Subjective past, present, and future fit: Effects on anxiety, depression, and other indicators of well-being.

Abstract

Hypotheses were tested regarding the effects of subjective current, retrospected, and anticipated person-environment fit on affective and somatic strain and well-being. Two-hundred seven university students preparing for annual academic examinations at an Indian university completed self-administered questionnaires measuring parameters of the hypotheses. A distinction was made between cognitive (e.g., meeting demands for intelligence, good memory) and motivational (e.g., being able to muster the effort) fit. Cognitive poor fit had a greater effect on predicting high levels of strain across all time frames but did best in the past and current frames. Motivational poor fit had its greatest effect on strain when poor fit dealt with anticipated or current fit. These findings are discussed in terms of hypotheses, which suggest that the more subjectively uncontrollable a dimension of fit, the more salient it is in the past time frame, whereas the more subjectively controllable the dimension, the more salient it is in the future time frame.

A Self‐Regulation Approach to Person–Environment Fit

“…Consistent with this idea, research on PE fit has begun to examine whether the magnitude of changes in fit predict job satisfaction, absenteeism, and turnover intentions (e.g., Caldwell et al, 2004;Caplan, Tripathi and Naidu, 1985;Chatman, 1991;DeRue and Morgeson, 2007;Jansen and KristofBrown, 2006;Roberts and Robins, 2004;Schmitt et al, 2008). PE fit researchers have also investigated PE fit at distinct points in time (i.e., past, present, and future fit) and the ability of these different fits to predict employee outcomes (Caplan, 1987;Caplan et al, 1985). These studies, however, do not speak directly to the issue of the rate of change in ideal-experienced discrepancies and whether such change is important to consider.…”

Person-environment fit theory and organizations: Commensurate dimensions, time perspectives, and mechanisms

“…In one modest test of the relative contributions of different time frames (Caplan, Tripathi, & Naidu, 1985), there was evidence that current perceptions of fit influenced mental health most and that anticipated fit had the next strongest influence. Furthermore, anticipated fit was more likely to have strong effects on well-being when it dealt with controllable (motivation, effort) elements of the self than when it dealt with noncontrollable elements (e.g., basic abilities).…”

Relationship between Person-Organization fit and objective and subjective health status (Person-Organization fit and health)

“…Studies on direct relationship between person -work environment fit and employees' health are sparse, but bring interesting results. Misfit between an employee and his/her work environment results in elevated job stress [8,9], depression [10], anxiety [10,11], burnout [11] or decreased ability to take up physical and mental effort at work [12]. In this paper, the authors examine a relationship between one of the aspects of person-work environment fit which is called Person-Organization fit (P-O fit) and health P-O fit is defined by Kristof [13] as "the compatibility between people and organizations that occurs when: (a) at least one entity provides what the other needs, or (b) they share similar fundamental characteristics, or (c) both" (p. [4][5].…”