Communal and Exchange orientation scale (COS)
Clark & Milles. 1979‚ 1982‚ 1987 and 2004
1. It bothers me when other people neglect my needs.
2. When making a decision‚ I take other people’s needs and feelings into account.
3. I’m not especially sensitive to other people’s feelings.*
4. I don’t consider myself to be a particularly helpful person.*
5. I believe people should go out of their way to be helpful.
6. I don’t especially enjoy giving others aid.*
7. I expect people I know to be responsive to my needs and feelings.
8. I often go out of my way to help another person.
9. I believe it’s best not to get involved in taking care of other people’s personal needs.*
10.I’m not the sort of person who often comes to the aid of others.*
11.When I have a need‚ I turn to others I know for help.
12.When people get emotionally upset‚ I tend to avoid them.*
13.People should keep their troubles to themselves.*
14.When I have a need that others ignore‚ I’m hurt.
1. When I give something to another person‚ I generally expect something in return.
2. When someone buys me a gift‚ I try to buy that person as comparable a gift as possible‚*
3. I don’t think people should feel obligated to repay others favor.*
4. I wouldn’t feel exploited if someone failed to repay me for favor.*
5. I don’t bother to keep track of benefits I have given others.*
6. When people receive benefits from others‚ they ought to repay those others right away.
7. It’s best to make sure things are always kept ‘even’ between two people in relationship.
8. I usually give gifts only to people who have given me gifts in the past.
9. When someone I Know helps me out on project‚ I don’t feel I have to pay them back.*
(extremely uncharacteristic of me) to 7 (extremely characteristic of me).
Items with an asterisk are reverse scored.
This instrument can be found at: http://rcgd.isr.umich.edu/seminars/Winter2012/Readings/ClarkMills2011.pdf
Clark‚ M.‚ Ouellette‚ R.‚ Powell‚ M.‚ & Milberg‚ S. (1987).Recipient’ s mood‚ relationship type‚ and helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology‚ 53‚ 94–103.
Clark‚ M.‚ Finkel‚ Eli J. (2005). Willingness to express emotion: The impact of relationship type‚ communal orientation‚ and their interaction. Personal Relationships‚ 12‚ 169–180.
Clark‚ M.‚ & Mills‚ J. (2012). A theory of communal (and exchange) relationships. In P. Van Lange‚ A. Kruglanski‚ & E. Higgins (Eds.)‚ Handbook of theories of social psychology. (pp. 232-251). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446249222.n38