Person-Environment Fit Theory: Conceptual Foundations, Empirical and Directions Future Research

Abstract Theories of stress have long recognized the importance of both the person and environment in understanding the nature and consequences of stress. Person constructs relevant to stress research include Type-A behavior (Friedman and Rosenman, 1959), locus of control (Rotter, 1966), hardiness (Kobasa, 1979), and coping styles (Menaghan, 1983). The environment has been construed as stressful life events (Rabkin and Struening, 1976), daily hassles (DeLongis et al., 1982), and chronic stressors such as role conflict and ambiguity (Kahn et al.,1964;Jackson and Schuler, 1985), role overload and underload (French and Caplan, 1972), and job demands and decision latitude (Karasek and Theorell, 1990). This dual emphasis on the person and environment in stress research is characteristic of the interactive perspective in psychology (Lewin, 1951; Magnusson and Endler, 1977; Murray, 1951; Pervin, 1989), which indicates that behavior, attitudes, and well-being are determined jointly by the person and environment.