Mental Attitude

Answer should demonstrate whether or not there is an ability to recognize and exploit strength of character and/or recognize weakness.

Candidate should be able to step outside of an emotive situation, evaluate the problems, come up with solutions, and be character driven?

Response should show applicant is in control of their attitude, that they think rationally, and they do not see, or allow, themselves to be a victim.

The extremeness of an attitude indicates how positive or negative an attitude is. A rating of 1 or 5 indicates extreme attitudes.

Valence of an attitude tells us whether an attitude is positive or negative towards the attitude object. For example, an attitude towards a nuclear research is expressed on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (Very Bad), 2 (Bad), 3 (Neutral), 4 (Good) and 5 (Very Good). A rating of 4 or 5 indicates a positive attitude towards nuclear research while a rating of 1 or 2 indicates a negative attitude and a rating of 3 indicates a neutral attitude.

Job seeker should be able to admit that they do not know some things. They should have the ability push themselves forward in a challenging situation.

Job seeker should anticipate reactions and objections which shows the skill to plan ahead. Job seeker should value people and understand the necessity of finding common goals and grounds.

Applicant should demonstrate a high level of enthusiasm, energy, and dedication.

Attitudes towards various topics such as political, religious and social groups, occupations, national and other issues are developed through reference groups. This is learning by reward and punishment.

Candidate should show that their personal perceptions are not biased and that they have the ability to make accurate judgments quickly.

Personal experience can bring a drastic change in our attitude. Here is a real-life example. A driver in the army went through a personal experience that transformed his life. On one mission, he narrowly escaped death although all his companions got killed. He gave up his job in the army and worked actively as a community leader. Through a purely personal experience the individual evolved a strong positive attitude towards community enlistment.

A central attitude would influence the other attitudes in an attitude system. For example, in an attitude towards world peace, a negative attitude towards high military expenditure is present as the central attitude and influences all other attitudes in the multiple attitude system.

Applicant should respond with humor and yet still attempt to give an honest appraisal of his/her character traits. This includes both positive and negative traits as viewed from another person’s perspective.

Learning of attitudes within the family and school usually takes place by association, through reward and punishment and through modelling.

Candidate should have a positive confident attitude. Words and body language will be evaluated to determine whether or not a truthful answer was given.

An attitude system is said to be 'simple' if it contains one or a few attitudes and complex if it is made of many attitudes. For example, an attitude towards a person is a simple attitude while an attitude towards health and well-being is a complex attitude consisting of attitude towards physical and mental health, views about happiness and well-being etc.

Most people are a mixture of the two, but the applicant’s words, presence and body language (especially the energy in the eyes) will indicate the predominant personality trait(s) and/or beliefs.