Different fits satisfy different needs: linking person-environment fit to employee commitment and performance using self-determination theory.

By G. J. Greguras, J. Diefendorff. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2009

745 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Integrating and expanding upon the person-environment fit (PE fit) and the self-determination theory literatures, the authors hypothesized and tested a model in which the satisfaction of the psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence partially mediated the relations between different types of perceived PE fit (i.e., person-organization fit, person-group fit, and job demands-abilities fit) with employee affective organizational commitment and overall job performance. Data from 163 full-time working employees and their supervisors were collected across 3 time periods. Results indicate that different types of PE fit predicted different types of psychological need satisfaction and that psychological need satisfaction predicted affective commitment and performance. Further, person-organization fit and demands-abilities fit also evidenced direct effects on employee affective commitment. These results begin to explicate the processes through which different types of PE fit relate to employee attitudes and behaviors.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/10faa745db7545c04369ee284dca932c41cf2abc

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Applied Psychology

In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

In Social Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Transformational leadership and performance: An experimental investigation of the mediating effects of basic needs satisfaction and work engagement (2013, background): “Third, we seek to extend the needs-based model of TFL by responding to Greguras and Diefendorff (2009) who argued that examining basic needs satisfaction without considering its impact on intrinsic motivation omits a crucial intervening step.”
How do transformational leaders foster positive employee outcomes? A self-determination-based analysis of employees' needs as mediating links† (2012, background): “To explore employees’ needs, we draw on self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Gagné & Deci, 2005), which can be regarded as one of the most detailed and best validated frameworks of psychological needs (Greguras & Diefendorff, 2009).”
Decoding Customer–Firm Relationships: How Attachment Styles Help Explain Customers' Preferences for Closeness, Repurchase Intentions, and Changes in Relationship Breadth (2013, background): “Second, research on employee–environment fit also builds on a need fulfillment lens to examine how employee attitudes are influenced by the perceived fit between their desires and the resources in the organizational environment available to meet these desires (Greguras and Diefendorff 2009).”
Authentic Leadership, Authentic Followership, Basic Need Satisfaction, and Work Role Performance (2015, background): “Consistent with this perspective, Greguras and Diefendorff (2009) found that employees who experienced a high level of fit with their work environment reported higher levels of basic need satisfaction.”
Employee commitment and well-being: A critical review, theoretical framework and research agenda (2010, background): “In a study of employees from diverse occupations and organizations, Greguras and Diefendorff (2009) found that AC was positively associated with the satisfaction of all three needs.”
WORK ENGAGEMENT: A QUANTITATIVE REVIEW AND TEST OF ITS RELATIONS WITH TASK AND CONTEXTUAL PERFORMANCE (2011, background): “Given the findings of the present study, and observed relations between needs–supplies fit and contextual performance (Cable & DeRue, 2002) and between demands–abilities and task performance (Greguras & Diefendorff, 2009), it also seems likely that engagement serves as a mediator in the P–”
Accounting for the influence of overall justice on job performance: : integrating self-determination and social exchange theories (2014, background): “…because Deci and Ryan (2000) did not specifically theorize an interrelationship between need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation in influencing work outcomes, research has primarily investigated the direct influence of need satisfaction on job performance (e.g., Gregarus and Diefendorff, 2009).”
Leading Mindfully: Two Studies on the Influence of Supervisor Trait Mindfulness on Employee Well-Being and Performance (2012, positive): “Past research has indeed found that psychological need satisfaction is positively related to performance (e.g., Greguras and Diefendorff 2009).”