The person-job fit literature indicates that job satisfaction is contingent on the congruence between the individual and the job. We propose that interpersonal job context, the extent to which incumbents are exposed to social interaction on the job, magnifies the relationship between extraversion and job satisfaction. Using two large archival data sets (Ns = 5,849; 23,376) with job-level information from O*NET, we demonstrated (1) a main effect of job-level extraversion on interpersonal job context, and (2) a cross-level moderating effect of interpersonal job context on the individual-level extraversion-satisfaction relationship. These results suggest that extraverts are more likely to hold and be satisfied in jobs rich in social interaction. This research emphasizes the need for researchers and practitioners to consider personality-job context congruence.
Practitioner pointsWe examined the relationship between personality and job satisfaction in two large archival data sets. At the job level, extraverts were more likely than introverts to occupy jobs requiring spontaneous interpersonal contact. Interpersonal job context magnified the association between extraversion and job satisfaction. It is important to consider the fit between personality and the job context, beyond personality's main effects.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.