The phenomenology of fit: Linking the person and environment to the subjective experience of person-environment fit.

TLDR

The study distinguishes three approaches to perceived person‑environment fit—atomistic, molecular, and molar—and notes that treating them interchangeably has implications for theory, measurement, and subjective experience. The study investigates the meaning and interrelations of atomistic, molecular, and molar person‑environment fit approaches and factors influencing their strength. The authors examined the relationships among the three fit approaches and assessed how various factors affect the strength of these relationships. The relationships among the fit approaches differ markedly from theoretical expectations, with molar fit overlapping affect and molecular fit weighting atomistic information differently, thereby challenging core P‑E fit assumptions.

Abstract

The authors distinguished 3 approaches to the study of perceived person-environment fit (P-E fit): (a) atomistic, which examines perceptions of the person and environment as separate entities; (b) molecular, which concerns the perceived comparison between the person and environment; and (c) molar, which focuses on the perceived similarity, match, or fit between the person and environment. Distinctions among these approaches have fundamental implications for theory, measurement, and the subjective experience of P-E fit, yet research has treated these approaches as interchangeable. This study investigated the meaning and relationships among the atomistic, molecular, and molar approaches to fit and examined factors that influence the strength of these relationships. Results showed that the relationships among the approaches deviate markedly from the theoretical logic that links them together. Supplemental analyses indicated that molar fit overlaps with affect and molecular fit gives different weight to atomistic person and environment information depending on how the comparison is framed. These findings challenge fundamental assumptions underlying P-E fit theories and have important implications for future research.