Abstract

A multi-dimensional scale for the measurement of attitude towards interpersonal cooperative behaviours and situations has been developed and validated throughout four studies. On the basis of two generative criteria (social activities and theoretical dimensions) derived from Lu and Argyle's (1991) "Cooperativeness Scale", 82 items have been created and administered (through a 7-point agreement-disagreement Likert-type scale) to a sample of 348 university students of both sexes (study 1). From a principal component analysis, 33 items resulted to load on three dimensions: I) "Benefits and gratifications of cooperation"; II) "Difficulties and disagreements in cooperation"; III) "Competition and decision-making autonomy". While these dimensions do not confirm the generative criteria, they are generalized to a sample of 145 adults of both sexes (study 4) and they have sufficient reliability (study 1 and 4). Moreover, they have construct (study 1) and concurrent (study 3) validity, and predictive validity for the first dimension (study 2), respectively with regard to subjects' habits and interests, values and verbal behaviours. Men's and women's attitudes do not systematically differ.