Introduction

People vary in the degree to which they view cooperation and competition as useful strategies to reach their goals. The CCSS, developed by Tang (1999) measures a score for both cooperation and competition (on a scale from 1 to 7). There are 8 questions for cooperation and 11 questions for competition.

The scale was used to compare American and Chinese college students 309 students (mean age of 20). There were no overall differences between the scores of the students on the two dimensions, although the paper describes interesting differences in indivual items of the scale.

Scale Dimension Mean score

Cooperation

3.7

Competition

3.8

This scale is listed as education related because the study by Tang (1999) compared students in the US and China.
John Archer and Ian Webb (2006) used the scale in a comparison with related variables, for example the score on the Buss-Perry aggressiveness scale, which you can also find here on PsyToolkit.

Run the demo

It seems that CCSS can be used for research, but you need to acknowledge the author and his research paper when writing about it (Tang (1999)).

Technically

This is a simple scale question. The o: random option in the scale item randomizes the items, which might prevent a response bias (not in the original paper). If you do not want this, you can of course remove that line from your code.

The survey code for PsyToolkit

Copy and paste this code to your PsyToolkit account if you want to use the scale in your own online research project
scale: often
- always
- .
- .
- .
- .
- .
- never

l: coco
t: scale often
o: random
q: Indicate for each statement how often it is true for you.<br>
The scale runs from <b>always</b> to <b>never</b>.<br>
- Individual success can be achieved while working with others
- Joint effort is the best way to achieve success
- To succeed, one must cooperate with others
- Success is only achieved through individual effort
- Success is best achieved through cooperation rather than through competition
- In the end, cooperation with others is not compatible with success
- Shared efforts can lead to both individual and group success
- I enjoy working with others to achieve joint success
- It is important to me to do better than others
- Success is not very important to me
- By achieving success I also get other things which are important to me
- To succeed, one must compete against others
- People who succeed are more likely to have satisfying lives
- Success is something I am willing to work hard for
- I enjoy the challenge of competing against others to succeed
- The rewards of success outweigh the costs
- Success is my major goal in life
- I am happier when I am not striving to succeed
- I feel better about myself when I am working toward success


l: score_coop
t: set
- mean $coco.1 $coco.2 $coco.3 $coco.4 $coco.5 $coco.6 $coco.7 $coco.8

l: score_comp
t: set
- mean $coco.9 $coco.10 $coco.11 $coco.12 $coco.13 $coco.14 $coco.15 $coco.16 $coco.17 $coco.18 $coco.19


l: feedback
t: info
q: Your cooperative score is {$score_coop}.<br>
Your competitive score is {$score_comp}.<br>
Write down these two numbers and click continue.<br>
Then you will get a link back to the website with results from other people.<br>

References

  • Tang, S. (1999). Cooperation or competition: A comparison of U.S. and Chinese College students. The Journal of Psychology, 133, 413-423.

  • Archer, J. & Webb, I. (2006). The Relation Between Scores on the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire and Aggressive Acts, Impulsiveness, Competitiveness, Dominance, and Sexual Jealousy. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 464-473.