the conceptualisation of the article, research methodology, formal analysis and the writing of the original draft S.Z. contributed towards the conceptualisation, supervision and writing-review and editing of the article.

Funding information

This article did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability

The data will be available on the link provided from the journal publishers.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.

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Journal of Local Government Research and Innovation    |    ISSN: 2709-7412 (PRINT)    |    ISSN: 2788-919X (ONLINE)

ISSN: 2788-919X

Environment and Human Attitude Towards It Research Paper

People’s attitudes towards the environment, existing gaps, recommendations.

Human beings should protect the environment in order to support the needs of every future generation. Global warming and climate change are unique problems that continue to affect the integrity of different ecosystems. Most of the strategies or initiatives put in place to deal with this problem have not delivered positive results. The use of programs such as educational campaigns and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a strategy that has failed to transform the situation.

This research paper digs deeper in order to understand people’s relationships with the environment. Existing gaps will be identified in an attempt to propose appropriate recommendations that can transform the situation. Although the issue of attitude towards the environment can address most of the predicaments affecting humanity today, there are various actions and initiatives that can be undertaken to transform the situation and reduce people’s ecological footprints.

Background Information

The role of human beings in the problem of global warming is a topic that continues to be hotly debated by policymakers, citizens, and politicians. Sawitri, Hadiyanto, and Hadi (2015) indicate that most of the activities are responsible for the changes experienced in the world since 1950. This predicament has been associated with the emission of dangerous greenhouse gases that destroy the ozone layer (Lao, Ho, & Yang, 2016). Various human activities have the potential to disorient or affect the integrity of the natural environment. For instance, deforestation is common malpractice that is pursued to get adequate land for farming and construction. The cleared forests affect the integrity of the surrounding environment. This means that the rate of global warming will increase significantly.

Human initiatives can be detrimental to the environment. For example, the use of aerosols and pesticides for agricultural purposes pollutes water and air. Some of the chemicals contained in these products are capable of emitting dangerous materials and gases, thereby affecting the integrity of the ozone layer. The wave of technological change has resulted in many vehicles, airplanes, and trains that emit greenhouse gases (Sachdeva, Jordan, & Mazar, 2015). These compounds or substances have led to the problem of global warming.

Numerous challenges associated with the natural environment, such as increased pollution, heavy downpours, extreme weather patterns, and transformed climatic conditions, continue to trouble people today. These problems have emerged due to peoples’ inability to protect the integrity of the natural environment (Bronfman, Cisternas, Lopez-Vazquez, de la Maza, & Oyanedel, 2015). Typhoons and tsunamis are being recorded in different parts of the world. These observations show conclusively that environmental conservation is an issue that should be taken seriously than ever before.

Current Behaviors and Attitudes

Within the past four decades, many people have been educated and empowered to transform their relationships with the natural environment. Tankha (2017) indicates that numerous initiatives and programs have been implemented in different parts of the world to educate individuals about the importance of protecting natural resources. Evidence-based practices such as conserving materials and recycling have been targeted by different stakeholders. These initiatives have resulted in desirable attitudes towards the environment. Bronfman et al. (2015) acknowledge that a lot needs to be done if positive results are to be realized in different parts of the world. This happens to be the case because many people are yet to embrace desirable practices that have the potential to protect the environment.

Many communities in the developed world have implemented superior initiatives that treat the concept of environmental protection as an ethical value (Sawitri et al., 2015). This means that individuals are informed and sensitized about the relevance of practices and ideas that can protect the environment. The notion of sustainable development has also been popularized, whereby many people are encouraged to focus on initiatives that can meet the demands of future generations.

Zhang et al. (2017) argue that many people in different developed countries focus on desirable practices that can result in the conservation of the natural environment. They have also been promoting specific approaches to empower more people to engage in sustainable initiatives. For example, human beings have been guided to use energy from renewable and sustainable sources such as wind and solar power (Zhang et al., 2017). Those who use electricity also appreciate the fact that natural lighting systems should be put in place.

A survey conducted by Sachdeva et al. (2015) revealed that half of the respondents were willing to engage in superior practices that could promote the integrity and sustainability of the environment. According to them, the idea was appropriate since it was capable of preserving natural resources and ensuring that they were available to many people in the future. They were also willing to plant trees in an attempt to minimize levels of soil erosion. The use of various resources efficiently was a superior practice that was being considered by many individuals to protect the natural environment.

In different companies, managers were implementing superior codes of ethics that focused on sustainable business practices. For instance, many corporations had designed powerful training programs to educate their workers about the relevance of environmentally-friendly practices (Pavalache-Ilie & Cazan, 2017). Some employees were observed to support evidence-based initiatives such as the power of research and development (R&D). This move was being taken seriously in an attempt to deal with the problem of environmental degradation (Sawitri et al., 2015). The companies were also ready to reduce their emissions, such as greenhouse gases. This was being achieved through the use of renewable energy sources. Wastewater was also being treated in an attempt to reduce the levels of pollution.

According to Bronfman et al. (2015), many people have positive attitudes regarding the protection or conservation of the natural environment. Such thoughts are crucial since they can either promote or decrease the quality of the environment (Lao et al., 2016). The introduction of learning courses and programs that revolves around the integrity of the natural resources and surroundings is an approach that has led to positive attitudes. In societies whereby positive mindsets have been taken seriously, it has been possible to record positive or meaningful results. This is the reason why many researchers propose that similar initiatives and ideas should be promoted in the underdeveloped world to maximize environmental quality.

The introduction of powerful campaigns aimed at sensitizing more people about the issue is an approach that has resulted in desirable attitudes. Those who benefit from the process embrace superior practices such as reusing and recycling scarce materials. They understand that such a practice can minimize the level of environmental exploitation and make it beneficial to every future generation. This concept has also been considered to empower more people and make it easier for them to plant trees (Tankha, 2017). The use of biodegradable materials is another positive outcome that arises from the implementation of effective educational initiatives or programs.

Some individuals have developed unique attitudes that dictate the nature and quality of products or services purchased. For instance, customers planning to purchase vehicles have been concerned about the issue of emission since it can have direct influences on the natural environment. This is the reason why many people are currently focusing on cars and trucks that have minimal impacts on the environment (Sawitri et al., 2015). Consequently, many automobile corporations such as Toyota, Honda, and Volkswagen have been on the frontline to consider this emerging demand.

The concept of personal ecological footprint has become common in different regions or states. Many individuals have learned the relevance of engaging in practices that have the potential to promote the integrity of the natural environment. For instance, they use renewable energy sources, recycle food materials, and use bicycles for transportation (Bronfman et al., 2015). They also plant trees and construct houses that require sustainable materials. Water harvesting has also been taken seriously to minimize the level of runoff and reduce the problem of soil erosion.

The above observation appears to be challenged by the fact that the problem of environmental degradation continues to affect many countries and communities. This issue is attributable to the negative attitudes associated with individuals who do not care about the natural environment. Zhang et al. (2017) argue that the ideals of capitalism have created a unique scenario whereby many investors and individuals focus on activities that have the potential to meet their economic goals. This is the reason why they have been destroying forests and overusing natural resources to support their business goals (Neiman & Ades, 2014).

At the individual level, practices such as deforestation, misuse of resources, and overreliance on nonrenewable energy sources have remained common. This is a clear indication that people’s attitudes towards the environment are yet to be improved or reconsidered.

Lao et al. (2016) assert that pro-environmental concepts and attitudes are influenced by a number of forces that must be taken seriously. For instance, a person’s age, socioeconomic status, and education will dictate his or her attitudes towards the surrounding environment. Other forces such as politics, social values, cultural practices, and gender have also been mentioned by different scholars (Tankha, 2017).

This means that individuals below the age of seventeen years might not be keen to engage in practices that have the potential to conserve the natural environment. In cultures whereby the issue is taken seriously, more individuals will be willing to plant trees and recycle various materials. The opposite will be recorded in countries and societies whereby pro-environmental ideas and attitudes are missing.

Environmental education has not been taken seriously in every community. This malpractice has affected the experiences and expectations of many people. Without effective procedures, more people find it hard to monitor or engage in practices that can result in environmental conservation. The absence of social programs and policies aimed at promoting this idea is an issue that continues to affect the attitudes of many people towards the environment negatively (Sawitri et al., 2015). The mass media has also failed to sensitize and educate more people about the role of the natural environment in their lives. These gaps explain why there is a need to implement evidence-based initiatives to improve the situation and support the needs of future generations.

Several approaches should be taken into consideration to empower more people to continue conserving the natural environment. Neiman and Ades (2014) support the power of the planned behavior theory to influence appropriate practices and attitudes that are capable of delivering positive results. For instance, individuals can be informed and guided to engage in meaningful practices such as planting trees and reusing various materials or resources. The use of efficient educational programs can be considered in order to meet the needs of every identified group.

Governments also have a role in supporting the implementation of superior policies that can result in desirable or pro-environmental attitudes (Pavalache-Ilie & Cazan, 2017). This strategy can be achieved through the use of positive behaviors and concepts that encourage more people to preserve various resources and engage in practices that can protect the natural environment. Every person should also be willing to engage in lifelong learning (Lao et al., 2016). This initiative will make it easier for more individuals to be aware of their ecological footprints, changing global conditions, and evidence-based initiatives for improving the integrity of the environment.

The completed study has revealed that the issue of environmental conservation has been taken seriously by some people in different parts of the world. However, positive results are yet to be realized since there are individuals whose attitudes towards the natural environment are underdeveloped. The involvement of different stakeholders such as the government can result in superior policies and educational programs that can transform the current situation. The presented proposals can address the current obstacles and eventually empower more people to promote the integrity of the natural environment.

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Lao, Y., Ho, S. S., & Yang, X. (2016). Motivators of pro-environmental behavior: Examining the underlying processes in the influence of presumed media influence model. Science Communication, 38 (1), 51-73. Web.

Neiman, Z., & Ades, C. (2014). Contact with nature: Effects of field trips on pro-environmental knowledge, intentions, and attitudes. Ciência & Educação, 20 (4), 889-902. Web.

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Sachdeva, S., Jordan, J., & Mazar, N. (2015). Green consumerism: moral motivations for a sustainable future. Current Opinion in Psychology, 6, 60-65. Web.

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Zhang, Y., Zhang, J., Zhang, R., Wang, Y., Guo, Y., & Wei, Z. (2017). Residents’ environmental conservation behavior in the mountain tourism destinations in China: Case studies of Jiuzhaigou and Mount Qingcheng. Journal of Mountain Science, 14 (12), 2555-2567. Web.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Environment and Human Attitude Towards It." May 5, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/environment-and-human-attitude-towards-it/.

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Essay On Attitude For Students In Easy Words – Read Here

One of the most important things that a student needs to do is to develop a good attitude. When a student has a good attitude, he or she will enjoy his or her studies and it will be easier for them to learn. A good attitude makes it easier to deal with problems that might happen while studying and also makes it easier for the student to benefit from what they are studying.

The title of this article is ‘Essay On Attitude For Students In Easy Words – Read Here’. This is a very nice way of writing an essay on the subject of ‘attitude for students’. I hope you are able to understand the meaning of this title. This essay is mainly on the topic of ‘attitude for students’ and it can be done in the easy language. This essay can be used by the students and also by the teachers for the students.

Our life is full of ups and downs. But the best part of our life is that we have the ability to take control of our ups and downs. If we are aware of the ups and downs in our life, we can avoid them. Life is full of ups and downs and if we are not aware of it, we will get into trouble. It is the attitude of our life that will bring us success. If we are positive in nature, the lives will be full of ups. If we are negative in nature, the lives will be full of downs. The hardest time in our life is the time when we are in the middle of the ups and downs. But if we are able to handle the ups and downs of our life positively. Read more about essay on attitude in english and let us know what you think.

Attitude may be defined as a person’s mental and emotional state, or it can describe a person’s character. Attitude describes a person’s state of mind as the thoughts that have been running through their heads, and it reflects their attitude on the outside.

It is in I will acquire the thoughts of the people that an attitude may be good or negative. Typically, a person’s attitude is formed by his family, since his family instills in him the values of life. As a result, his attitude views the world and acts in accordance with the values that have been instilled in him.

The primary cause for their attitude is how their parents instill ideals in them. The surrounding society’s perception of a person’s attitude, as well as how he lives in society and adheres to society’s culture and tradition, has a significant impact on that person’s attitude. Every individual’s attitude should be basic and common in society.

A person’s good attitude is reflected in his or her thoughts, and everyone should think only positively. Positive thinking in a person’s head may have a significant impact on his life. If he just thinks positively, all of the problems that come his way will be easily overcome.

The keys to success are positive thinking and a good mindset. Positive attitude in a person’s life can be defined as having faith, hope, and courage for all of the things that he is going through and other things that have come upon him. He should always be able to face problems with a positive mind so that he can easily overcome all of the difficulties that have come upon him.

For example, when a player plays his sport, he gives it his all, and he believes and hopes that he can do it with a positive mind and attitude, and that because of this, he would easily win all of his games. As a result, life is a sport, and we must be prepared to cope with it and eventually win it.

In today’s world, having a positive attitude is essential.

In today’s world, a person’s attitude is the only way to be successful in his life. How he interacts with situations, how he deals with other people, and many other aspects of a person’s life are the most important things in his life.

In this world, everyone wants to come first, and in this race, everyone has a different attitude toward other people. Some people have a negative attitude toward other people, while others have a positive attitude, and in this world, people who have a negative attitude are not of any kind. A positive attitude man always comes first in the race of life in this world.

So, constantly think positively, since a good mindset is essential for success. So, constantly think positively, since a good mindset is essential for success.

If you have any additional questions regarding the Essay On Attitude, please post them in the comments section below.

The truth is that attitude is what you get when you are able to learn, to achieve, to work hard and to make the most of every opportunity. Attitude is what you can do with the knowledge that you have, and the better your attitude, the more opportunities you can see. It is your attitude that will help you to achieve the things that are important to you. It is your attitude that will make sure that you have the motivation to do something, and the attitude that will make sure that you do it. It is the attitude that will help you in your career, in your life, in everything.. Read more about essay about attitude towards life and let us know what you think.

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Guest Essay

The View Within Israel Turns Bleak

By Megan K. Stack

Ms. Stack is a contributing Opinion writer who has reported from the Middle East.

It was the pictures of Palestinians swimming and sunning at a Gaza beach that rubbed Yehuda Shlezinger, an Israeli journalist, the wrong way. Stylish in round red glasses and a faint scruff of beard, Mr. Shlezinger unloaded his revulsion at the “disturbing” pictures while appearing on Israel’s Channel 12.

“These people there deserve death, a hard death, an agonizing death, and instead we see them enjoying on the beach and having fun,” complained Mr. Shlezinger, the religious affairs correspondent for the widely circulated right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper. “We should have seen a lot more revenge there,” Mr. Shlezinger unrepentantly added. “A lot more rivers of Gazans’ blood.”

It would be nice to think that Mr. Shlezinger is a fringe figure or that Israelis would be shocked by his bloody fantasies. But he’s not, and many wouldn’t be.

Israel has hardened, and the signs of it are in plain view. Dehumanizing language and promises of annihilation from military and political leaders. Polls that found wide support for the policies that have wreaked devastation and starvation in Gaza. Selfies of Israeli soldiers preening proudly in bomb-crushed Palestinian neighborhoods. A crackdown on even mild forms of dissent among Israelis.

The Israeli left — the factions that criticize the occupation of Palestinian lands and favor negotiations and peace instead — is now a withered stump of a once-vigorous movement. In recent years, the attitudes of many Israelis toward the “Palestinian problem” have ranged largely from detached fatigue to the hard-line belief that driving Palestinians off their land and into submission is God’s work.

This bleak ideological landscape emerged slowly and then, on Oct. 7, all at once.

The massacre and kidnappings of that day, predictably, brought a public thirst for revenge. But in truth, by the time Hamas killers rampaged through the kibbutzim — in a bitter twist, home to some of the holdout peaceniks — many Israelis had long since come to regard Palestinians as a threat best locked away. America’s romantic mythology and wishful thinking about Israel encourage a tendency to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the main cause of the ruthlessness in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 35,000 people. The unpopular, scandal-ridden premier makes a convincing ogre in an oversimplified story.

But Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, the creeping famine, the wholesale destruction of neighborhoods — this, polling suggests, is the war the Israeli public wanted. A January survey found that 94 percent of Jewish Israelis said the force being used against Gaza was appropriate or even insufficient. In February, a poll found that most Jewish Israelis opposed food and medicine getting into Gaza. It was not Mr. Netanyahu alone but also his war cabinet members (including Benny Gantz, often invoked as the moderate alternative to Mr. Netanyahu) who unanimously rejected a Hamas deal to free Israeli hostages and, instead, began an assault on the city of Rafah, overflowing with displaced civilians.

“It’s so much easier to put everything on Netanyahu, because then you feel so good about yourself and Netanyahu is the darkness,” said Gideon Levy, an Israeli journalist who has documented Israel’s military occupation for decades. “But the darkness is everywhere.”

Like most political evolutions, the toughening of Israel is partly explained by generational change — Israeli children whose earliest memories are woven through with suicide bombings have now matured into adulthood. The rightward creep could be long-lasting because of demographics, with modern Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews (who disproportionately vote with the right) consistently having more babies than their secular compatriots.

Most crucially, many Israelis emerged from the second intifada with a jaundiced view of negotiations and, more broadly, Palestinians, who were derided as unable to make peace. This logic conveniently erased Israel’s own role in sabotaging the peace process through land seizures and settlement expansion. But something broader had taken hold — a quality that Israelis described to me as a numb, disassociated denial around the entire topic of Palestinians.

“The issues of settlements or relations with Palestinians were off the table for years,” Tamar Hermann told me. “The status quo was OK for Israelis.”

Ms. Hermann, a senior research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, is one of the country’s most respected experts on Israeli public opinion. In recent years, she said, Palestinians hardly caught the attention of Israeli Jews. She and her colleagues periodically made lists of issues and asked respondents to rank them in order of importance. It didn’t matter how many choices the pollsters presented, she said — resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict came in last in almost all measurements.

“It was totally ignored,” she said.

The psychological barrier between Israelis and Palestinians was hardened when Israel built the snaking West Bank barrier, which helped to forestall attacks on Israelis toward the end of the second intifada — the five-year Palestinian uprising that erupted in 2000, killing about 1,000 Israelis and roughly three times as many Palestinians. The wall helped keep West Bank suicide bombers from penetrating Israel and piled extra misery on ever-more-constrained Palestinian civilians, many of whom refer to it as the apartheid wall.

Many Israelis, Ms. Hermann told me, are at a loss when asked to identify the border where Israel ends and the West Bank begins. Her research from 2016 found that only a small percentage of Israelis knew for sure that the Green Line was the border delineated by the 1949 Armistice. The question of whether this border should even be depicted on Israeli school maps has been a heated topic of debate within Israel; with a rueful laugh, Ms. Hermann described many of the classroom maps as “from the river to the sea.”

Such ignorance is a luxury exclusive to Israelis. Palestinians make it their business to know exactly where the border between Israel and the West Bank lies, which checkpoints are open on a given day, which roads they may and may not use. These are not abstract ideas; they dictate the daily movements of Palestinians, and confusing them could be fatal.

Israel’s uneasy detachment turned to rage on Oct. 7.

A handful of songs with lyrics calling for the annihilation of a dehumanized enemy have been circulated in Israel these past months, including “Launch,” a hip-hop glorification of the military promising “from kisses to guns, until Gaza is erased” and suggesting that the West Bank city of Jenin is under the “plague of the firstborn,” a reference to the biblical story in which God smites the eldest sons of Egypt. The smash hit “ Harbu Darbu ,” addressed to “you sons of Amalek,” promises “another X on the rifle, ’cause every dog will get what’s coming to him.”

“There is no forgiveness for swarms of rats,” another song goes . “They will die in their rat holes.”

Israeli shops hawk trendy products like a bumper sticker that reads, “Finish them,” and a pendant cut into the shape of Israel, with East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza seamlessly attached.

Israeli protesters have repeatedly taken to the streets in anguish over the hostages held in Gaza and rage at Mr. Netanyahu (who faced intense domestic opposition long before Oct. 7) for failing to save them. But the demonstrations should not be conflated with international calls to protect civilians in Gaza. Many Israelis want a cease-fire to free the hostages, followed by the ouster of Mr. Netanyahu — but the protests do not reflect a groundswell of sympathy for Palestinians or a popular desire to rethink the status quo ante of occupation and long-silenced peace talks.

If anything, with the world’s attention fixed on Gaza, Israel’s far-right government has intensified the domination of Palestinians. The single largest Israeli land grab in more than 30 years happened in March , when Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the state seizure of 10 square kilometers of the West Bank. The land takeovers are accompanied by a bloody campaign of terror , with an ever-less-distinguishable mix of soldiers and settlers killing at least 460 Palestinians in the West Bank since Oct. 7, the Palestinian health ministry says.

Meanwhile, inside Israel, the police have handed out guns to civilians and set up de facto militias in the name of self-defense. But questions about whom these newly armed groups are meant to defend, and from whom, have created a creeping unease.

The weapons have gone not only to West Bank settlements or towns adjacent to Palestinian territories and Lebanon but also to communities set deep in Israel’s interior, particularly places that are home to a mix of Arab and Jewish residents . An analysis published in January by the newspaper Haaretz found that while the national security ministry wouldn’t disclose which communities got gun licenses or the criteria used to decide, Arab communities — even those on Israel’s frontier — did not seem to be eligible.

The guns sent a chill through Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have often been invoked in defense of the state. Look, Israel’s advocates often say, Arabs live more freely in Israel than anywhere else in the Middle East.

Hassan Jabareen, a prominent Palestinian lawyer who founded Adalah, Israel’s main legal center for Arab rights, told me that many Arab citizens of Israel — who constitute one-fifth of the population — live in fear.

Israel’s attacks on Gaza have in the past provoked community protests, riots and clashes among Arabs and Jews in Israel. After Oct. 7, though, the message was clear: Stay quiet.

“The police left no doubt that we were enemies of the state,” Mr. Jabareen said, “when they started arming the Jewish citizens of Israel and called Jewish citizens to come to the station and take your arms to defend yourself from your Palestinian neighbor.”

Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer who lives with her family in the Israeli city of Haifa, told me that these past months have been thick with unease. She has long imagined herself as a living holdover from the once-thriving Arab population that was largely displaced from what is now Israel. A “remnant,” she calls herself, who for years moved through Israel feeling invisible.

Now the sense of invisibility has melted. Both Ms. Buttu and Mr. Jabareen said that the current atmosphere in Israel had drawn closer and sharpened in their minds the mass displacement known in Arabic as the nakba, or catastrophe, as if history might yet loop back. Mr. Netanyahu evoked the same era when he referred to Israel’s current onslaught as “Israel’s second war of independence.”

“They didn’t see us,” Ms. Buttu said. “We were the ghosts; we were just there. And now it’s like, ‘Wow, they’re here.’ There is an interest in trying to get rid of Palestinians. We’re on the rhetorical front lines.”

Long before this current storm of violence, Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right government had worked to strengthen Jewish supremacy. The 2018 “nation-state law” codified the right to national self-determination as “unique to the Jewish people,” removed Arabic as an official language and established “Jewish settlement as a national value” that the government must support. Palestinian members of the Knesset famously shredded copies of the bill in Parliament and yelled, “Apartheid,” but it passed all the same.

In 2022, Israel reauthorized its controversial family unification law, largely barring Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from receiving legal status — or living with their spouses in Israel — if they are from the West Bank or Gaza. The law also applies to people from the “enemy states” of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq (homes to Palestinian refugee communities), as well as Iran.

With legal disadvantages and social pressures mounting, Palestinian citizens of Israel have started to look abroad for support. Mr. Jabareen told me that his organization is preparing an application to the United Nations to request international legal protections for Palestinians inside Israel. In March a Palestinian citizen of Israel was granted asylum in Britain after arguing that returning would very likely expose him to persecution because of his political views and activism for Palestinian rights and Israel’s “apartheid system of racial control of its Jewish citizens over its Palestinian citizens.”

Another stark sign of Israel’s hardening is the hundreds of Israelis — mostly Arabs, but some Jews, too — who have been arrested, fired or otherwise punished for statements or actions regarded as endangering national security or undermining Israel’s war efforts. Even a social media post expressing concern for Palestinians in Gaza is enough to draw police scrutiny.

Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a scholar who lectures at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Queen Mary University of London, said on a podcast that Zionism should be abolished, that Israel may be lying about the extent of sexual assault that took place on Oct. 7 and that Israelis were “criminals” who “cannot kill and not be afraid, so they better be afraid.” Israeli police responded in April by jailing Ms. Shalhoub-Kevorkian overnight and asking a judge to keep her locked up while they investigated her on suspicion of incitement. The judge decided to release her but acknowledged that she “may have crossed the line from free expression to incitement.”

For nearly two decades — starting with the quieting of the second intifada and ending calamitously on Oct. 7 — Israel was remarkably successful at insulating itself from the violence of the occupation. Rockets fired from Gaza periodically rained down on Israeli cities, but since 2011 , Israel’s Iron Dome defense system has intercepted most of them. The mathematics of death heavily favored Israel: From 2008 until Oct. 7, more than 6,000 Palestinians were killed in what the United Nations calls “the context of occupation and conflict”; during that time, more than 300 Israelis were killed.

Human rights organizations — including Israeli groups — wrote elaborate reports explaining why Israel is an apartheid state. That was embarrassing for Israel, but nothing really came of it. The economy flourished. Once-hostile Arab states showed themselves willing to sign accords with Israel after just a little performative pestering about the Palestinians.

Those years gave Israelis a taste of what may be the Jewish state’s most elusive dream — a world in which there simply did not exist a Palestinian problem.

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator who is now president of the U.S./Middle East Project think tank, describes “the level of hubris and arrogance that built up over the years.” Those who warned of the immorality or strategic folly of occupying Palestinian territories “were dismissed,” he said, “like, ‘Just get over it.’”

If U.S. officials understand the state of Israeli politics, it doesn’t show. Biden administration officials keep talking about a Palestinian state. But the land earmarked for a state has been steadily covered in illegal Israeli settlements, and Israel itself has seldom stood so unabashedly opposed to Palestinian sovereignty.

There’s a reason Mr. Netanyahu keeps reminding everyone that he’s spent his career undermining Palestinian statehood: It’s a selling point. Mr. Gantz, who is more popular than Mr. Netanyahu and is often mentioned as a likely successor, is a centrist by Israeli standards — but he, too, has pushed back against international calls for a Palestinian state.

Daniel Levy describes the current divide among major Israeli politicians this way: Some believe in “managing the apartheid in a way that gives Palestinians more freedom — that’s [Yair] Lapid and maybe Gantz on some days,” while hard-liners like Mr. Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir “are really about getting rid of the Palestinians. Eradication. Displacement.”

The carnage and cruelty suffered by Israelis on Oct. 7 should have driven home the futility of sealing themselves off from Palestinians while subjecting them to daily humiliations and violence. As long as Palestinians are trapped under violent military occupation, deprived of basic rights and told that they must accept their lot as inherently lower beings, Israelis will live under the threat of uprisings, reprisals and terrorism. There is no wall thick enough to suppress forever a people who have nothing to lose.

Israelis did not, by and large, take that lesson. Now apathy has been replaced by vengeance.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Megan K. Stack is a contributing Opinion writer and author. She has been a correspondent in China, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Afghanistan and the U.S.-Mexico border area. Her first book, a narrative account of the post-Sept. 11 wars, was a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction. @ Megankstack