The effects of structuring classroom learning cooperatively and individualistically were compared on student ability to take the affective perspective of others, altruism, attitudes toward classroom life, and achievement. Thirty fifth-grade, white, working-class students matched on previous achievement in language arts were assigned to cooperative and individualized conditions for learning language arts for 45 to 60 minutes a day for a 17-day period. The results indicate that cooperative, compared to individualized, learning results in greater ability to take the affective perspective of others, more altruism, more positive attitudes toward classroom life, and higher achievement.