The Impact of Work Setting Congruence on Well-Being

This study investigates the influence of two aspects of person-environment congruence on well-being: occupational congruence (OC), the subject of numerous studies, and an entirely new concept, congruence with the physical conditions of the workplace (work setting congruence) (WSC). Using a sample of 164 men and women employed in seven of Roe’s eight occupational fields, significant correlations, all in the expected direction, were found between WSC and well-being measures (i.e., satisfaction, burnout, and anxiety), as posited. These were then compared to the correlations between OC and the same well-being measures. The results indicate that WSC is a distinct concept with a unique and significant contribution to well-being. Furthermore, evidence of an additive effect was found so that the presence of both WSC and OC produced higher well-being values than the presence of only one of the congruences.