Scale library · HRM & organizational behavior
Perceived fit scale (P-O, P-J): Cable & DeRue (2002)
Cable and DeRue (2002) directly measure employees' perceptions of three kinds of fit: between personal and organizational values (person-organization fit), between personal needs and what the job provides (needs-supplies fit), and between personal abilities and job demands (demands-abilities fit). Each has 3 items; the last two are often combined as person-job fit. The original study showed that the three kinds of fit are distinct and predict different outcomes. It suits theses on recruitment, engagement, satisfaction and turnover intention.
Cite the original, not the blog.
- Model or scale: P-O fit / P-J fit
- Constructs: 3
- Items: 9
Original English items
Items marked (R) are reverse-coded: recode them before computing reliability or scale scores. Replace bracketed placeholders such as [system] with the name of the system, brand or organization you study.
Person-Organization Fit (POF, 3 items)
| Code | Item wording | Reverse-coded |
|---|---|---|
| POF1 | The things that I value in life are very similar to the things that my organization values. | No |
| POF2 | My personal values match my organization’s values and culture. | No |
| POF3 | My organization’s values and culture provide a good fit with the things that I value in life. | No |
Needs-Supplies Fit (NSF, 3 items)
| Code | Item wording | Reverse-coded |
|---|---|---|
| NSF1 | There is a good fit between what my job offers me and what I am looking for in a job. | No |
| NSF2 | The attributes that I look for in a job are fulfilled very well by my present job. | No |
| NSF3 | The job that I currently hold gives me just about everything that I want from a job. | No |
Demands-Abilities Fit (DAF, 3 items)
| Code | Item wording | Reverse-coded |
|---|---|---|
| DAF1 | The match is very good between the demands of my job and my personal skills. | No |
| DAF2 | My abilities and training are a good fit with the requirements of my job. | No |
| DAF3 | My personal abilities and education provide a good match with the demands that my job places on me. | No |
Response scale
7-point agreement scale (1 = Strongly disagree … 7 = Strongly agree), as in many studies reusing it; some use 5 points.
Licence and permission
The items are published in the original article in the Journal of Applied Psychology and widely used in research; we found no specific terms of use from the authors. Cite the original article.
Sources (APA 7)
- Cable, D. M., & DeRue, D. S. (2002). The convergent and discriminant validity of subjective fit perceptions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(5), 875–884. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.5.875
Vietnamese translation
A Vietnamese translation of every item, with sample-size advice and studies that used the scale, is on the Vietnamese page for this scale.