ABSTRACT

The person-environment (P-E) fit approach to stress has gained widespread acceptance in the organizational stress literature. However, current research into the P-E fit approach to stress is repeatedly plagued with serious theoretical and methodological problems. Taken together, these problems severely threaten the conclusiveness of available empirical evidence and suggest that the current widespread acceptance of the P-E fit approach may be unwarranted. This article highlights theoretical and methodological problems characteristic of much P-E fit research and offers some solutions to these problems.