Comparing Personality Characteristics, Values, and Goals as Antecedents of Organizational Attractiveness

Person-organization (P-O) fit was examined as an antecedent of individuals' attraction to organizations by operationalizing P-O fit as the similarity between individuals and organizations on three points of comparison: Personality dimensions, values, and goals. It was hypothesized that compared to P-O fit on values and on goals, P-O fit on personality dimensions would be related more strongly to organizational attractiveness. It was also hypothesized that relative to P-O fit on goals, P-O fit on values would be related more strongly to organizational attractiveness. The results indicated that each of the points of comparison had a unique effect on organizational attractiveness and that individuals were more attracted to organizations that were similar to them than to organizations that were dissimilar to them