Resolution, Relief, And Resignation:A Qualitative Study Of Responses To Misfit At Work

Research has portrayed person–environment (PE) fit as a pleasant condition resulting from people being attracted to and selected into compatible work environments; yet, our study reveals that creating and maintaining a sense of fit frequently involves an effortful, dynamic set of strategies. We used a two-phase, qualitative design to allow employees to report how they become aware of and experience misfit, and what they do in response. To address these questions, we conducted interviews with 81 individuals sampled from diverse industries and occupations. Through their descriptions, we identified three broad responses to the experience of misfit: resolution, relief, and resignation. Within these approaches, we identified distinct strategies for responding to misfit. We present a model of how participants used these strategies, often in combination, and develop propositions regarding their effectiveness at reducing strain associated with misfit. These results expand PE fit theory by providing new insight into how individuals experience and react to misfit—portraying them as active, motivated creators of their own fit experience at work

Collective fit perceptions: A multilevel investigation of person-group fit with individual-level and team-level outcomes

This study describes a multilevel examination of person-group (PG) fit perceptions in a sample of 1023 individuals working in 92 teams at a private sector R&D firm. Using confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel random coefficient modeling, we provide evidence that perceptions of team-level collective fit are unique from aggregated individual-level PG fit perceptions at the individual and team levels. We demonstrate that collective values-based and abilities-based fit perceptions showed unique and positive relationships with team cohesion, team efficacy, and team performance, after accounting for aggregated individual perceptions of PG fit. Results also demonstrate that cohesion partially mediates the relationship between collective fit and team performance. Cross-level effects were also supported, indicating that collective fit explains additional variance in individual-level outcomes, beyond individual-level PG fit perceptions. The usefulness of employing a multilevel approach to studying PG fit is discussed.close0

An Examination of Interaction among Multiple Dimensions of Person-Environment Fit

Scholars have recognized the importance of simultaneously studying multiple dimensions of fit and their possible interactions. However, research on the interactive effects of multiple dimensions of fit remains scarce and is often with incomplete theorizing and equivocal results. We proposed that interactions would happen only between complementary (i.e., person–job (PJ) fit) and supplementary (i.e., person–organization (PO) fit and person–supervisor (PS) fit) fit categories, but not within fit categories (i.e., PO fit and PS fit). Results from a time-lagged design of 168 employees in Study 1 largely supported our hypotheses. Specifically, PJ fit and PO fit enhanced each other to affect job satisfaction and organizational commitment while PJ fit and PS fit substituted each other to affect supervisory satisfaction. In addition, using 120 subordinate- supervisor pairs in Study 2, we found that PO fit, demands-abilities fit, and needs–supplies fit interactively affected employees’ behavioral outcomes (i.e., job performance and organizational citizenship behaviors). Our study contributes to person–environment fit theory in increasing its predictive precision on employee outcomes, and making it a stronger theory