1932

Abstract

We review person-organization fit theory and research on selection and recruitment, and also highlight practical recommendations. The article is framed around explaining how and why people who are well matched to their organization experience optimal psychological reactions and performance. We address five key challenges to person-organization fit research and provide a brief overview of the critical distinction between “fitting in” decisions linked to the attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) model and day-to-day forces linked to “doing well” at work. Additionally, we organize the “fit on” domain into a parsimonious set of fundamental motivational constructs, highlighting a taxonomic perspective that broadly captures the “fit on” purposeful work goals (e.g., achievement, autonomy, communion, and status; Barrick et al. 2013) to enhance our understanding as to the nature of the joint nonlinear person-organization effects. We conclude by reviewing research findings using this organizing framework to systematically build knowledge to advance theory, concluding with practical implications for best management practices.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012218-015028
2019-01-21
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/orgpsych/6/1/annurev-orgpsych-012218-015028.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012218-015028&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Ackerman PL, Heggestad ED 1997. Intelligence, personality, and interests: evidence for overlapping traits. Psych. Bull. 121:219–45
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Alderfer CP 1977. Improving organizational communication through long-term intergroup intervention. J. Appl. Behav. Sci. 13:2193–210
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Arthur W Jr., Bell ST, Villado AJ, Doverspike D 2006. The use of person-organization fit in employment decision making: an assessment of its criterion-related validity. J. Appl. Psychol. 91:786–801
    [Google Scholar]
  4. MR, Mount MK, Judge TA 2001. Personality and performance at the beginning of the new millennium: What do we know and where do we go next. ? Int. J. Select. Assess. 1:9–36
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Barrick MR, Mount M MK, Li N 2013. The theory of purposeful work behavior: the role of personality, higher-order goals, and job characteristics. Acad. Manag. Rev. 38:1132–53
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Barrick MR, Mount MK, Gupta R 2003. Meta-analysis of the relationship between the five-factor model of personality and Holland's occupational types. Pers. Psychol. 56:145–74
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Barrick MR, Stewart GL, Piotrowski M 2002. Personality and job performance: test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives. J. Appl. Psychol. 1:43–51
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Berkelaar BL, Buzzanell PM 2014. Cybervetting, person-environment fit, and personnel selection: employers’ surveillance and sensemaking of job applicants’ online information. J. Appl. Commun. Res. 42:456–76
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Björklund F, Bäckström M, Wolgast S 2012. Company norms affect which traits are preferred in job candidates and may cause employment discrimination. J. Psychol. 146:6579–94
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Breaugh JA 2013. Employee recruitment. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 64:1389–416
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Cable DM, Edwards JR 2004. Complementary and supplementary fit: a theoretical and empirical integration. J. Appl. Psychol. 89:5822–34
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Cable DM, Judge TA 1997. Interviewers’ perceptions of person-organization fit and organizational selection decisions. J. Appl. Psychol. 82:546–61
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Campbell J 1990. Modeling the performance prediction problem in industrial and the impact of HR practices on the performance of business units organizational psychology. Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, eds. MD Dunnette, LM Hough 39–74 Palo Alto, CA: Consult. Psychol. Press, 2nd ed..
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Carless S 2005. Person-job fit versus person-organization fit as predictors of organizational attraction and job acceptance intentions: a longitudinal study. J. Occup. Org. Psychol. 78:3411–29
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Chapman DS, Uggerslev KL, Carroll SA, Piasentin KA, Jones DA 2005. Applicant attraction to organizations and job choice: a meta-analytic review of the correlates of recruiting outcomes. J. Appl. Psychol. 90:928–44
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Chatman JA 1991. Matching people and organizations: selection and socialization in public accounting firms. Admin. Sci. Q. 36:459–84
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Chuang A, Sackett PR 2005. The perceived importance of person-job fit and person-organization fit between and within interview stages. Soc. Behav. Personal. 33:209–26
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Dawis RV, Lofquist LH 1984. A Psychological Theory of Work Adjustment: An Individual-Differences Model and its Applications Minneapolis: Univ. Minn. Press
  19. Deci EL, Ryan RM 2000. The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychol. Inq. 11:227–29
    [Google Scholar]
  20. De Goede MEE, Van Vianen AEM, Klehe UC 2013. A tailored policy-capturing study on PO fit perceptions: the ascendancy of attractive over aversive fit. Int. J. Select. Assess. 21:85–98
    [Google Scholar]
  21. DeShon RP, Gillespie JZ 2005. A motivated action theory account of goal orientation. J. Appl. Psychol. 6:1096–27
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Devloo T, Anseel F, De Beuckelaer A 2011. Do managers use feedback seeking as a strategy to regulate demands-abilities misfit? The moderating role of implicit person theory. J. Bus. Psych. 26:453–65
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Dineen BR, Ash SR, Noe RA 2002. A web of applicant attraction: person-organization fit in the context of web-based recruitment. J. Appl. Psychol. 87:723–34
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Dineen BR, Ling J, Ash SR, DelVecchio D 2007. Aesthetic properties and message customization: navigating the dark side of web recruitment. J. Appl. Psychol. 92:356–72
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Dineen BR, Noe RA 2009. Effects of customization on applicant decisions and applicant pool characteristics in a web-based recruitment context. J. Appl. Psychol. 94:224–34
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Dweck CS 1986. Motivational processes affecting learning. Am. Psych. 41:101040–48
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Edwards JR 1994. Regression analysis as an alternative to difference scores. J. Manag. 20:3683–89
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Edwards JR 2002. Alternatives to difference scores: polynomial regression analysis and response surface methodology. Advances in Measurement and Data Analysis F Drasgow, NW Schmitt 350–400 San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Edwards JR 2008. Person-environment fit in organizations: an assessment of theoretical progress. Acad. Manag. Ann. 2:167–230
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Edwards JR, Cable DM 2009. The value of value congruence. J. Appl. Psychol. 94:3654–77
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Edwards JR, Cable DM, Williamson IO, Lambert LS, Shipp AJ 2006. The phenomenology of fit: linking the person and environment to the subjective experience of person-environment fit. J. Appl. Psychol. 91:4802–27
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Edwards JR, Rothbard NP 1999. Work and family stress and well-being: an examination of person-environment fit in the work and family domains. Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process. 77:85–129
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Edwards JR, Shipp AJ 2007. The relationship between person-environment fit and outcomes: an integrative theoretical framework. Perspectives on Organizational Fit C Ostroff, TA Judge 209–58 San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Ellis C, Skidmore ST, Combs JP 2017. The hiring process matters: the role of person-job and person-organization fit in teacher satisfaction. Educ. Admin. Q. 53:448–74
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Emmons RA 1989. The personal striving approach to personality. Goal Concepts in Personality and Social Psychology LA Pervin 87–126 Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Grouzet FME, Kasser T, Ahuvia A, Dols JMF, Kim Y et al. 2005. The structure of goal contents across 15 cultures. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 89:5800–16
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Gully SM, Phillips JM, Castellano WG, Han K, Kim A 2013. A mediated moderation model of recruiting socially and environmentally responsible job applicants. Pers. Psychol. 66:935–73
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Hartnell CA, Ou AY, Kinicki A 2011. Organizational culture and organizational effectiveness: a meta-analytic investigation of the competing values framework's theoretical suppositions. J. Appl. Psychol. 96:4677–94
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Higgins CA, Judge TA 2004. The effect of applicant influence tactics on recruiter perceptions of fit and hiring recommendations: a field study. J. Appl. Psychol. 89:622–32
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Higgins ET 1997. Beyond pleasure and pain. Am. Psychol. 52:1280–300
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Hoffman BJ, Woehr DJ 2006. A quantitative review of the relationship between person-organization fit and behavioral outcomes. J. Vocat. Behav. 68:389–99
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Huffcutt AI, Conway JM, Roth PL, Stone NJ 2001. Identification and meta-analytic assessment of psychological constructs measured in employment interviews. J. Appl. Psychol. 86:897–913
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Humphrey SE, Nahrgang JD, Morgeson FP 2007. Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features: a meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature. J. Appl. Psychol. 92:51332–56
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Judge TA, Cable DM 1997. Applicant personality, organizational culture, and organization attraction. Pers. Psychol. 50:2359–94
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Judge TA, Higgins CA, Cable DM 2000. The employment interview: a review of recent research and recommendations for future research. Hum. Resour. Manag. Rev. 10:383–406
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Kanfer R, Frese M, Johnson RE 2017. Motivation related to work: a century of progress. J. Appl. Psychol. 102:3338–55
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Kristof-Brown A, Barrick MR, Franke M 2002. Applicant impression management: dispositional influences and consequences for recruiter perceptions of fit and similarity. J. Manag. 28:27–46
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Kristof-Brown AL 2000. Perceived applicant fit: distinguishing between recruiters’ perceptions of person-job and person-organization fit. Pers. Psychol. 53:643–71
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Kristof-Brown AL, Guay RP 2011. Person-environment fit. APA Handbook of Industrial & Organizational Psychology S Zedeck, 3–50 Washington, DC: Am. Psychol. Assoc.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Kristof-Brown AL, Zimmerman RD, Johnson EC 2005. Consequences of individuals’ fit at work: a meta-analysis of person-job, person-organization, person-group, and person-supervisor fit. Pers. Psychol. 58:281–342
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Levashina J, Hartwell CJ, Morgeson FP, Campion MA 2014. The structured employment interview: Narrative and quantitative review of the research literature. Pers. Psychol. 67:241–93
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Lewin K 1951. Field Theory in Social Science New York: Harper
  53. Maslow AH 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychol. Rev. 50:4370–96
    [Google Scholar]
  54. McClelland DC 1951. Measuring motivation in phantasy: the achievement motive. Groups, Leadership and Men: Research in Human Relations H Guetzkow 191–205 Oxford, UK: Carnegie Press
    [Google Scholar]
  55. McCrae RR, Allik I 2002. The Five-Factor Model of Personality Across Cultures New York: Kluwer Acad./Plenum Publ.
  56. McCulloch MC, Turban DB 2007. Using person-organization fit to select employees for high-turnover jobs. Int. J. Select. Assess. 15:63–71
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Morgan T, Barrick MR 2017. Two wrongs can make a right: the compensatory, motivating power of the person, vocation, and organization on employee engagement Work. Pap., Texas A&M Univ.
  58. Mount MK, Barrick MR, Scullen SM, Rounds J 2005. Higher-order dimensions of the big five personality traits and the big six vocational interest types. Pers. Psychol. 58:447
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Murray HA 1938. Explorations in Personality: A Clinical and Experimental Study of Fifty Men of College Age Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  60. Nicholls JG 1984. Achievement motivation: conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychol. Rev. 91:3328–46
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Nolan KP, Langhammer K, Salter NP 2016. Evaluating fit in employee selection: beliefs about how, when and why. Consult. Psychol. J. 68:222–51
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Oh I, Guay RP, Kim K, Harold CM, Lee J et al. 2014. Fit happens globally: a met-analytic comparison of the relationships of person-environment fit dimensions with work attitudes and performance across East Asia, Europe, and North America. Pers. Psychol. 67:99–152
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Ostroff C, Zhan Y 2012. Person–environment fit in the selection process. The Oxford Handbook of Personnel Assessment and Selection N Schmitt 252–73 New York: Oxford Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Ozer DJ, Benet-Martinez V 2006. Personality and the prediction of consequential outcomes. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 57:401–22
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Parks-Leduc L, Feldman G, Bardi A 2015. Personality traits and personal values: a meta-analysis. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 19:13–29
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Patterson F, Prescott-Clements L, Zibarras L, Edwards H, Kerrin M, Cousans F 2016. Recruiting for values in healthcare: a preliminary review of the evidence. Adv. Health Sci. Educ. 21:859–81
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Pervin LA 1989. Persons, situations, interactions: the history of a controversy and a discussion of theoretical models. Acad. Manag. Rev. 14:3350–60
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Ployhart RE, Schmitt N, Tippins NT 2017. Solving the supreme problem: 100 years of selection and recruitment at the Journal of Applied Psychology. J. Appl. Psychol. 102:291–304
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Rivera LA 2012. Hiring as cultural matching: The case of elite professional service firms. Am. Sociol. Rev. 77:999–1022
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Roberts B, Mroczek D 2008. Personality trait change in adulthood. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 17:131–35
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Rotundo M, Sackett PR 2002. The relative importance of task, citizenship, and counterproductive performance to global ratings of job performance: a policy-capturing approach. J. Appl. Psychol. 87:166–80
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Ryan AM 2015. Enhancing soldier-job fit through the use of non-cognitive predictors: considering fit bandwidth Work. Pap., Michigan State
  73. Ryan AM, Kristof-Brown A 2003. Focusing on personality in person-organization fit research: Unaddressed issues. Personality and Work: Reconsidering the Role of Personality in Organizations MR Barrick, AM Ryan 291–394 San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Ryan AM, Ployhart RE 2014. A century of selection. Annu. Rev. Psychol 65693–717
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Sackett PR, Lievens F, Van Iddekinge CH, Kuncel NR 2017. Individual differences and their measurement: a review of 100 years of research. J. Appl. Psychol. 102:3254–73
    [Google Scholar]
  76. Saks A, Ashforth B 1997. Organizational socialization: making sense of the past and present as a prologue for the future. J. Vocat. Behav. 51:234–79
    [Google Scholar]
  77. Schneider B 1987. The people make the place. Pers. Psychol. 40:437–53
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Schneider B, Ehrhart MG, Macey WH 2013. Organizational climate and culture. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 64:361–88
    [Google Scholar]
  79. Schneider B, Smith DB, Goldstein HW 2000. Attraction–selection–attrition: toward a person–environment psychology of organizations. Person–Environment Psychology: New Directions and Perspectives WB Walsh, KH Craik, RH Price 61–85 Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
    [Google Scholar]
  80. Schwartz SH 1992. Universals in the content and structure of values: theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 25:1–65
    [Google Scholar]
  81. Sekiguchi T 2007. A contingency perspective of the importance of PJ fit and PO fit in employee selection. J. Manag. Psychol. 22:118–31
    [Google Scholar]
  82. Sekiguchi T, Huber VL 2011. The use of person-organization fit and person-job fit information in making selection decisions. Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process. 116:23–216
    [Google Scholar]
  83. Simmering MJ, Colquitt JA, Noe RA, Porter COLH 2003. Conscientiousness, autonomy fit, and development: a longitudinal study. J. Appl. Psychol. 88:954–63
    [Google Scholar]
  84. Slaughter JE, Greguras GJ 2009. Initial attraction to organizations: the influence of trait inferences. Int. J. Sel. Assess. 17:11–18
    [Google Scholar]
  85. Slaughter JE, Zickar MJ, Highhouse S, Mohr DC 2004. Personality trait inferences about organizations: development of a measure and assessment of construct validity. J. Appl. Psychol. 89:185–103
    [Google Scholar]
  86. Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). 2018. Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures Bowling Green, OH: SIOP, 5th ed..
  87. Steers RM, Braunstein DN 1976. A behaviorally-based measure of manifest needs in work settings. J. Vocat. Behav. 9:251–66
    [Google Scholar]
  88. Supeli A, Creed PA 2014. The incremental validity of perceived goal congruence: the assessment of person-organization fit. J. Career Assess. 22:28–42
    [Google Scholar]
  89. Swider BW, Zimmerman RD, Barrick MR 2015. Searching for the right fit: development of applicant person-organization fit perceptions during the recruitment process. J. Appl. Psychol. 100:880–93
    [Google Scholar]
  90. Tajfel H, Turner JC 1986. The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. Psychology of Intergroup Relations S Worchel, WE Austin 7–24 Chicago: Nelson-Hall
    [Google Scholar]
  91. Tom VR 1971. The role of personality and organizational images in the recruiting process. Org. Behav. Hum. Perform. 6:573–92
    [Google Scholar]
  92. Tsai W, Chen H, Chen C 2012. Incremental validity of person-organization fit over the Big Five personality measures. J. Psychol. 146:485–509
    [Google Scholar]
  93. Tsai W, Chi N, Huang T, Hsu A 2011. The effects of applicant resume contents on recruiters’ hiring recommendations: the mediating roles of recruiter fit perceptions. Appl. Psychol. 60:231–54
    [Google Scholar]
  94. Uberschaer A, Baum M, Bietz BT, Kabst R 2016. The contingencies of person-organization fit perceptions. J. Manag. Psychol. 31:1021–39
    [Google Scholar]
  95. Uniformguidelines.com. 2018. Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, 2017 Washington, DC: Equal Employ. Opportunity Comm http://www.uniformguidelines.com/uniformguidelines.html
  96. Van Iddekinge CH, Raymark PH, Roth PL 2005. Assessing personality with a structured employment interview: construct-related validity and susceptibility to response inflation. J. Appl. Psychol. 90:536–52
    [Google Scholar]
  97. Van Iddekinge CH, Roth PL, Putka DJ, Lanivich SE 2011. Are you interested? A meta-analysis of relations between vocational interests and employee performance and turnover. J. Appl. Psychol. 96:1167–94
    [Google Scholar]
  98. Van Vianen AEM 2018. Person-environment fit: a review of its basic tenets. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav. 5:75–101
    [Google Scholar]
  99. Verquer ML, Beehr TA, Wagner SH 2003. A meta-analysis of relations between person-organization fit and work attitudes. J. Voc. Behav. 63:473–89
    [Google Scholar]
  100. Vogel RM, Rodell JB, Lynch JW 2016. Engaged and productive misfits: how job crafting and leisure activity mitigate the negative consequences of value incongruence. Acad. Manag. J. 59:1561–84
    [Google Scholar]
  101. Wheeler AR, Buckley MR, Halbesleben JRB, Brouer RL, Ferris GR 2005. “The Elusive Criterion of Fit” revisited: toward an integrative theory of multidimensional fit. Res. Pers. Hum. Resourc. Manag. 24:265–304
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012218-015028
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012218-015028
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error