Person-group fit on the need for cognitive closure as a predictor of job performance, and the mediating role of group identification.

Abstract

The present research examined the implications of the objective supplementary person-group fit on the dimension of need for cognitive closure (NFCC) for employee performance. More specifically, we investigated the similarity between employees’ levels of the NFCC and the NFCC of their workgroups as a predictor of employee performance, and we investigated a potential mediator of this relationship—group identification. We found that NFCC moderated the relationship between individual-level NFCC and individual-level performance such that high NFCC individuals performed better in workgroups in which the remaining members were also high in the NFCC and low NFCC individuals performed better in workgroups in which the remaining members were also low in the NFCC (Hypothesis 1). Furthermore, as expected, employees’ level of self-reported identification with their workgroups partially mediated this relationship (Hypothesis 2). Implications of these findings for both organizational research on fit