<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In psychology, attitude is a psychological construct, a mental and emotional entity that inheres in, or characterizes a person . They are complex and an acquired state through experiences . It is an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value and it is precipitated through a responsive expression toward a person, place, thing, or event (the attitude object) which in turn influences the individual's thought and action . Prominent psychologist Gordon Allport described this latent psychological construct as "the most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary social psychology ." Attitude can be formed from a person's past and present . Key topics in the study of attitudes include attitude strength, attitude change, consumer behavior, and attitude - behavior relationships . </P> <P> An attitude is an evaluation of an attitude object, ranging from extremely negative to extremely positive . Most contemporary perspectives on attitudes also permit that people can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object by simultaneously holding both positive and negative attitudes toward the same object . This has led to some discussion of whether individual can hold multiple attitudes toward the same object . </P>

Explain in details the concept of attitude in social psychology