Overview
Previous Year UPSC-CSE Questions By the end you will be able to draft model answers for the following UPSC questions. Each question carries a collapsible framework showing how to approach it in the exam.
- UPSC Mains 2021 GS-IVAttitude is an important component that goes as input in the development of human being. How to build a suitable attitude needed for a public servant?
How to structure the answer in the exam
Introduction: State that attitude is learned and central to a public servant's conduct (covered in sec-3, sec-5).
Body (sub-themes to develop):
- The needed attitude: empathy, integrity, objectivity, impartiality, service orientation. [Article ss-5-1]
- Attitudes are learned, so they can be deliberately shaped. [Article ss-3-1]
- Build it through self-awareness, role models, value-based training and emotional intelligence. [Article ss-5-2]
- Sustain it under stress through purpose, resilience and a supportive culture. [Article ss-5-2]
Conclusion: Conclude that a suitable public-service attitude is built deliberately and sustained by institutions and reflection.
- UPSC Mains 2020 GS-IVA positive attitude is considered to be an essential characteristic of a civil servant who is often required to function under extreme stress. What contributes to a positive attitude in a person?
How to structure the answer in the exam
Introduction: State that a positive attitude is learned and contributes to performance under stress (covered in sec-3, ss-5-2).
Body (sub-themes to develop):
- Formation: learning, conditioning, social influence and direct experience. [Article ss-3-1, ss-3-2]
- Contributors: self-awareness, good role models and mentors. [Article ss-5-2]
- Value-based training and emotional intelligence build a constructive outlook. [Article ss-5-2]
- Purpose, resilience and a supportive culture sustain it under stress. [Article ss-5-2]
Conclusion: Conclude that a positive attitude grows from learning, reflection and a supportive environment.
An attitude is a learned psychological tendency to evaluate an object, person or idea with some degree of favour or disfavour. It has three components in the ABC model (affective, behavioural, cognitive), serves four functions in Katz's theory (utilitarian, knowledge, ego-defensive, value-expressive), is formed mainly through learning and experience, and, for a civil servant, must be a positive and service-oriented attitude.
The meaning and nature of attitude
Defining attitude and its neighbours
In psychology, an attitude is a learned psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular object, person or idea with some degree of favour or disfavour. In short, it is a lasting evaluation that shapes how we feel about and respond to the things around us.
| Concept | What it is |
|---|---|
| Attitude | A favourable or unfavourable evaluation of an object |
| Belief | What we hold to be true about an object |
| Value | A deep, abstract ideal that guides many attitudes |
| Opinion | A spoken or expressed judgement on a specific issue |
Attitudes sit between deep values and surface opinions: values are broad ideals such as honesty, while attitudes are specific evaluations and opinions are their open expression. Keeping these apart is the first step in any ethics answer on the topic.
The three components of attitude (ABC model)
The classic tripartite view, set out by Rosenberg and Hovland in 1960, holds that every attitude has three components, often called the ABC model: the affective, the behavioural and the cognitive.
The cognitive component is the beliefs and thoughts we hold about the object, the affective component is the feelings and emotions it stirs, and the behavioural component is our tendency to act towards it. A strong attitude usually has all three pulling in the same direction.
The functions of attitude
Katz's four functions of attitude
Attitudes are not idle; they serve psychological needs. Daniel Katz's functional theory sets out four: the utilitarian, the knowledge, the ego-defensive and the value-expressive function, each meeting a different need.
The utilitarian function steers us towards reward and away from harm; the knowledge function helps us organise and make sense of the world; the ego-defensive function protects our self-esteem; and the value-expressive function lets us express our central values and identity.
Why the functions matter for changing attitudes
Knowing the function an attitude serves is the key to changing it. An attitude held for knowledge can be shifted with better information, but one that is ego-defensive resists facts because it is protecting the self.
This is why simple persuasion often fails: it targets the wrong function. Effective attitude change must speak to the need the attitude meets, which is a recurring insight in both ethics and public communication.
The formation of attitudes
Learning, conditioning and social influence
Attitudes are mostly learned, not inborn. As Doob argued in 1947, learning can account for most of the attitudes a person holds, and theories of classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning and social learning explain how they form.
We absorb attitudes from family, school, peers, religion and the media through social learning, and even simple repetition shapes them: the mere-exposure effect means people grow more favourable towards things they encounter often.
Experience, culture and reference groups
Direct experience is a powerful source: attitudes formed by first-hand contact with an object are usually stronger and more predictive of behaviour than those picked up second-hand.
Culture and reference groups matter too. The groups we identify with, and the wider culture we live in, supply ready-made attitudes that we adopt as our own, which is why attitudes vary so much across societies and communities.
Attitude, behaviour and persuasion
Why attitude does not always predict behaviour
It is tempting to assume attitudes determine behaviour, but the link is loose. An attitude more directly shapes the intention to act than the action itself, and several factors weaken the correlation between what people feel and what they do.
Social norms, the specific situation, habit and the strength of the attitude all intervene, so a person may hold an attitude yet not act on it. For ethics, the lesson is that good attitudes must be backed by the conditions and resolve to act on them.
Changing attitudes through persuasion
Attitudes can be changed by persuasion, and its success depends on three things working together: the source, the message and the audience. A credible, trustworthy source carries more weight than an untrusted one.
The message matters too, clear, balanced and well-repeated arguments persuade best, as do appeals matched to the audience's existing values and attitudes. Social influence of this kind is how mass campaigns, from public health to cleanliness drives, shift behaviour at scale.
Attitude in public service
The attitude a civil servant needs
For a public servant, the right attitude is as important as knowledge or skill. The work demands a positive, service-oriented attitude built on empathy, integrity, objectivity and impartiality, and a genuine commitment to the public good.
These are the foundational values of public service, and they are attitudes as much as rules: an officer who feels favourably towards citizens, fairness and duty will act well even where no rule compels it, which is why a suitable attitude is central to ethical governance.
Building and sustaining a positive attitude
Because attitudes are learned, a suitable one can be deliberately built. Self-awareness, good role models and mentors, value-based training and emotional intelligence all help a person develop empathy, patience and a constructive outlook.
Sustaining a positive attitude under the stress of public office is harder. It is supported by a sense of purpose, resilience, a supportive institutional culture and the habit of reflection, so that the officer's attitude does not curdle into cynicism but stays oriented to service.
How attitude appears in the UPSC exam
Attitude in GS Paper IV (Ethics)
Attitude is a core GS Paper IV ethics theme. The points worth fixing in memory are few and high-yield.
- An attitude is a learned tendency to evaluate something favourably or unfavourably.
- The ABC model gives its three components: affective, behavioural and cognitive.
- Katz’s four functions are utilitarian, knowledge, ego-defensive and value-expressive.
- For a civil servant, a positive, service-oriented attitude is a foundational value.
A strong answer defines attitude precisely, sets out its components and functions, explains how it is formed and changed, and then applies this to building the positive, ethical attitude a public servant needs, exactly the arc this article develops.
Prelims MCQ practice
Each question below tests one specific concept on the topic. Click to reveal the answer and a full option-wise explanation.
Q1. In psychology, an attitude is best described as:
- an innate, fixed personality trait
- a learned tendency to evaluate something favourably or unfavourably
- a temporary mood
- a logical argument
Show answer and explanation
Answer: a learned tendency to evaluate something favourably or unfavourably
Explanation.
An attitude is a learned psychological tendency to evaluate an object with some degree of favour or disfavour. It is learned, not innate, and more lasting than a mood. Hence (b).
Q2. The three components of an attitude in the ABC model are:
- ability, belief, conduct
- affective, behavioural, cognitive
- action, bias, control
- affect, bias, cognition
Show answer and explanation
Answer: affective, behavioural, cognitive
Explanation.
The ABC model (Rosenberg and Hovland, 1960) gives the affective (feelings), behavioural (action tendency) and cognitive (beliefs) components. Hence (b).
Q3. With reference to the functions of attitude (Katz), consider the following statements:
- The ego-defensive function protects a person's self-esteem.
- The value-expressive function expresses a person's central values.
- The utilitarian function organises new information.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Show answer and explanation
Answer: 1 and 2 only
Explanation.
Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: organising information is the knowledge function; the utilitarian function steers towards reward and away from harm. Hence 1 and 2 only.
Q4. The 'mere-exposure effect' in attitude formation means that:
- attitudes are inherited from parents
- repeated exposure to an object tends to make the attitude towards it more favourable
- attitudes never change
- exposure to facts always changes attitudes
Show answer and explanation
Answer: repeated exposure to an object tends to make the attitude towards it more favourable
Explanation.
The mere-exposure effect is the tendency to develop a more favourable attitude towards things one is exposed to frequently. Hence (b).
Q5. Which of the following best explains why attitudes do not always predict behaviour?
- attitudes have no link to behaviour at all
- social norms, the situation and habit can intervene between attitude and action
- behaviour always precedes attitude
- only cognition affects behaviour
Show answer and explanation
Answer: social norms, the situation and habit can intervene between attitude and action
Explanation.
Attitude shapes the intention to act more than the action itself; social norms, the situation, habit and attitude strength weaken the attitude-behaviour link. Hence (b).
Q6. Consider the following statements about persuasion and attitude change:
- A credible source is more persuasive than an untrusted one.
- Matching a message to the audience's values aids persuasion.
- Attitudes once formed can never be changed by persuasion.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Show answer and explanation
Answer: 1 and 2 only
Explanation.
Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: persuasion through source, message and audience can and does change attitudes. Hence 1 and 2 only.
Sources and Further Reading
Editorial Disclaimer
This article explains attitude for UPSC ethics preparation, drawing on standard social-psychology sources. Models and theorists reflect the cited authorities.
