Mains Marathon

Approach

• Introduce by defining Attitude and its components.
• Describe with examples how the experience guides someone’s life.
• Conclude suitably.

Answer

Attitude is a state of mind, a set of Views or thoughts regarding some topic or object.

It has three components: ABC, A for affection, B for behavioral and C for cognitive component.

• Here attitude is the cumulation of the affection, behavioral and cognitive components.
• These components form someone’s attitude or framework of experience of life.

In someone's life, formation of attitude depends on various factors like:

• Association: For example, Dr. Kalam’s interest in science was due to his association with his teacher.
• Reward & Punishment:
  • Formation of a positive attitude of singing is due to likeness or to earn money.
  • Formation of a negative attitude of not eating fast food due to fear of illness.
• Modelling (observation): Someone respecting his elders because he observes his parents that they are respecting their elders.
• Due to exposure of information: Indians dislike EIC (East India Company) by reading about Drain of Wealth or we respect Gandhiji due to his dedication to Truth and Ahimsa.
• Family, School Environment, Reference group and media influence and forming the attitude and experience of a person.
• Our personality forms due to the cumulative effect of all these and other factors like this.
• These factors form an attitude and this attitude builds a framework of experience of an individual and guides her/his decision throughout life.
  • Example: Gandhiji’s experience at Pietermaritzburg station in South Africa guide his way to protest against the injustice and discrimination in Africa and his homeland India.
• If attitude formation has impacted or formed the core value of the individual, then a person's personality or attitude guides his way throughout life.
  • For example, Bhagat Singh’s dedication towards socialism and freedom was due to his core personality that was formed in the interest of the Indian people due to colonial rule.
  • The compassionate attitude of Dr. Ambedkar for amelioration of the downtrodden was developed due to the discrimination which he had faced in his life. The experience of that act of discrimination has guided his course of life for the betterment of the downtrodden.
• Civil servant’s action and its reaction guide his/her way to tackle the more complex situations of the society and of her/his life both in public and private.
  • For example, Ajit Doval's (National Security Advisor of India) experience as a Spy in Pakistan guided his way to tackle the Punjab unrest and help in to control the situation.
• If one ignores all compulsion, force and drama then the natural force will guide our life only in the framework of experiences.
• To build a productive and positive framework of experience which tends to guide our life, we must have emotional intelligence so that as civil servants we can positively utilise every experience of our life in the interest of our subjects.