Work Satisfaction Through Person-Environment Fit : Integrating Ability, Personality, and Interest

Person-environment fit research typically examines one domain at a time (e.g., values) which leaves career choosers and counselors uninformed about how to weigh different types of fit. With a national sample of high school students followed several years after graduation, this study pursues two main goals: (1) map the associations between ability, personality, and interest domains, and (2) assess the relative importance of fit across these domains in the prediction of future work satisfaction. Results echo previous findings on the primacy of the environment in PE fit and the utility of Prediger’s (1982) meta-dimensions in an integrative framework for individual differences. While the domains showed differential predictive validity (i.e., abilities > personality > interests), the nature of those fit relationships varied substantially, both within and between domains, with scant evidence of strict congruence effects overall. Implications for theory and practice are discussed with an emphasis on job tasks and complexity.