NODE 06 · GS Paper IV

Attitudes, Aptitude & Social Influence

Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.— UPSC Mains Syllabus

Attitudes are learned predispositions to evaluate objects, persons, or issues. For GS4, the key is understanding how attitudes form (cognitive, affective, behavioural components), how they are changed (persuasion, social influence, cognitive dissonance), and what makes a civil servant's attitudinal profile conducive to ethical public service. Questions often ask about aptitude for civil service — the personality traits, not just technical skills.

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Standard Textbooks

Lexicon for Ethics — Chronicle Publications

Chapters: Chapter on Attitude and Aptitude

G Subba Rao & P N Roy Chowdhury: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

Chapters: Part on Aptitude and Foundational Values

Also relevant when writing this answer

These nodes commonly intersect with this one in real Mains questions. The connection is explained below each link.

GS4 · NODE 07→

Emotional Intelligence & Empathy

Attitude and EI are complementary. Empathy is both an attitudinal disposition and an EI competency. Questions on social influence often shade into EI territory.

“Questions on 'the role of empathy in civil service' require both attitude theory and EI framework.”

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