A Tailored Policy‐capturing Study on PO Fit Perceptions: The ascendancy of attractive over aversive fit

Abstract

Job‐seekers are attracted to organizations if they perceive fit between their personal values and those of an organization. It is often assumed that people's person–organization (PO) fit perceptions reflect an overall comparison between the person and the organization: fits on values that are personally attractive, aversive, or relatively neutral are weighed equally. In this study, we questioned this assumption. Based on regulatory focus theory and construal level theory, we proposed that fit on values that are personally attractive would especially contribute to the perception of PO fit. Four policy‐capturing studies indeed showed that job‐seekers do not weigh all value fits equally. Rather, they weigh fit on personally attractive values more heavily than fit on personally aversive and neutral values. Thus, job‐seekers perceive high PO fit particularly when information about a prospective organization supports values that are personally attractive to them. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Costs and Benefits of Newcomer Adjustment Tactics

“…Events that are not part of people's experience to date, or are hypothetical, are necessarily psychologically distant (Trope et al, 2007). Two findings from CLT are pertinent here as to how individuals evaluate distant, high‐level construals: First, that pros are necessarily secondary to cons because cons will not even be considered unless pros exist; and second, that for distant, high‐level construals, individuals focus on desirable elements and disregard unattractive elements (De Goede, Van Vianen, & Klehe, ). Given our use of hypothetical scenarios that facilitate distant, high‐level construals, CLT suggests that respondents will pay more attention to benefits.…”

Contrasting voluntary versus involuntary layoffs: Antecedents and outcomes

“…As one of the oldest and most widely used methods in decision‐making research, PC is used largely due to its ability to overcome problems associated with self‐report designs, such as participants' tendency to provide socially desirable answers or participants' lack of self‐insight (Billings & Marcus, 1983; Karren & Barringer, 2002). As a result, the PC approach has been used in human resource management research, and recently in research on job performance (Ohme & Zacher, 2015; Skarlicki & Turner, 2014), recruitment (De Goede, Van Vianen, & Klehe, 2013) and job transitions (Grund, 2013; Lis, 2012). In addition, this method has been used in the layoff realm to help overcome methodological limitations with downsizing studies (Crooker, 1995; Rynes & Lawler, 1983; Wingate, Thornton, McIntyre, & Frame, 2003).…”

Selection for Fit

“…Research shows applicants tend to focus on "ideal" features of a future job and organization that they want to attain, and this information comes from job advertisements and organizational websites (De Goede et al 2013). In a particularly instructive study, Dineen et al (2002) had students visit a website for a fictional company.…”