CONSEQUENCES OF INDIVIDUALS' FIT AT WORK: A META‐ANALYSIS OF PERSON–JOB, PERSON–ORGANIZATION, PERSON–GROUP, AND PERSON–SUPERVISOR FIT

TLDR

This meta‑analysis examined how person–job, person–organization, person–group, and person–supervisor fit relate to pre‑entry and post‑entry individual outcomes such as attraction, acceptance, attitudes, performance, and turnover. The authors compiled 172 studies (836 effect sizes), evaluated how fit was defined and measured, examined design moderators, meta‑analyzed interrelationships among fit types, and separately reviewed 25 polynomial‑regression studies. Nearly all credibility intervals excluded zero, indicating broad generalizability, and the authors identified broad themes to guide future research on fit.

Abstract

This meta‐analysis investigated the relationships between person–job (PJ), person–organization (PO), person–group, and person–supervisor fit with preentry (applicant attraction, job acceptance, intent to hire, job offer) and postentry individual‐level criteria (attitudes, performance, withdrawal behaviors, strain, tenure). A search of published articles, conference presentations, dissertations, and working papers yielded 172 usable studies with 836 effect sizes. Nearly all of the credibility intervals did not include 0, indicating the broad generalizability of the relationships across situations. Various ways in which fit was conceptualized and measured, as well as issues of study design, were examined as moderators to these relationships in studies of PJ and PO fit. Interrelationships between the various types of fit are also meta‐analyzed. 25 studies using polynomial regression as an analytic technique are reviewed separately, because of their unique approach to assessing fit. Broad themes emerging from the results are discussed to generate the implications for future research on fit.