PROBLEM
I n a previous study, Ss were asked to sort need descriptions with their own selections of most liked and least liked photographs of people''). Some Ss repeatedly attributed certain needs to liked people. Other Ss showed only a slight tendency to relate needs to their preferences for people. The present study is a report of differences between normal and maladjusted groups in this tendency to relate needs to preferences for people. METHOD Subjects. Male and female Ss were used in the study. The average age for the normal group (N = 340) was 37.1 years, SD 8.95. The mean age of the combined maladjusted groups (N = 487) was 37.6 years, SD 10.28. The average education level for normals was 13.5 years, SD of 1.71 years while the average for the combined maladjusted groups was 13.4 years, SD 1.46 years. No Ss below 20 years age or with less than a 12th grade education were included in the study. Above these limits, age and education were found to have no significant relationship to Variability, the main variable of the study. Normal Ss were selected from rural and urban populations in Georgia, Virginia, and Kentucky. Maladjusted Ss were selected from private psychiatric clinics and state and VA mental hospitals from the same states. All maladjusted Ss were classified on the basis of the official psychiatric diagnosis given the patient by his institution. Normal Ss were selected on the basis of no history of psychiatric disorder or treatment.