A Review of Person-Environment Fit Research: Prospects for Personnel Selection

Author(s):  
Annelies E. M. Van Vianen
Author(s):  
Rong Su ◽  
Christopher D. Nye

The search for “noncognitive” skills essential for workforce readiness has largely overlooked one important individual difference domain: interests. This chapter reviews evidence for the relationship between interests and job performance, career success, and academic achievement. It also discusses two mechanisms through which interests can predict a range of educational and work outcomes. First, interests serve as a source of intrinsic motivation that drives the direction, effort, and persistence of human behaviors. Specifically, interests contribute to learning and the acquisition of job knowledge, which are direct determinants of academic and job performance. Second, interests capture the relationship, or the fit, between a person and an environment. The degree of person–environment fit in terms of interests, or interest congruence, predicts academic and work outcomes above and beyond individual interest scores alone. In closing, the chapter discusses the implications of using interest assessments for educational and career guidance and for personnel selection.


2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Greasley

It has been estimated that graphology is used by over 80% of European companies as part of their personnel recruitment process. And yet, after over three decades of research into the validity of graphology as a means of assessing personality, we are left with a legacy of equivocal results. For every experiment that has provided evidence to show that graphologists are able to identify personality traits from features of handwriting, there are just as many to show that, under rigorously controlled conditions, graphologists perform no better than chance expectations. In light of this confusion, this paper takes a different approach to the subject by focusing on the rationale and modus operandi of graphology. When we take a closer look at the academic literature, we note that there is no discussion of the actual rules by which graphologists make their assessments of personality from handwriting samples. Examination of these rules reveals a practice founded upon analogy, symbolism, and metaphor in the absence of empirical studies that have established the associations between particular features of handwriting and personality traits proposed by graphologists. These rules guide both popular graphology and that practiced by professional graphologists in personnel selection.


Author(s):  
Julian M. Etzel ◽  
Gabriel Nagy

Abstract. In the current study, we examined the viability of a multidimensional conception of perceived person-environment (P-E) fit in higher education. We introduce an optimized 12-item measure that distinguishes between four content dimensions of perceived P-E fit: interest-contents (I-C) fit, needs-supplies (N-S) fit, demands-abilities (D-A) fit, and values-culture (V-C) fit. The central aim of our study was to examine whether the relationships between different P-E fit dimensions and educational outcomes can be accounted for by a higher-order factor that captures the shared features of the four fit dimensions. Relying on a large sample of university students in Germany, we found that students distinguish between the proposed fit dimensions. The respective first-order factors shared a substantial proportion of variance and conformed to a higher-order factor model. Using a newly developed factor extension procedure, we found that the relationships between the first-order factors and most outcomes were not fully accounted for by the higher-order factor. Rather, with the exception of V-C fit, all specific P-E fit factors that represent the first-order factors’ unique variance showed reliable and theoretically plausible relationships with different outcomes. These findings support the viability of a multidimensional conceptualization of P-E fit and the validity of our adapted instrument.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiebke Goertz ◽  
Ute R. Hülsheger ◽  
Günter W. Maier

General mental ability (GMA) has long been considered one of the best predictors of training success and considerably better than specific cognitive abilities (SCAs). Recently, however, researchers have provided evidence that SCAs may be of similar importance for training success, a finding supporting personnel selection based on job-related requirements. The present meta-analysis therefore seeks to assess validities of SCAs for training success in various occupations in a sample of German primary studies. Our meta-analysis (k = 72) revealed operational validities between ρ = .18 and ρ = .26 for different SCAs. Furthermore, results varied by occupational category, supporting a job-specific benefit of SCAs.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 169-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine A. Sliter ◽  
Neil D. Christiansen

The present study evaluated the impact of reading self-coaching book excerpts on success at faking a personality test. Participants (N = 207) completed an initial honest personality assessment and a subsequent assessment with faking instructions under one of the following self-coaching conditions: no coaching, chapters from a commercial book on how to fake preemployment personality scales, and personality coaching plus a chapter on avoiding lie-detection scales. Results showed that those receiving coaching materials had greater success in raising their personality scores, primarily on the traits that had been targeted in the chapters. In addition, those who read the chapter on avoiding lie-detection scales scored significantly lower on a popular impression management scale while simultaneously increasing their personality scores. Implications for the use of personality tests in personnel selection are discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Jansen ◽  
Cornelius J. König ◽  
Eveline H. Stadelmann ◽  
Martin Kleinmann

This study contributes to the literature on self-presentation by comparing recruiters’ expectations about applicants’ self-presentational behaviors in personnel selection settings to applicants’ actual use of these behaviors. Recruiters (N = 51) rated the perceived appropriateness of 24 self-presentational behaviors. In addition, the prevalence of these behaviors was separately assessed in two subsamples of applicants (N1 = 416 and N2 = 88) with the randomized response technique. In line with the script concept, the results revealed that recruiters similarly evaluated the appropriateness of specific self-presentational behaviors and that applicants’ general use of these behaviors corresponded to recruiters’ shared expectations. The findings indicate that applicants who use strategic self-presentational behaviors may just be trying to fulfill situational requirements.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. O’Neill ◽  
Richard D. Goffin ◽  
Ian R. Gellatly

In this study we assessed whether the predictive validity of personality scores is stronger when respondent test-taking motivation (TTM) is higher rather than lower. Results from a field sample comprising 269 employees provided evidence for this moderation effect for one trait, Steadfastness. However, for Conscientiousness, valid criterion prediction was only obtained at low levels of TTM. Thus, it appears that TTM relates to the criterion validity of personality testing differently depending on the personality trait assessed. Overall, these and additional findings regarding the nomological net of TTM suggest that it is a unique construct that may have significant implications when personality assessment is used in personnel selection.


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