A meta-analytic investigation of vocational interest -based job fit, and its relationship to job satisfaction, performance, and turnover

Abstract

The degree to which an employee's interests match the characteristics of a job has been theorized to predict outcomes such as job satisfaction, tenure, and job performance (Holland, 1996). Mixed findings have discouraged the addition of interest measures to selection test batteries, despite small correlations with measures of cognitive ability. This meta-analytic review of 93 studies of employed adults (n = 51.901) found that mean corrected correlations between congruence and outcomes were: job satisfaction (.24), tenure (.13), and job performance (.29), suggesting that interest measures may be useful additions to a selection battery. The bandwidth of congruence between work environment and interest profile moderated results; higher bandwidth studies were generally associated with larger effect sizes. Studies using task performance as the criterion were also associated with larger effect sizes. Job satisfaction partially, but weakly, mediated the relationship between congruence and tenure.