Proactive Personality and Job Satisfaction

Proactive personality refers to an individual’s personal or behavioral predisposition to show initiative and take action in shaping the environment to increase personal control and facilitate goal achievement (Bateman & Crant, 1993). As such, it entails an enduring tendency to improve one’s situation and status by taking an active rather than passive approach to prompt anticipatory action, enact change, and achieve a better environment fit, regardless of situational constraints (Crant et al., 2017).

Meta-analytic research has shown that proactive personality constitutes an important antecedent of several key work outcomes, such as job performance and job satisfaction (Spitzmuller et al., 2015). Job satisfaction, the criterion adopted in the present study, is commonly defined as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences” (Locke, 1976, p. 1304), and stands as a core attitudinal criterion for organizations and employees, given its beneficial impact on their performance (e.g., Bowling et al., 2015), as well as on life satisfaction and subjective well-being (Judge et al., 2017, 2021; Steel et al., 2018). As modeled by Bauer and Erdogan (2011), key socialization outcomes, such as job satisfaction, are influenced not solely by socialization tactics and procedures promoted by the organization to facilitate new employees’ onboarding process and adjustment, but also by newcomers’ dispositions and proactive behaviors.

Furthermore, as emphasized by the dispositional approach of job satisfaction (Staw & Cohen-Charash, 2005), personality plays an important role in driving more favorable job satisfaction assessments across employees’ job trajectories and career phases, and extant evidence also points in this direction (Judge et al., 2017, 2021). In keeping with this, meta-analytic evidence focusing on proactive personality has been shown to constitute a valid and relevant predictor (ρ = 0.30, k = 18, N = 7075) of job satisfaction (Spitzmuller et al., 2015).

Despite relevant theoretical assumptions ascribing relevance to this trait in driving job satisfaction during organizational entry (see Bauer & Erdogan, 2011), aligned with consistent meta-analytic evidence supporting this link in general work settings, empirical research remains limited regarding whether proactive personality acts as a driver of job satisfaction during organizational socialization (Li et al., 2017). As previously emphasized, proactive personality enacts individual proactive behaviors and research has revealed that these behavioral patterns tend to create favorable conditions for achieving personal success at work and, consequently, higher levels of job satisfaction (Chang et al., 2010; Li et al., 2010). Transposing these findings to the organizational socialization stage, we posit that newcomers with a higher level of proactive personality will be more likely to take the initiative to shape their job environment and optimize their adjustment toward the accomplishment of their work goals, thus achieving more positive outcomes, such as job satisfaction. Therefore, it is hypothesized that:

Hypothesis 1:

Proactive personality is positively linked to job satisfaction.

Proactive Personality and Perceived Fit

As described, extant research supports the positive influence of proactive personality on job satisfaction (e.g., Spitzmuller et al., 2015). However, as emphasized by Li et al. (2017), the mechanisms through which this disposition impacts this attitudinal criterion deserve further examination. To address this question, the current study proposes that P–E fit perceptions may represent an important route through which proactive personality promotes newcomers’ job satisfaction.

Due to its multidimensional scope, P–E fit is described as a complex construct encompassing multiple levels of fit between individuals and organizations. It concerns the degree to which a person’s attributes or characteristics match or correspond to the characteristics of a certain organizational context (Cable & Edwards, 2004; Edwards et al., 2006). This level of correspondence is posited to affect an individual’s attitudes and behaviors which, in turn, will influence work outcomes (Cable & Edwards, 2004). As stressed by the interactionist perspective (Reichers, 1987), newcomers’ behaviors and attitudes implied in their process of adjustment to the organization depend upon the interaction between newcomers’ traits and organizational socialization efforts (Bauer & Erdogan, 2011; Li et al., 2011). Furthermore, some authors consider that proactivity may inclusively compensate for absent or less effective socialization tactics (Kim et al., 2005). Following this logic, we advocate that newcomers’ proactive personality, through the dispositional tendency to take the initiative to promote positive change in the environment, will facilitate their adjustment process by enhancing their levels of perceived fit (Zou et al., 2011). Moreover, as evidenced by Kristof-Brown et al.’s (2005) meta-analysis, perceived fit emerges as an antecedent of job satisfaction, establishing a stronger link with this criterion, in comparison with actual fit.

This study follows Cable and DeRue’s (2002) framework of subjective fit which includes the individual perceptions of person–organization supplementary fit (P–O fit) and person–job complementary fit (P–J fit), which encompasses demands–abilities fit (D–A fit) and needs–supplies fit (N–S fit), as distinct and relevant dimensions of subjective fit at work. Supplementary fit captures the match between an individual’s values and an organization’s value system, commonly operationalized through value congruence, i.e., P–O fit (Cable & Edwards, 2004; Resick et al., 2007). In respect to complementary fit, it occurs when the person or the environment has certain characteristics that the other is missing and, through fit, both will complement each other (Cable & Edwards, 2004). This dimension is usually operationalized via P–J fit perceptions, which assess the extent of congruence between a worker and the respective job characteristics (Resick et al., 2007), i.e., the “formal task elements of work” (DeRue & Morgeson, 2007). Complementary fit is further divided into N–S fit and D–A fit perceptions. While the first occurs when the supplies delivered by the environment fulfill the individual’s needs, the second occurs when the pressures (demands) made by the environment are met by the individual’s abilities. Hence, as indicated above, P–J fit will be operationalized in this study through their D–A fit and N–S fit subdimensions.

As previously emphasized, newcomers with higher levels of proactive personality will be more effective in learning their new role and tailoring the new work environment to fulfill their goals, ultimately enhancing their fit and adjustment levels (Zou et al., 2011). Drawing upon these aspects, we anticipate that proactive personality will promote stronger levels of both P–O and P–J fits (i.e., D–A and N–S fit), as further discussed in the following sections.

Proactive Personality and P–O fit

As previous research has shown, before entering an organization, individuals with proactive personality make use of their proactive behaviors, like information seeking, to gather data about potential organizations to work in, as well as about its culture, core values, and characteristics (Saks et al., 2011; Yu & Davis, 2016). By obtaining knowledge about the organization’s characteristics, such as culture and structure, these individuals previously build a more accurate understanding about the shared similarities between themselves and potential organizations, lastly deciding to apply to those with which they anticipate stronger levels of P–O fit (Bauer et al., 2019; Resick et al., 2007).

This proposition is in accordance with the first process of Schneider’s attraction–selection–attrition (ASA) model (i.e., attraction), according to which individuals are attracted to organizations that show similarities with them in terms of characteristics and values (Arthur et al., 2006; Salter, 2006). Furthermore, according to the ASA model, individuals who do not achieve a good level of fit after entering the organization will have the tendency to develop turnover intentions and might end up leaving the organization (Arthur et al., 2006; Salter, 2006). The ASA model postulates that employees who experience misfit are more likely to abandon the organization through the attrition process. However, some research proposes that proactive personality might reduce or even revert the consequences of this process (Devloo et al., 2011). More proactive employees actively persevere to adjust their organizational environment and fulfill their goals, regardless of situational obstacles and constraints, which may invert possible misfit situations (Crant et al., 2017). As such, proactive personality might impact upon these situations, improving fit and precluding the occurrence of a process of attrition.

Furthermore, after entering the organization, newcomers with proactive personality will be more likely to use their initiative to seek social interactions beyond those implied in the fulfillment of core tasks and technical requirements of their job (Deng & Yao, 2020; Li et al., 2010). These initial interactions are vital because they enhance the establishment of a social network within and beyond one’s job scope, which gives to newcomers a sense of identity and social support, as well as social clues that promote a better understanding of organizational culture and its core values (Cable & DeRue, 2002; Li et al., 2011; Reichers, 1987). Furthermore, by exhibiting behaviors that are valued by the organization, newcomers will be more likely to receive support and positive feedback, improving their levels of P–O fit (Erdogan & Bauer, 2005). Considering these aspects, we hypothesize that:

Hypothesis 2a:

Proactive personality is positively linked to person–organization perceived fit.

Proactive Personality and P–J fit

Drawing upon the theory of work adjustment (Dawis, 2005), in the current study it is also proposed that proactive personality will exert a positive influence on perceived P–J fit, contributing to its enhancement (Bayl-Smith & Griffin, 2018). P–J fit stresses that the focal job’s demands and supplies effectively complement the incumbent’s abilities and needs, respectively. Yet the match between the person and the job also depends upon the extent to which the individual displays both active and reactive behaviors to favor their work adjustment. Whereas active behaviors comprise employee efforts to change the environment, reactive behaviors include those aiming to make changes to oneself (Bayl-Smith & Griffin, 2018; Dawis, 2005).

Newcomers with proactive personality will be more likely to exhibit active behaviors, since this trait entails the tendency or disposition to show initiative and take action to influence and enact meaningful change in the environment to build a better fit (Bateman & Crant, 1993; Crant et al., 2017). Consistently, Erdogan and Bauer (2005) argue that when job-related issues arise, individuals with proactive personality are more likely to direct their efforts to “change the status quo” through the knowledge they hold of the norms, reaching effective job outcomes. Furthermore, due to current dynamic and competitive work environments, some job requirements tend to change or become more demanding, so it is essential for individuals to actively improve their adjustment by adapting their working conditions and develop the required knowledge, skills, and abilities (Sylva et al., 2019). Such adjustment can be enhanced through proactive personality, since more proactive individuals are likely to engage in active, anticipatory actions to reach more effective learning and skills development, helping them to complete their tasks and meet job demands more successfully, building a better P–J fit, particularly concerning the D–A fit dimension (Bayl-Smith & Griffin, 2018).

As for the N–S dimension of P–J fit, it can likewise be enhanced by proactive personality, since individuals with this disposition are more likely to engage in proactive behavioral tendencies that allow them to adjust their tasks and craft a job that could better fulfill their needs, thereby improving N–S fit (Bayl-Smith & Griffin, 2018; Dawis, 2005). Considering that the “socialization process is one of uncertainty reduction, whereby both organizations and newcomers play a role in reducing the uncertainty associated with the individual’s new role” (Li et al., 2011, p. 2), proactive personality and its related behavioral patterns may play an important role in mitigating such situational job ambiguity (Yu & Davis, 2016).

Thus, we postulate that proactive personality will enable stronger levels of P–J fit during organizational entry and hypothesize that:

Hypothesis 2b:

Proactive personality is positively linked to demands–abilities perceived job fit.

Hypothesis 2c:

Proactive personality is positively linked to needs–supplies perceived job fit.

The Mediating Role of Perceived Fit on the Link Between Proactive Personality and Job Satisfaction

As previously noted, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of proactive personality, via perceived fit perceptions, on newcomers’ job satisfaction, during the organizational socialization phase. As emphasized, proactive individuals tend to actively interact and take the initiative to enact positive change, adjust, and fit into the work environment to pursue the achievement of their own goals (Crant et al., 2017). As such, newcomers with proactive personality will be more able to capitalize upon their inherent active tendencies to take the initiative to enact positive change in their organizational environment, to achieve their goals and make them more aligned with organizational demands and requirements, despite situational constraints, thereby promoting higher levels of fit (Erdogan & Bauer, 2005). Moreover, previous research has shown that when such organizational environment and its key elements, i.e., the job, coworkers, and the organization itself, share similarity with individuals’ values and beliefs, more desirable behaviors and work attitudes, like job satisfaction, are likely to occur (Erdogan & Bauer, 2005). In keeping with this, evidence provided by Kristof-Brown et al.’s (2005) comprehensive meta-analysis supports a positive link between an employee’s fit perceptions and job satisfaction, particularly between P–O fit and job satisfaction. Hence, considering these findings along with the above-mentioned research according to which proactive personality tends to enhance person–environment fit, we anticipate that the beneficial effects of this disposition on newcomer’s job satisfaction will take form through the enhancement of fit levels, namely the P–O fit.

With respect to P–J fit, prior research has also posited that when individuals perceive that they are able to meet the job’s requirements and that the job fulfills their needs, enhanced levels of job satisfaction tend to emerge (Cable & DeRue, 2002). Moreover, extant meta-analytic evidence indicates that fit constructs directly related to the scope of the job are shown to be predictors of related job attitudes and outcomes (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). Considering the core dimensions of P–J fit, D–A fit is posited to have a positive effect on work attitudes. According to the demands–satisfaction theory, when employees meet the expected demands, perform their job tasks efficiently, and experience less job stress, they tend to benefit from positive outcomes, such as job satisfaction (Peng & Mao, 2015). Likewise, N–S fit is also expected to translate into improved job satisfaction, because individuals tend to experience more favorable attitudes when they perceive that their job effectively supplies for their needs (Cable & DeRue, 2002; Resick et al., 2007). Indeed, besides showing a positive and meaningful relationship between overall P–J fit and job satisfaction, Kristof-Brown et al.’s (2005) meta-analysis revealed that the link between N–S fit and this criterion was stronger than the link with the D–A fit dimension.

As outlined above, research indicates that fit perceptions of P–O and P–J fit, including its subdimensions of D–A fit and particularly N–S fit, represent proximal and nonredundant antecedents of job satisfaction (Cable & DeRue, 2002; Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). Moreover, taking into consideration that proactive personality may act as a facilitator of the level of fit between a newcomer and the environment during the onboarding phase, the current study proposes that the impact of this disposition on newcomers’ job satisfaction will occur via enhancement of fit levels. Therefore, we hypothesize that:

Hypothesis 3:

The link between proactive personality and job satisfaction is positively mediated by perceptions of (a) P–O, (b) N–S and (c) D–A fit. Figure 1 summarizes the model under study.

Fig. 1