Attitudes are also attached to mental categories . Mental orientations towards concepts are generally referred to as values. Affect - The affective component refers to our feeling with respect to the focal object such as fear, liking, or anger. Behavioral intentions are our goals, aspirations, and our expected responses to the attitude object. Evaluation - Evaluations are often considered the central component of attitudes.
Evaluations consist of the imputation of some degree of goodness or badness to an attitude object.
When we speak of a positive or negative attitude toward an object, we are referring to the evaluative component. Evaluations are are function of cognitive, affect and behavioral intentions of the object. It is most often the evaluation that is stored in memory, often without the corresponding cognitions and affect that were responsible for its formation. How do attitudes influence on our behavior and decisions. Four ways of thinking about the choice process can be described.