Psychology Ph.D. Dissertations

Perceived Similarity to Employees and Organizational Attraction: An Examination in the Retail Industry

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Psychology/Industrial-Organizational

First Advisor

Scott Highhouse

Abstract

Research suggests that characteristics of organizational members often define the organization. However, most research on person-organization fit focuses on comparisons between individual characteristics and organizational characteristics, rather than comparisons between the individual and the organization’s employees. We suggest that a person-to-person approach may be more meaningful. In the current study, similarity between participants and stereotypical employees at well-know retail stores was assessed, and participants rated their attraction to each of those stores. Both objective and subjective measures of applicant-employee fit were found to predict perceptions of organizational attractiveness beyond the influence of pay.

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