The Psychological Assessment of Political Leadersism. This occurs when individuals or organizations may simultane-
ously experience at least somewhat incompatible motives, such as the
desire to exert power over another person or group (need for power)
and at the same time be liked by the target of the influence attempt
(need for affiliation).
Situational Characteristics
Situational characteristics whose impact on complexity has been
investigated include the severity of environmental stressors, social
factors, and the nature of the task. The measure of integrative com-
plexity captures environmental influences such as domain and task
complexity. Building on this research, cognitive management and
metacomplexity theorists need further to examine the ways in which
individuals are able (or choose) to bring psychological propensities
such as compartmentalization and attribution to bear on particular
problem situations.The Task Environment
The theory of integrative complexity calls for the study of how envi-
ronmental factors influence the level of complexity at which an indi-
vidual processes information and behavioral consequences as the
individual's complexity level in turn affects the response to particu-
lar environmental conditions. Information load (Schroder, Driver,
and Streufert 1967), time pressure, perception of threat, perception
of high consequences, fatigue, uncertainty, in-group conflict, and
challenge to or loss of control are examples of environmental factors
that affect integrative complexity (Streufert and Swezey 1986).
When time is limited, information load is nonoptimal, and/or
outcomes are negative, planning and decision making in simulation
experiments become less integrated (Schroder, Driver, and Streufert
1967). Participants writing a paragraph based upon a set theme
achieve lower complexity scores, omitting qualifications and consid-
eration of alternatives in preference for responses that are dominant
in the respondent's hierarchy (Suedfeld and Coren 1990).
Severe and prolonged ("disruptive") stress is hypothesized to
account for an inverse correlation between the onset of violent
conflict and the level of complexity, as in studies of executive deci-