The construct of "attitude" is a fundamental aspect of social psychology, fostering an enormous body of research and some heated debate. Because of the scope of the subject, the topics of attitude change and persuasion are treated separately in Chapter 7. The focus of this chapter is on the core issues that are necessary to begin an understanding of attitudes: the definition of an attitude, multiple perspectives about how attitudes are formed, the debate over the link between attitude and behavior, and cognitive consistency as a motivational factor in attitude formation and change.