Work Stress

Person-Environment Fit Model (P-E fit)

Person-environment fit model (P-E fit) focuses on the transactional relationship between characteristics of the individual and the environment. That is, the individual influences their environment, and the environment also affects the individual. The adequacy of this fit between a person and the environment can affect the person’s motivation, behavior, and overall psychological and physical well-being.

The P-E fit model treats stress as a lack of fit between characteristics of the person (individual needs and abilities) and characteristics of the environment (demands and supplies).

French et al. (1982) identified these two types of fit as demands-abilities fit and the suppliesneeds fit respectively. Despite its intuitive appeal, P-E-fit has been widely criticised. Ganster and Schaubroeck (1991) for example, argued that the value of the model has been limited because it focuses on the processes that produce strains rather than the specific work characteristics(stressors) that produce strain

Question

Apply principles from the psychology of work stress and conduct an online quantitative survey (n = 10) to appraise the value of supplies-needs fit in organisational efficacy (i.e., can and how does person-environment fit impact work performance).

Analyse the findings and formulate THREE (3) recommendations to show how organisations in Singapore can improve their employees’ psychological well-being, organisational commitment, and job involvement.