Person-Job Fit: Do Job Characteristics Moderate the Relationship of Personality with Burnout, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment?

Abstract

Decades-long research on personality-situation interaction's influence on behavior provided the underlying theory for the present study. Applied to the workplace, the underlying theory appears in the form of person-job and person-organization research. In the present research, the Job Characteristics Model (JCM) provides the framework for investigating the interaction of personality and job characteristics. Results revealed personality traits interacted with job scope (i.e., the combination of job characteristics) to predict burnout, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Approximately 300 individuals, who work full-time, were surveyed on their personality, characteristics of their job, and levels of burnout, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Job scope significantly moderated conscientiousness and burnout, neuroticism and organizational commitment, and agreeableness and organizational commitment. Specific job characteristics were investigated as potential moderators. Autonomy moderated the relationship between conscientiousness and burnout, and feedback moderated the relationship between agreeableness and burnout. Skill variety moderated the relationship between neuroticism and organizational commitment. No significant moderations were found for job satisfaction. Practical implications of the findings, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are discussed.