Fit Perspective Research Articles

Ethical leadership and followers' career satisfaction, mobility, and promotability: A P-E fit perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of ethical leadership on followers' subjective and objective career success from a P-E fit perspective. Specifically, the mediating effects of demands-abilities fit, needs-supplies fit, and person-organization fit in the relationship between ethical leadership and employee subjective (i.e., career satisfaction) and objective career success (i.e., mobility and promotability) were investigated. We collected two-wave data from 160 employees and used hierarchical regressions to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that ethical leadership had a positive effect on employee career satisfaction, mobility, and promotability. Moreover, employee demands-abilities fit mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and career mobility and promotability; needs-supplies fit and person-organization fit mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employee career satisfaction. Theoretical and empirical implications were discussed.

Attitude and accessibility on transit users’ travel satisfaction: A person-environment fit perspective

Transit users’ travel satisfaction is important for assessing the performance of transit-oriented development. Existing studies emphasize the role of service attributes, built environment, and travel attitudes in predicting transit users’ travel satisfaction. However, few studies have jointly examined the effects of environment and attitudes based on sophisticated theoretical foundations. This paper aims to narrow this gap by examining the interaction effects of transit accessibility and attitudes towards transit on transit users' travel satisfaction from a person-environment fit perspective. The data is from a household survey conducted in Shanghai in 2018. Using polynomial regression analysis with response surface methodology , the study finds that interaction effects significantly influence the affective component of travel satisfaction, but not the cognitive component. Public transit users’ travel satisfaction increases with the congruence between attitude and accessibility. Dissonance is not necessarily a bad situation and may improve travel satisfaction when there is an increase in either factor.

Organizational mobility preferences and organizational career environments: A person-organization fit perspective

Research examining workers' contemporary career (CC) attitudes indicates that they are broadly associated with desirable outcomes. The one exception is organizational mobility preferences (OMP), which generally produce mixed findings. Scholars suggest this may be due to a lack of alignment with the individual's context, but little is known about how contextual factors, such as the career environment provided by organizations, influence outcomes of OMP or why. Therefore, in this study we draw on theories of person-organization fit to explore how organizational career environments (OCEs) influence outcomes of OMP during recruitment. We propose that organizations can signal whether they provide more traditional or contemporary career paths through recruitment advertisements. We then hypothesize that job seekers with stronger OMP will perceive greater fit (i.e., similarity and complementary fit) and organizational attractiveness when presented with more contemporary OCE recruitment advertisements, as opposed to more traditional OCE recruitment advertisements. Across two studies, we find support for our hypotheses as well as provide insight into how complementary fit is playing an increasingly influential role for workers in a more mobile labor market. Our findings contribute to careers and person-organization fit literatures and provide practical recommendations for attracting mobile talent.

Why isn't each cell its own cell type? Diminishing returns of increasing cell type diversity can explain cell type allometry.

Since the discovery of cells by Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in the 17th century, thousands of different cell types have been identified, most recently by sequencing-based single-cell profiling techniques. Yet, for many organisms we still do not know, how many different cell types they are precisely composed of. A recent survey of experimental data, using mostly morphology as a proxy for cell type, revealed allometric scaling of cell type diversity with organism size. Here, I argue from an evolutionary fitness perspective and suggest that three simple assumptions can explain the observed scaling: Evolving a new cell type has, 1. a fitness cost that increases with organism size, 2. a fitness benefit that also increases with organism size but 3. diminishes exponentially with the number of existing cell types. I will show that these assumptions result in a quantitative model that fits the observed cell type numbers across organisms of all size and explains why we should not expect isometric scaling.

The Relationship Between Job Autonomy and Work-Leisure Conflict: Based on the Person-Job Fit Perspective.

PurposeSome studies have shown that job autonomy can reduce individual work-leisure conflict (WLC). However, some individuals show that WLC is stronger in situations of greater job autonomy. In light of these inconsistent findings, this study explores the relationship between job autonomy and WLC as well as the mediating role of psychological detachment and the moderating role of boundary flexibility willingness based on the fit perspective of person-job.MethodsThe daily diary research method was used to investigate 97 employees for five consecutive working days, and a multilevel model was established.ResultsThe results show that job autonomy is negatively related to WLC. Psychological detachment plays a mediating role in the relationship between job autonomy and WLC. Boundary flexibility willingness can significantly moderate not only the relationship between job autonomy and psychological detachment but also that between job autonomy and WLC.ConclusionIn light of the inconsistent results of past work, this study explored the relationship between job autonomy and WLC as well as the possible mediating and moderating mechanisms involved. Job autonomy, psychological detachment and WLC are characterized by daily changes occurring at the individual level. Job autonomy is negatively related to WLC, and psychological detachment plays a mediating role in the relationship between job autonomy and WLC. The fit of boundary flexibility willingness and job autonomy will cause a change in boundary permeability, which will lead to the relationship between job autonomy and WLC to varying degrees. The results of this study are helpful for understanding boundary theory and provide guidance for enterprise management.

How people higher on social dominance orientation deal with hierarchy-attenuating institutions: the person-environment (mis)fit perspective in the grammar of hierarchies

Interweaving Social Dominance theory with Person-Environment (P-E) fit theory, the present study examines how people higher on social dominance orientation (SDO, i.e., those who generally favor group hierarchies and inequalities) can deal with belonging to institutions that culturally sustain group equality (i.e., hierarchy-attenuating institutions). We enrolled two cohorts of first year students majoring in social work (Sample 1, N = 296; Sample 2, N = 117), a typical hierarchy-attenuating setting. Participants’ belonging to a hierarchy-attenuating institution was primed before administering a self-report questionnaire for measuring the study’s variables. Results of mediation analyses showed that people higher in SDO experienced higher P-E misfit with the institution in both samples. In turn, P-E misfit was positively associated with the intention to leave the social work faculty and with a higher pro-self hierarchy-enhancing motivation (i.e., agreeing that “I am enrolled in a Social work faculty primarily to have more chances to gain money and success in the future”). These results show that people higher in SDO can deal with the dissonant condition of P-E misfit with a hierarchy-attenuating institution by leaving such institution (i.e., differential attrition process) and/or by adopting a framework for their presence in a hierarchy-attenuating institution that aligns with their own’s socially dominant beliefs (i.e., motivational shaping process). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Excessive use of personal social media at work: antecedents and outcomes from dual-system and person-environment fit perspectives

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the antecedents and outcomes of excessive use of personal social media at work. The prevalence of personal social media in the work environment can easily lead to excessive use and negative consequences. Understanding the predictive factors and negative consequences of employees' excessive use of personal social media at work is important to develop their appropriate use of social media and improve their job performance.Design/methodology/approachBased on dual-system theory and the person-environment fit model, this study develops a research model to examine the effect of habit and self-regulation on excessive use of personal social media at work and that of the outcomes of excessive use on employee job performance through strain. This study conducts a questionnaire survey on 408 employees to test the research model and hypotheses empirically.FindingsResults suggest that the imbalance between habit and self-regulation drives excessive personal social media use of employees at work. Furthermore, excessive use of personal social media has a strong impact on employee strain, which can significantly decrease job performance.Originality/valueFirst, this study considers excessive use of personal social media at work as a result of two different cognitive systems, that is, an automatic system and a controlled system, thereby extending the dual-system theory to explain excessive use of personal social media in the work context. Second, unlike previous studies that focused on the outcomes or explored the antecedents of excessive social media use at work respectively, the study employs the person-environment fit model and examines the systematic influence of excessive social media use at work from a broad perspective by linking its antecedents and outcomes.

Burning up on Reentry: The Effect of Entrepreneurial Exit in the Hiring Context

A great deal of research on entrepreneurial exit focuses on the potential challenges entrepreneurs may face when launching a new venture, but very little is known about those who choose to re-enter the traditional workforce. It is commonly assumed that an entrepreneur can always “go back to work,” however, it is unclear how recruiters evaluate entrepreneurial experience early in the selection process. Drawing from screening theory, attribution theory, and the person-organization fit perspective, we designed three studies to begin answering questions about the challenges former entrepreneurs may face when attempting to find more traditional employment. Study 1 revealed that recruiters evaluate former entrepreneurs more negatively than job applicants with more traditional work experience, and this relationship is stronger when former entrepreneurs close—versus sell—their venture. Study 2 employed a qualitative, inductive approach to examine why recruiters may be biased against former entrepreneurs and found that there are often assumptions of rapid turnover, insubordinate behavior, and organizational misfit. Finally, the Study 3 results suggested that the negative evaluation of former entrepreneurs may not be universal and depends on important contextual factors such as job characteristics, length of entrepreneurial experience, and details about entrepreneurial exit.

Sensory Processing Sensitivity as a Predictor of Proactive Work Behavior and a Moderator of the Job Complexity–Proactive Work Behavior Relationship

This study investigates the role of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) as a predictor of employees’ proactive work behavior. SPS is a multidimensional concept that depicts differences in people’s sensory awareness, processing, and reactivity to internal and external influences. Based on research on SPS as grounded in a heightened sensitivity of the behavioral inhibition and activation systems, it was argued that the relationships with task proactivity and personal initiative as indicators of proactive work behavior differ for the three SPS dimensions. Furthermore, based on the person–environment fit perspective, SPS was assumed to moderate the relationship between employees’ job complexity and proactivity. The hypotheses were tested in two two-wave studies (N = 215 and N = 126). Across both studies, ease of excitation (EOE; i.e., the tendency to be easily overwhelmed by changes) was unrelated to proactivity. Low sensory threshold (LST; i.e., unpleasant arousal from external stimuli) was negatively related to personal initiative, only in Study 2, but it did not predict task proactivity. Meanwhile, aesthetic sensitivity (i.e., AES; awareness of and openness to positive stimuli) was positively related to proactivity, but in Study 2, this relationship could only be established for personal initiative. Moreover, job complexity was positively related to proactivity for those employees high but not for those low in AES. EOE and LST did not act as moderators. This study offers evidence of positive behavioral implications among highly sensitive persons when dealing with job complexity. Overall, the study presents an interesting point of departure for the role of SPS in employee proactivity that calls for more research.

The Dynamics of Career Sustainability: A Latent Transition Analysis

As individuals are facing more and more uncertainties and challenges in their career development, building up sustainable careers with balanced health, happiness, and productivity is important for both employers and employees. In the field of career management, however, there are few empirical investigations on career sustainability and its dynamics. Integrating the theoretical framework of sustainable career and person-environment fit theory, the current study uses two-wave longitudinal data (N = 529) to empirically identify the profiles of employees’ career sustainability and further examine the effect of person-environment fit on profile transitions. For each wave of data, Latent Profile Analyses (LPAs) consistently revealed four latent profile classes of employee career sustainability: highly sustainable, health-oriented, performance-oriented, and unsustainable. Moreover, a Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) model indicated that employees with higher person-environment fit were more likely to go through positive transitions in career sustainability; on the contrary, employees with lower person-environment fit were more likely to go through negative transitions in career sustainability. This study enriches the literature on employees’ sustainable careers and further deepens the understanding of career dynamics and sustainability transitions from the perspective of person-environment fit. Also, this study provides practical implications for career management.

Win from Within: An Internal Fit Perspective of CSR Models Applied in Digital Platforms

Based on the internal fit perspective from contingency theory, this study unveils the latest CSR models applied in digital platforms and finds out the internal forces that drive the adoption of those models. We select four representative cases in China and conduct detailed within- and cross-case analyses. Four distinctive CSR models emerge from the results: the platform-embeddedness model, the platform-leverage model, the platform-outsourcing model, and the platform-generation model. We also discover three major internal contingency factors behind the selection of those CSR models: resource commitment, relevance of CSR practices to core businesses, and social-orientation. Our study supports the active agent role championed by the internal fit perspective in that firms can selectively design a strategy based on its internal contingencies rather than passively responds to external constraints.

What To Do First? A Demand-ability Fit Perspective on Task Motivation and Carryover Effects

In the course of a workday, employees attend to a variety of distinct tasks. Considering that motivation may vary from one task to the next on a daily basis, our understanding of motivation at work is incomplete without understanding (1) how demand-ability fit affects motivation at the task, instead of job, level and (2) how motivation on previous tasks carries over into subsequent tasks. Drawing on research in task complexity and situational motivation theories, we develop a theoretical model that examines the moderating effects of intrinsic motivation on a previous task on the relationship between characteristics of a later task and task intrinsic motivation, which in turn influence task performance and task engagement for the later task, and end-of-day recovery. We find that when previous levels of task motivation are higher, the positive effects of congruence between task complexity demand and ability on later task motivation will be stronger (i.e., carryover effect); nevertheless, the negative effects of any incongruence between task complexity demand and ability on later task motivation will also be stronger (i.e., contrast effect). In addition, intrinsic motivation for the later task is positively associated with task performance, task engagement, and recovery. The implications for theory and research on dynamic motivation and task transitions are discussed.

Complementary or supplementary? Understanding users’ unfollowing behavior from the perspective of person-environment fit

The loss of followers poses a severe threat to the development of microblogging platforms and bloggers. However, the reasons behind users’ unfollowing behavior remain unclear. Drawing on the person-environment fit framework, we examined how different types of person-environment misfits affect users’ unfollowing intention and the relationship between these misfits. We collected the data to test the research model from 305 Weibo users via an online survey. The results suggest that from the perspective of complementary misfit, information overload increases social media fatigue, and information irrelevance increases followers’ expectation disconfirmation. From the perspective of supplementary misfit, perceived value dissimilarity positively affects followers’ fatigue and disconfirmation. These negative psychological states consequently lead to followers’ unfollowing intention. Furthermore, our results revealed the positive effects of perceived value dissimilarity on information overload and information irrelevance. We also discuss the theoretical contributions and practical implications of this study.

An Examination of the Effect of Perfectionism and Task Execution Strategy on Task Performance: From the Perspective of Regulatory Fit

An Examination of the Effect of Perfectionism and Task Execution Strategy on Task Performance: From the Perspective of Regulatory Fit

Understanding the Relative Impact of Dual Identification on Brand Loyalty on Social Media: The Regulatory Fit Perspective in Different Cultures.

This study explorers whether the relative impacts of brand identification and identification with other users of brand pages on brand loyalty vary according to consumers’ regulatory focus. By integrating social identification theory with regulatory focus theory, this study adopts a dual identification framework to compare the differential impacts of promotion regulatory fit and prevention regulatory fit on brand loyalty. Besides, the moderating effects of product type on the relationship between promotion/prevention regulatory fit and brand loyalty are further investigated. Finally, this study uses different combinations of information technology (IT) affordances in order to examine their influences on each identification target. The current study adopts a qualitative methodology and involved conducting semi-structured interviews with 27 brand page users in regard to IT affordances and their subdimensions. The research model was empirically tested using a cross-country comparison of data collected from surveys conducted in China and the United States. The results support our hypotheses and confirm the differential effects of promotion and prevention regulatory fit on brand loyalty. Theoretically, our study enhances our understanding of the relative effect of dual identification on brand loyalty on social media. Practically, our study delivers insights for companies into how social media brand pages can be used as a strategic tool to achieve brand values.

Task-technology fit perspective of the use of m-commerce by retail businesses

Task-technology fit perspective of the use of m-commerce by retail businesses

“I put in effort, but I am still not passionate”: The fit perceptions of novice entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurial effort has been found to be an important predictor of entrepreneurial passion. The more effort one devotes to entrepreneurial activities, the more passionate one becomes. Our work, however, extends prior research by offering contrasting empirical evidence. Drawing on fit theory and the person-entrepreneurship fit perspective, we propose that for novice individuals, who do not feel a strong fit with entrepreneurship, engaging in entrepreneurial effort would increase the perception of misfit, thereby reducing their entrepreneurial passion. Results from two experimental studies confirm our hypotheses. Our research contributes to the entrepreneurial passion and the person-entrepreneurship fit literatures.

When sustainability managers' greenwash: SDG fit and effects on job performance and attitudes

AbstractSustainability managers represent a key stakeholder in implementing and diffusing sustainability initiatives. However, there is a significant gap in the literature examining the impact of greenwashing on sustainability managers. This research examines the effects of greenwashing on sustainability managers' job satisfaction, commitment, turnover intentions, and job performance from a social identity/person–organization (P‐O) fit perspective. Our sample consists of practicing sustainability managers (n = 125) in high‐ (77%) or mid‐level (23%) positions. Results indicate that perceived greenwashing negatively affects the attitudinal outcomes and job performance of sustainability managers. The results also indicate that for sustainability managers whose social responsibility identity is higher than that of their firm, greenwashing has a significant association with lower satisfaction and job performance and higher intentions to leave. However, for managers whose social responsibility identity is lower than that of their firm, employer greenwashing had no effect on the sustainability managers' attitudes, even though they recognized their own poor job performance. The cumulative effect may be a situation in which managers in the best position to enhance a firm's CSR leave the firm, and vice versa.

Internship Experience and Organizational Attractiveness: A Realistic Job Fit Perspective

Although job seekers often rely on indirect or inaccurate information to assess the attractiveness of potential employers, internship experience provides more realistic and accurate information, which may influence organizational attractiveness. Through the ex-ante and ex-post (i.e., pre-internship and post-internship) research design with a sample of Japanese undergraduate students in a university-sponsored internship program, we found that, although organizational attractiveness on average declined after the internship, skill variety and feedback from employees in the internship job were positively related to perceived needs-supplies (NS) fit beyond the effect of its pre-internship level. The NS fit, in turn, was related to organizational attractiveness beyond the effect of its pre-internship level. Moreover, some of the above mediating effects were stronger for interns with high social skill and/or high self-esteem. Our findings highlight the importance of the effect of internships on college students’ school-to-work transition.

Supporting Australian veteran transition: career construction through a person-environment fit perspective

Despite military veterans being recognised as a rich talent pool for employers, evidence suggests that their capabilities are not fully utilised in civilian workplaces, with recent research indicating difficulty finding appropriate jobs and high turnover rates for this population. This study is underpinned by a person-environment fit perspective, and applies career construction theory to explore veterans’ perspectives of key challenges in their significant career transition from military service into the civilian workforce. It identifies ways for HRM professionals to improve integration and ultimately, retention. Interviews were conducted with 31 veterans from the Australian Defence Force who had transitioned from full-time service and had been working in civilian employment for at least six months but no more than three years. The research resulted in the development of a framework for veteran career transition that acknowledges the personal adaptation that occurs throughout this process and informs HR action required to attract and retain this valuable talent segment.