Kobolds are very different from many other races. As individuals they tend to be viewed as cowardly mean little creatures. They are hated by and they hate all other races. This has a lot to do with how the kobold sees the world.
Kobolds are generally born in a communal hatchery. No one knows whose egg is who’s. They are all treated equally. This has a couple of advantages. First it allows the nursery to be placed in the safest local. All eggs are treated equally. When the kobolds are born both the males and the females communally raise them. This means they tend to view males and females as equals. The children are raised as a group and are taught to work together for the good of the community.
Children are then when they become of age separated based on aptitude. The young usually spend time with a series of mentors. They rotate through the potential teachers. Eventually if they form a specialty they will spend the rest of their youth with one trainer. Since it is dangerous living in a kobold warren there is a very high death rate among the young.
Kobold warrens get raided constantly. Since they are smaller than most races many attempt to attack them. Sometimes to kobolds this seems like a non-stop war upon them. Because of this they tend to take a us versus them view of the world. Their paranoia is quite justified, since almost every finds a game of kick the kobold fun.
Survival of the clan as a unit becomes the most important force behind the kobolds motivations. Most creatures will go above and beyond to make sure that their descendants survive. Since the kobolds do not know which of the tribe may be related to them it makes them try to protect the whole tribe.
Each member of the tribe is viewed as important. So they will often seem cowardly. They realize because of their small stature as a individual they have little chance of winning a fight with a full sized humanoid. If they can over whelm them and maybe weaken them with a trap first all the better. It means that there is less likely to do heroic acts unless it is absolutely necessary for the tribe. When backed into a corner and nowhere else to go kobolds can show heroics that one would expect from a Paladin. A good example of this would be a kobold that has a necklace of missiles. He saw a party chewing threw his clan he would if he had no other choice perform a suicide attack with the necklace of missiles to protect his clan. Kobolds may not be cowards, they just know how easy it is for them to die.