Cooperative and Competitive Styles-the Construct and Its Relevance

The implications of cooperative and competitive styles of individuals have been studied. One hundred thirty-two undergraduate students participated in the experiment. In the first part of the experiment they were asked about their preference to study competitively or cooperatively. In the second part they were randomly assigned to competitive, cooperative, or tutorial learning situations. It was hypothesized that interpersonal relations of cooperative individuals would be superior to those of subjects who preferred competition. It was also hypothesized that interpersonal attitudes would be more positive in the cooperative and tutorial situations than in the competitive one. Both hypotheses were confirmed by the results. The construct of cooperative and competitive personal styles is discussed as well as some implications of the findings.