Dr Yao Xiang’s laboratory from School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences of Peking University published the paper “Person-environment fit and proactive socialization: Reciprocal relationships in an academic environment” on Journal of Vocational Behavior.
Based on the conservation of resources perspective of person-environment (P-E) fit, the research integrated P-E fit theory with the socialization literature to examine lagged reciprocal relationships between proactive socialization behaviors and student-university fit. A six-month longitudinal study of Chinese freshmen revealed that relationship building with instructors and positive framing were positively related to subsequent student-university fit, which was then positively related to subsequent proactive socialization behaviors including relationship building with instructors, general socializing, and positive framing. The results also indicated that both relationship building with instructors and positive framing have reciprocal relationships with student-university fit.
By demonstrating that proactive socialization behaviors predict subsequent fit perceptions, the study answer scholars’ calls to examine whether human agency boosts P-E fit, a topic mostly neglected in P-E fit research. The authors offer a new perspective to the socialization and P-E fit literature by demonstrating that fit perceptions could evoke subsequent proactive socialization behaviors, offering a new perspective that adjustment outcomes (i.e., fit perceptions) could also lead to more socialization behaviors. By demonstrating reciprocal relationships between student-university fit and proactive socialization behaviors, the authors respond to calls for research examining “spiraling effects of fit” and provide some of the first empirical evidence supporting the COR perspective of P-E fit.
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