Why do individuals perceive and respond to the same institutional demands differently? On the cognitive structural underpinnings of institutional complexity

Research has begun to explore how individuals perceive and respond to institutional complexity differently. We extend such efforts and theorize how the complexity of individuals’ cognitive representations of the institutional logics (based on their perceived differentiation and integration of the external environment) and of their role identities (based on the pluralism and unity of their self-representations) can predict such variation. We argue that the former explains whether individuals are capable of enacting norms and beliefs from different logics and of envisioning possibilities to reconcile their contradictory demands, whereas the latter explains whether they are motivated to implement a given response.