Difference Between Attitude and Behavior

Table of Contents

The terms “attitude” and “behavior” are psychological terms, related to the personality or character of a person. They are often confused and used interchangeably, but they are very distinct terms. In simple words, the behavior of a person towards someone or something reflects his/her attitude towards the same.

Attitude VS Behavior

The main difference between attitude and behavior is that attitude refers to the thought process of a person towards someone or something. Whereas, behavior is the way a person acts or behaves in a certain situation.

The attitude of a person refers to his/her outlook, feelings, opinions, or disposition towards themselves, some person, thing, place, or event. It is the outcome of their experiences or observations in their life.The attitude of a person is a part of their personality. It influences the individual’s thoughts and actions.

The behavior of a person refers to his/her actions. They are a kind of reaction to their surroundings, and these reactions are influenced by their thoughts. It is a response to things that are happening internally or externally with a human being.The behavior of a person is how he/she represents themselves in front of the world. It is influenced by an individual’s thoughts and actions.

Comparison Table between Attitude and Behavior

Parameters of Comparison	Attitude	Behavior
Meaning	It is how a person feels or thinks in a particular situation or towards something or someone.	It is how a person behaves or acts in response to his/her surroundings, according to his thoughts.
Result of	Observation and experience	Thoughts and feelings in a particular situation
Result to	Thinking process and behavior of a person	The reflection of that person’s character and attitudes
Types	negative and positive	innate and learned
Related to	Psychology	Sociology

What is Attitude?

The attitude of a person is his/her mindset, outlook, feelings, believes, position, thinking, etc., regarding a thing, person, or topic; in their mind. Different attitudes of a person towards different things make him/her who they are.
There are mainly 4 types of attitudes:

Positive attitude – A person has a positive attitude when he/she keeps a positive mindset and thinking about certain things. Psychologists and mental health experts advise people to keep a positive attitude in all types of circumstances, as it has many benefits, and also helps bring out good behavior. For Example Happiness, sincerity, determination, confidence, etc.

Negative attitude– A person has a negative attitude when he/she keeps a negative mindset about certain things. It is something that every person should avoid. A person with a negative attitude tends to avoid all the good things going on in life which makes him/her behave negatively in all situations. For example Anger, Frustration, Doubt, etc.

Neutral attitude– A person has a neutral attitude when he/she tends to ignore all their problems and pleasures. They are generally lazy people. They do not tend to think or care much about anything. A neutral attitude is also not recommended. These people feel disconnected quite often.

Sikken attitude– This type of attitude is considered to be very dangerous as people with this kind of attitude are highly negative and destructive. It is necessary to let go of this kind of attitude.

In psychology, there are 3 types of attitudes, namely:
• Cognitive
• Emotional
• And, Behavioral

What is Behavior?

The behavior of a person is the way he/she acts, behaves, or reacts in a certain situation. The behavior of a person is driven by their attitude, and feelings, the nature of the person, and the nature of the situation.

It is a response to things that are happening, internally (thoughts and feelings) or externally (surroundings and environment).

The behavior of a person is the way he/she acts, behaves, or reacts in a certain situation. It is driven by their attitude and feelings. It indicates who he is from the inside.

It is a response to things that are happening with a person, internally (thoughts and feelings) or externally (surroundings and environment).

Behavior also has some purposes like:
• Communication – through facial expressions, body language, gestures and silence.
• Function – attract attention, gain an indoor or sensory sensation, to assist meet a necessity, access associate degree item or activity, or flee from one thing.

Behavior may be adjusted according to positive or negative circumstance from the person’s surroundings or according to self-regulated intentions.

Some studies tell that human behavior can be classified as Optimistic, Pessimistic, Trusting, and Envious.

Human behaviors are classified into many types and categories, they can also be classified in these three categories in psychology, they are as follows:

I. Molecular and Moral behavior – Molecular behavior is an unexpected behavior that occurs as a reflex to the surroundings. Whereas, Moral behavior is the behavior that occurs after thinking and understanding.
II. Overt and Covert behavior – Normal behavior which is visible is known as overt behavior, for example eating food, cycling, etc. Whereas, Covert behavior is the behavior that is not visible, for example, thinking or overthinking.
III. Voluntary and involuntary behavior – Voluntary behavior is driven by human want. For example, eating, drinking, etc. Whereas, involuntary behavior includes natural human habits, which occur without thinking. For example breathing

Main Differences Between Attitude and Behavior

The main difference between Attitude and Behavior is that the attitude of a person refers to his/her thoughts, feelings, or opinions about themselves, someone, or something.
Whereas, the behavior of a person refers to how he/she acts or reacts in a particular situation, or responds to their surroundings.

The attitude of a person is primarily based on his observations and experiences in life. In contrast, the behavior of a person depends on the situation he/she is in.

The Attitude of a person reflects his/her way of thinking. Whereas, the behavior of a person reflects their manners.

A person’s attitude is their inner thoughts and feelings. While their behavior reveals their attitude.

Attitude is a natural quality of humans. And behavior is an inherent element.

Attitude is determined by a person’s perception of things. However, their behavior is influenced by social norms.

Conclusion

The behavior of a person in a certain situation reflects their thought process and hence, attitude towards the same. So, a person should be well-behaved and should tend to keep a positive attitude towards everything.

But, when behavior is varying with the attitude of a person, it is sometimes a result of societal or peer pressure. One can also change their attitude to change their behavior towards something.
Likewise, one can also study another person’s personality and attitude through their behavior, as, attitude and behavior have a direct relationship.

References

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