Several theoretical formulations from sociology and psychology are used in an attempt to set down a general theory of organizational behavior. The typical bureaucratic model is defined as a "structured field," in the sense that authority, status, and role are clearly articulated and thus provide behavioral cues that facilitate perception and learning. Harry Stack Sullivan's theory of interpersonal psychiatry is incorporated to explain the individual's reactions to this structured environment. His learned deference to authority is geared into the organization, mainly through the medium of anxiety reduction. Acceptance of organizational authority is highly reinforced because it reduces anxiety by ensuring approval from superiors. Since reactions to authority will differ in terms of the genetic composition, class, and idiocyncratic experience of a given individual, three ideal types of accommodation are posited: the upward-mobiles, the indifferents, and the ambivalents. Robert V. Presthus is professor of public administration in Cornell University and editor of the Administrative Science Quarterly.