Dynamics of person-supervisor fit in relationship quality and well-being of university academicians

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the quality of a subordinate's relationship with his or her direct supervisor influences the subordinate's psychological well-being and to examine the moderating role of person-supervisor (P-S) fit between these two variables.Design/methodology/approachThe sample for this study consists of 418 academic employees of two federal universities. Relationship quality, P-S fit, psychological well-being and demographics were self-reported by the participants using existing scales. Hypotheses were tested with partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 3.2.8.FindingsResults of the PLS-SEM showed that the positive relationship between relationship quality and psychological well-being was moderated by P-S fit, such that the relationship was stronger when P-S fit was low rather than high.Research limitations/implicationsThe small number of homogeneous sample size of university academic employees may not be representative of the general population of such employees within the country.Practical implicationsThe findings highlight the importance of taking into account the complex interplay between relationship quality and P-S fit when optimising employee's psychological well-being is the focus.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, we are not aware of any studies that have examined the moderating role of P-S fit between relationship quality and subordinate's psychological well-being in the university context.