COOPERATION – COMPETITION. PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Summary

INTRODUCTION

For the needs of this chapter, cooperation and competition are viewed from psychological perspective. Cooperation is seen as a kind of relation which yields more positive outcomes, and which requires more complex social, cognitive, motivational and moral skills. Also competition which is “a part of everyday life” [Deutsch 2000, p. 28], as long as it is fair and “healthy,” remains a promoted social behavior. Effective, constructive competition in cooperative context also requires development of complex skills (both at the individual and group levels), and it can be a positive experience for involved parties. Only destructive form of competition seems to bring more costs than advantages resulting in most negative effects.

Literature and research on human competitive – cooperative behavior bring many interesting issues that can be formulated as several questions. For instance:

1. • What effects (social and work related, at the individual and organizational level) are produced by competition and cooperation?

2. • How competition and cooperation are related – should cooperation be viewed as the superior or “more ethical” to competition?

3. • What are psychological determinants of an effective cooperation?

In the first section of this chapter, psychological definition of competition and cooperation will be presented as proposed by Deutsch [2000]. Then, comparison of the main characteristics of these behaviors will be presented. Next, competition – cooperation continuum will be discussed from a perspective of Kohlberg's concept of human moral development [1984].