Cooperativeness is a
personality trait
In psychology, trait theory (also called dispositional theory) is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of ''traits'', which can be defined as habitual patterns of behaviour, tho ...
concerning the degree to which a person is generally agreeable in their relations with other people as opposed to aggressively self-centred and hostile.
It is one of the "character" dimensions in
Cloninger's
Temperament and Character Inventory The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is an inventory for personality traits devised by Cloninger et al.
It is closely related to and an outgrowth of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ),
and it has also been related to the d ...
. Cloninger described it as relating to individual differences in how much people identify with and accept others. Cloninger's research found that low cooperativeness is associated with all categories of
personality disorder
Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture ...
. Cooperativeness is conceptually similar to and strongly correlated with
agreeableness
Agreeableness is a personality trait manifesting itself in individual behavioral characteristics that are perceived as kind, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, and considerate. In contemporary personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the fiv ...
in the
five factor model
The Big Five personality traits is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits, developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory.
Starting in the 1990s, the theory identified five factors by labels, for the US English ...
of personality.
Description
Cloninger described cooperative individuals as socially tolerant, empathic, helpful, and compassionate, as opposed to intolerant, callous, unhelpful, and vengeful. He compared cooperativeness to
Carl Rogers
Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach (and client-centered approach) in psychology. Rogers is widely considered one of the founding fathers of ps ...
' description of facilitative people who show unconditional acceptance of others, empathy with others' feelings and willingness to help without a desire for selfish domination. Cloninger regarded high cooperativeness as a sign of psychological maturity and of advanced moral development as described by
Kohlberg.
[
]
Components
Cooperativeness is assessed with five subscales in the Temperament and Character Inventory:[
# Social acceptance vs. intolerance (C1)
# Empathy vs. social disinterest (C2)
# Helpfulness vs. unhelpfulness (C3)
# Compassion vs. revengefulness (C4)
# Principles vs. self-advantage (C5)
]
Relationship to other personality traits
Cooperativeness is similar in content to and strongly correlated with agreeableness in the Big five personality model.[ It is inversely correlated with Aggression-Hostility and ]psychoticism Psychoticism is one of the three traits used by the psychologist Hans Eysenck in his P–E–N model (psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism) model of personality.
Nature
Psychoticism is conceptually similar to the ''constraint'' factor i ...
in Zuckerman's Alternative five The alternative five model of personality is based on the claim that the structure of human personality traits is best explained by five broad factors called impulsive sensation seeking (ImpSS), neuroticism–anxiety (N-Anx), aggression–hostility ...
model and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire
In psychology, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) is a questionnaire to assess the personality traits of a person. It was devised by psychologists Hans Jürgen Eysenck and Sybil B. G. Eysenck.
Hans Eysenck's theory is based primarily on ...
respectively.
Psychopathology
Researchers have suggested that a combination of low self-directedness Self-directedness is a personality trait of self-determination, that is, the ability to regulate and adapt behavior to the demands of a situation in order to achieve personally chosen goals and values. It is one of the "character" dimensions in Clo ...
and low cooperativeness form a general factor common to all personality disorders
Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture ...
.self-transcendence Self-transcendence is a personality trait that involves the expansion of personal boundaries, including, potentially, experiencing spiritual ideas such as considering oneself an integral part of the universe.
Several psychologists, including Viktor ...
has been described as a "schizotypal personality" style by Cloninger and colleagues,[ and has been found to be associated with high levels of ]schizotypy
In psychology, schizotypy is a theoretical concept that posits a continuum of personality characteristics and experiences, ranging from normal dissociative, imaginative states to extreme states of mind related to psychosis, especially schizophrenia ...
(proneness to psychotic symptoms).
References
{{Authority control
Moral psychology
Personality traits