Person–environment fit or person plus environment: A meta-analysis of studies using polynomial regression analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine if the non-linear terms in polynomial regression analysis (PRA) explain substantial amounts of variance in assumed outcomes over and above the linear terms. This meta-analysis reviewed a total of 30 studies from 25 articles on person–environment (P-E) fit in which PRA was used. We found that none of the 30 studies did rigorous cross-validation for PRA. In addition, the overall population R² change attributable to the non-linear terms (PE, P² and E²) in PRA was only .008. However, the P-E interaction term may be more important in some situations than in others, based on the data gathered here. Specifically, the non-linear terms in PRA added to the variance explained by the linear terms (P and E) when studies examined assumed outcome variables like contextual performance or job attitudes as opposed to task performance. In summary, PRA could potentially be effective in investigating P-E fit and other human resource management-related phenomena when it is used in appropriate scenarios.