Essence and structure of social attitudes in sociology and social psychology

History of the scientific study of social attitude in social psychology and sociology is presented. On the basis of the analysis of works of W. Thomas, F. Znaniecki, and G. Allport, the essence of social attitude is considered. The dual nature of social attitude, which necessitates the review of the social object external to the individual and the individual response of the individual to a particular object, is clarified. It is emphasized that the understanding of the social attitude as a state of mind and of nervous system, which has a guiding influence on behavior on the basis of the generated previous experiences, is limited due to excessive individualization of attitudes. Theories of two-component (L. Thurstone, J. Sarnoff, D. Katz) and three-component (M. Smith, K. Hovland) structure of attitude are analyzed to establish the contradictory attitude structure as regards the direction and content of the attitude. Advantages of the ecological approach (A.A. Devyatkin) to the definition of attitude structure including levels of environmental, attitude and behavioral components are suggested. On the basis of the determination of the essence and structure of social attitude, the specificity of the sociological approach to the study of attitude is substantiated. Understanding the importance of social attitude for social community, understanding the fixed nature of attitude and social properties of its object are emphasized. Author advances the definition of the essence of social attitude as a subject's readiness to act in certain situations, which forms in response to the emotionally coloured evaluative attitude towards social objects.