Be Mains Ready

Approach

• Define attitude and aptitude.
• Bring out the major differences between the two.

Introduction

• Aptitude is a component of a competency to do a certain kind of work at a certain level while attitude refers to a psychological response to a particular situation, person, thing or an issue.
• Aptitude relates with talent and competency of a person whereas attitude is associated with character or virtue.
• Both attitude and aptitude are essential traits to succeed in any walk of life. However, they become more important in civil services for its impact on society.
• Having said this, there are a few vital differences between aptitude and attitude.

Body

Attitude	Aptitude
Attitude refers to a psychological response to a particular situation, person, thing or an issue. Attitude can be positive as well as negative.	It is a component of a competency to do a certain kind of work at a certain level.
It is associated with character or virtues.	It is associated with talent.
Attitude is a mental aspect.	Aptitude can be both physical as well as mental.
It is relatively permanent. However, if an attitude is undesirable in a modern society, it should be changed accordingly. E.g.: The government by various campaigns (advertisements) is trying to change the attitude of citizens for the success of Swachh Bharat Mission.	This can be changed and developed through training and capacity building.

A civil servant must possess both to adequately respond to any situation which is complex, multi-faceted and dynamic.