An Aspect-Based Approach to Person-Environment Fit: A Comparison between the Aspect Structure Derived from Characteristics of Occupations and That Derived from Counselees' Preferences

Focusing on the aspect-based approach to person-environment (P-E) fit, the present research had two goals: first, to explore the relations among the aspects as reflected in their structure, and second, to examine the stability of this structure by comparing two aspect structures. To achieve these goals, the patterns of the intercorrelations among 43 aspects were analyzed and compared using two large data sets: the occupational data base of a computer-assisted career guidance system and the monitored dialogues of 2000 counselees using the system. Factor analyses revealed great similarity between the two aspect structures, with only a few notable differences. These results are discussed in the context of P-E fit theories.