PERSONAL NEED FOR STRUCTURE - INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN THE DESIRE FOR SIMPLE STRUCTURE

Individual differences in the desire for simple structure may influenc e how people understand, experience, and interact with their worlds. S tudies 1 and 2 revealed that the Personal Need for Structure (PNS) sca le (M. Thompson, M. Naccarato, & K. Parker, 1989,1992) possesses suffi cient reliability and convergent and discriminant validity In Studies 3-5, Ss high in PNS were especially likely to organize social and nons ocial information in less complex ways, stereotype others, and complet e their research requirements on time. These data suggest that people differ in their chronic desire for simple structure and that this diff erence can have important social-cognitive and behavioral implications . A consideration of chronic information-processing motives may facili tate the theoretical integration of social cognition, affect, motivati on, and personality