Fitting in: A temporal perspective on experiences of person-environment fit in the workplace.

Since the publication of Lewin's equation B = f(P, E), which defines human behavior (B) as a function of both person (P) and environment (E) (Lewin, 1951), and the introduction of the term Person-Environment fit (P-E fit) by French and colleagues in 1974 (French et al., 1974), the concept of P-E fit evolved to one of the most widely used constructs in industrial psychology and human resource management. Over the past two decades, considerable research attention has been devoted to the study of P-E fit, which has produced important insights into the relationship between fit and a wide array of affective, attitudinal, and behavioral outcomes (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). However, an important weakness of our understanding of P-E fit is that we still know very little about people's subjective experience of fit and misfit (Kristof-Brown & Billsberry, 2013). In this respect, Billsberry and colleagues recently argued that P-E fit theory should be divided into two inherently different portrayals of fit, i.e., an objective fit paradigm that focuses on the interaction or interplay between personal and environmental characteristics, and a perceived fit paradigm that focusses on the subjective experience of (not) fitting in (Edwards & Billsberry, 2010; Kristof-Brown & Billsberry, 2013). Of these two paradigms, the perceived fit paradigm remains severely under explored, and scholars have yet to clarify the exact meaning of perceived fit. In particular, we lack understanding about how these perceptions of fit and misfit develop and change over time, and why they influence our attitudes, thoughts, and behavior the way they do (Kristof-Brown & Billsberry, 2013). What we do know, however, is that employees are mostly influenced by their fit with the environment as they perceive it. In this respect, and compared to objective fit, perceived fit is commonly found to be a stronger predictor of employee outcomes like e.g. job satisfaction, commitment, performance and turnover (Hoffman, & Woehr, 2006; Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). Therefore, gaining insights in employees' perceptions of fit is crucial in understanding its organizational implications, including the management of fit and the benefits and drawbacks associated with fit and misfit (Billsberry et al., 2005). The main goal of my PhD is to provide insight into the nature of perceived fit, i.e., what perceived fit actually represents, how these perceptions form, and why they change over time.status: publishe