FAILED LEADER OR SUCCESSFUL PEACEMAKER - CRISIS, BEHAVIOR, AND THE COGNITIVE-PROCESSES OF GORBACHEV,MIKHAIL,SERGEYEVITCH

Over 3,000 paragraphs randomly sampled from public statements made by Mikhail S. Gorbachev between his accession to power in 1985 and his re signation in 1991 were scored for integrative complexity, an index of cognitive differentiation and integration in information-processing. D ifferent levels of complexity were associated with the chronology of G orbachev's leadership and with the issue domain being addressed: compl exity was low in 1985-87 then rose to reach a peak in 1989, and then d eclined again. Generally, complexity in dealing with foreign policy wa s higher than in domestic policy matters. There was no significant dif ference related to whether the audience was foreign, elite domestic, o r general domestic. The findings are related to historical aspects of Gorbachev's dramatic term in office and to theoretical constructs (dis ruptive stress, value conflict, cognitive management, and impression m anagement) previously considered in integrative complexity research.