Value congruence is generally studied as a stable experience instead of a dynamic phenomenon. This static approach largely ignores the emerging evidence that the fit experiences of individuals vary over time, and that different individuals may develop distinct experience profiles as time unfolds. We hypothesize that these temporal profiles of value congruence provide relevant insights into the relationship between perceived value congruence and employee functioning. We conducted a repeated weekly measures study with 125 white-collar Belgian employees to assess perceptions of value congruence and work role behaviours during 12 consecutive weeks. Through cluster analysis we were able to group employees with similar experience profiles based on average, variance, and frequency of changes into five distinct fit and misfit types. These were differentially related to two types of work role behaviours, i.e., work role proficiency (task performance and organizational citizenship behaviour) and work role proactivity (change-oriented behaviour and innovative work behaviour). Overall, our findings challenge the idea that fit-misfit is a dichotomous category, and underscore the need for more temporal research on perceptions of organizational fit in order to get a better understanding of how different types of fit and misfit behave in work settings.

The longstanding assumption in person-environment (PE) fit research is that perceived fit embodies the subjectively experienced match between personal and environmental attributes and hence triggers affect and behavior (i.e., normal causation perspective). This argument is however increasingly debated, with some scholars suggesting that the causal flow may also run from affect and behavior to perceived fit (i.e., reverse causation perspective), and others even arguing that perceptions of PE fit are not substantially different from how people feel and think about their environment (i.e., synchronous relationship perspective). In this research, we propose that these three competing perspectives correspond with different assumptions on how PE fit perceptions dynamically change over time (i.e., by means of comparative reasoning, logical deduction, or heuristic thinking). We empirically validate these three competing perspectives by teasing out the causal ordering of the within-person relationships between perceptions of fit and workplace affect and performance. In two separate diary studies, one with weekly (N = 153) and one with daily (N = 77) repeated measures, support was found for the synchronous relationship perspective with heuristic thinking as the plausible underlying process. This research contributes to the PE fit literature by providing new insight into the dynamic nature of perceived fit.

In this systematic review, we present a comprehensive overview of the temporal person environment (PE) fit literature. To this end, we organize and integrate extant temporal fit research and discuss research trends and developments in the temporal domain. Our analysis reveals that temporal conceptualizations of fit vary in terms of change process (transitional, developmental, transformational), level of aggregation (situational vs. baseline level), and temporal frame (clock time vs. psychological time), all of which divide the temporal fit literature in significant ways. Furthermore, our analysis shows that progress in the temporal fit domain has been confined by five major obstacles: An emphasis on selection and socialization processes, a narrow focus on the between-person level of analysis, preoccupation with linear change, a strong interest in normal causation questions, and a lack of attention to misfit. We conclude with a discussion of the research challenges that lie ahead and provide suggestions to tackle these challenges and expand temporal PE fit research in new directions.

The idea of person–environment (PE) fit builds upon interactional psychology, which suggests that the interplay between personal and environmental attributes is the primary driver of human behavior. The “environment” in PE fit research can take many different forms, with organizational environments being one of the most important settings with which people may fit or misfit. Henceforth, PE fit is defined as the compatibility that occurs when individuals match the characteristics of the work environment they inhabit. The notion that individuals with personal needs, values, goals, abilities, and personalities and organizational environments with distinctive demands, supplies, values, and cultures are differentially compatible and that “fitting in” is an evolving process that triggers behavioral, cognitive, and affective responses has been well accepted since PE fit was introduced as an independent theory in the mid-1970s. Presently, the PE fit idea has established itself as a firm research framework and has surfaced in many different literatures, ranging from applied and vocational psychology to human resource management, resulting in a plethora of theories that cover many different views on, and various conceptualizations of, PE fit. From an individual (i.e., employee) perspective, fit theories suggest that fit is a sought-after and rewarding experience in and of itself, especially when multiple types of fit (e.g., fit with the job and with the organization) co-occur. However, from a team, organizational, and societal perspective, the advantages of high levels of fit must be weighed against its potential costs, including favoritism, conformity, and homogeneity, which may eventually result in organizational inertia and the reproduction of inequality.

This study investigates affective experience as a function of unemployment duration in South Africa. The study contrasts two models. The stress reaction model proposes a linear decrease of affective experience as unemployment prolongs. The adaptation model assumes a curvilinear pattern between affective experience and unemployment duration. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with contrast revealed no differences in affective experience between short-term (N = 101), longterm (N = 152) and very long-term (N = 119) unemployed. The findings do not favour either of the models, yet indicate that unemployment is a severe stressor regardless of its duration. These results underline the need for structural changes (e.g. delivering unemployment benefits, stimulating job creation) in order to overcome the negative affective experiences of the South African unemployed.