Birds of a feather flock together: How congruence between worker and occupational personality relates to job satisfaction over time
Andreas Hirschi
Ghetta, A., Hirschi, A., Wang, M., Rossier, J., & Herrmann, A. (2020). Birds of a feather flock together: How congruence between worker and occupational personality relates to job satisfaction over time. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 119, 103412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103412
Abstract
Person–environment fit (P–E fit) and job satisfaction are key constructs in vocational and organizational research. Research established that they are positively related, but little is known about how they relate over time. We analyzed P–E fit as the congruence between the Big Five personality traits of a worker and of all job incumbents in the same occupation, and how this congruence relates to job satisfaction over time. Analyses were based on 7,049 participants from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 2005, 2009, and 2013. We used latent change score modeling to assess changes in congruence and job satisfaction over eight years, and further created 3D response surface plots based on polynomial regression to investigate nonlinear relations between each Big Five trait and job satisfaction. Change in P–E fit was not related to simultaneous change in job satisfaction and did not predict subsequent change in job satisfaction. The surface analyses indicated that a worker’s and an occupation’s personality are primarily independently relevant for the level of job satisfaction and that effects differ for different personality traits.
Keywords
person–environment fit, personality, job satisfaction, latent change score model, response surface analysis