The Hidden Power of Attitudes

As people negotiate life, they are often confronted with the aspects of it they either accept or reject—and there can certainly be degrees of both—leaving them with two choices. They can either try to change them or try to change the way they view them. The latter, entailing attitude, is a hidden power many are not aware that they have.

“An attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular object, person, thing, or event,” according to Kendra Cherry in her article, “The Components of Attitude: Definition, Formation, Changes (VeryWellMind, March 11, 2023). “Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing. They can have a powerful influence over behavior and affect how people act in various situations.”

These angles, perspectives, or evaluations can consist of three components.

The first, the cognitive one, entails personal thought and belief about what is being considered, whether it is a negative or a positive one or the degrees of either, and begins the consideration sequence. It usually progresses to the affective, or feeling one, since thoughts, even on the subconscious level, are needed to evoke them. Finally, they can, but do not always result in, the behavioral aspect, prompting a person to exhibit such characteristics that reflect his attitude.

Attitudes can and are usually prone to change over time. Maturity, new experience and exposure, education, reconsiderations, additional information and understanding, and awareness all affect the way a person considers something. A 20-year-old, for instance, may not see the value in travel. But a 50-year-old who has had considerable experience with it may amend his view of it when he retrospectively considers its cultural, geographical, and historical benefits, realizing how it has refined him as a person and expanded his understanding and appreciation of the world.

Although attitudes can change over time, they can also be temporary, since they hinge upon a person’s mental, emotional, and physical state. If he views something in a positive light, that light is likely to dull if he is tired, stressed, hungry, or feeling ill.

Those who refuse to or are unable to adjust their views are usually rigid, myopic, close-minded, and unlikely to grow in a positive way.

Attitudes are ways of self-referencing something. If, for example a weekend event is cancelled because of inclement weather, a person can assess it in a negative or a positive way. In the former case, he can be disappointed and sad. In the latter, he can conclude that it would not have been very enjoyable under the circumstances, that his lawn needed watering, that he saved on his water bill, and that it gave him the opportunity to complete a project he had been putting off at home.

Attitudes can have past and future values.

While a person cannot change what has already occurred, he can reassess it, substituting its negative aspects for positive ones by realizing the growth and learning opportunities they offered. In this respect, an attitude change can be considered a hinge between a negative past and a positive view of it in the present.

It can also have future value. If properly employed, a positive one can serve as a threshold to something new. If a person starts a new job or begins a new endeavor, for instance, his success may be increased if he enters it with a promising outlook as opposed to pessimistic one.

In this respect, attitudes can be equated with hidden power.

“Today, I recognize how powerful my mind can be,” according to a share in Al-Anon’s Courage to Change Text (Al-Anon family Group Headquarters, Inc., 1992, p. 243). “I can’t always feel good, and I have no interest in whitewashing my difficulties by pasting a smile on my face. But I can recognize that I am constantly making choices about how I perceive my world.”

“Attitudes play a pivotal role in shaping human behavior, from the choices people make about living their lives to the healthy behaviors they engage in daily,” Cherry concludes (op. cit.). “Understanding where these attitudes come from and how they sometimes change can help you look for ways to improve your attitudes, whether it means adopting a more positive outlook on life or changing your opinion based on new information.”

Attitudes--hidden they may sometimes be, but powerful they certainly are when properly used.

Robert G. Waldvogel has earned the Interdisciplinary Certificate in Behavioral Health for Late Adolescence and the Emerging Adult and a Postgraduate Certificate in the Fundamentals of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment at Adelphi University’s School of Social Work. He has led Twelve-Step support groups on Long Island for almost fifteen years, and created the Adult Child Recovery-through-Writing, and the Strengthening Our Spirituality Programs taught at the Thrive Recovery Community and Outreach Center in Westbury. He is a frequent contributor to Wisdom Magazine.