THE PERSON-ENVIRONMENT FIT APPROACH TO STRESS - RECURRING PROBLEMS AND SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

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 conclusivness 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. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.