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Personality and work environment congruence of mid‐life career changers
Author(s) -
THOMAS L. EUGENE,
ROBBINS PAULA I.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of occupational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.257
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 2044-8325
pISSN - 0305-8107
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8325.1979.tb00452.x
Subject(s) - personality , psychology , salience (neuroscience) , congruence (geometry) , social psychology , person–environment fit , work environment , personality type , job satisfaction , cognitive psychology
This study examines two hypotheses derived from Holland's theory of careers: that persons will move toward work environments more congruent with their personality type, and that persons working in environments highly congruent with their personality will be more satisfied than those whose personality‐environment congruence is low. Personality type of 61 middle‐aged males who had changed from managerial or professional careers was determined by means of the Strong–Campbell Interest Inventory, and work environment types of former and present occupations were determined by transforming Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) designations to Holland work environment types. A majority of the respondents were not found to move into careers more congruent with their personality type, and men who entered more congruent occupations were not more satisfied with their new careers than were those men whose new careers were less congruent. These contradictory findings are discussed in terms of developmental changes which occur at mid‐life, and the need for determining salience of work in the life structure of each individual.