This study proposed that the interaction of student personality and school environment is influential in the development of normative climates. Two instruments measured the transactional relationship between individual personal structure (needs) and characteristics of the organizational environment (press). Needs were measured by an Activities Index (AI); press by the High School Characteristics Index (HSCI). A sample of eleventh grade students of high and low ability were randomly chosen out of the 462 who responded to both indexes. Factor analysis, correlation, and analysis of variance determined the significant relationships of the major variables. The responses were classified by school setting, ability group, and socioeconomic background. AI factors were achievement motivation, emotionality, dependence, dominance, intellectuality, individuality, and submissiveness; HSCI factors were development press and control press. The evidence indicated that schools appear to develop psychological environments which are consistent with the personality attributes of the student clientele. The personality structure of students and the normative climates of schools vary among socioeconomic groups; within schools, they vary as a function of academic program placement. (Author/KSM)