Overview

Attitudes are a choice! Which direction are you heading……

Today psychological testing is making way for Neuropsychological testing. Compared to conventional psychological testing, these tests demonstrate consistency in administration and scoring, ability to generate numerous alternative forms suitable for repeated testing, precise stimulus control, the ability to track various components of an individual’s response, increased cost efficiency and ability to develop large and accurate databases (Gualiteri & Johnson, 2006).

In view of the obvious advantages, we at Envista Mindmap have designed and developed Neuropsychological tests for assessing the attitudes of individuals. The battery of tests measures the affect and cognitive aspects of individual attitudes.

We have a spectrum of attitudes – two directions that we can travel- ranging from 100% positive to 100% negative and any percentage of positive or negative in between. Our attitudes are important as we can have an attitude problem or an attitude advantage in both personal and professional setting!

Importance of Attitudes

Research and reports on employability skills identify a set of characteristics required to enter, stay and progress in the world of work. Positive attitude and behaviour are the critical skills identified to be responsible for getting a job, keeping and job and getting promoted.

Secondly, research has also demonstrated that attitudes have a direct bearing on our health. Negative attitudes are known to lessen life spans. People with negative attitudes have higher stress level, experience higher anxiety and fall sick more often.

Thirdly, research also suggests that negative attitudes affect others. The phenomenon of emotional contagion states that we contract emotions from others. The two important findings in this regard are: Negative emotions are more contagious than positive emotions; In leadership roles, the emotion of the leader has greater influence on the subordinate than anything else.

Lastly, and most importantly, attitudes have the power to impact our decisions in the most unexpected way. Logical research and analysis get over-ruled by emotions at the last moment and influence the final decision. This is manifested in the buying behaviour of customers where ‘impulse buying’ – characterised by an emotional outburst is largely responsible for the final shopping choice made.

Measuring Attitudes

Attitudes assess the favourability towards an object/situation. Measuring attitudes for predicting behavioural outcomes is well-known. Most measures however assess the attitudes of individuals by asking questions through specific questionnaires meant to assess a common outcome. The issue of social desirability along with changing contexts/circumstances affect the predictability of attitudes. Additionally, most of the attitude measures have been designed and developed in the western countries which are in sync with the western culture. The possibility of these measures yielding reliable and valid outcomes in the India context is unconvincing.

The uniqueness of Association and Preference tests designed for attitude testing at Envista Mindmap consists of the following aspects.

1. The tests are implicit in nature which means that individuals are unaware of the element they are being tested upon. The test serves to understand the attitude manifestation at an automatic and unconscious level.
   
   
2. The tests are designed to suit the Indian context, arguing for greater relevance and reliability.
   
   
3. The battery of tests can be applied to the field of Management ( HR recruitment & selection; Product & brand preferences; etc.) for understanding prejudices/discriminatory practices and identifying signals for serious issues like depression, aggression, religious fanaticism etc.
   
   
4. The tests are administered online and can be administered at any site/location. The test requires individuals to have a basic knowledge of computers and English language.
   
   
5. The test results are statistically vetted and are unique to every individual. The test results have been further validated by using EEG ( electroencephalograph) to attest reactions in the order of milliseconds.
   
   

At the end, it suffices to say, that we all would benefit from an attitude assessment. Assessment is to help individuals become more aware of what attitudes they end up choosing which impact their behaviour as a leader and team player. The real value of this assessment begins with the self-awareness of one’s attitude and continues to building an attitude advantage through additional ideas and feedback from others.