This study was conducted to examine the immediate and later effects of environmental congruence and group importance on job satisfaction. Of the 180 participants in this investigation, 48% were new employees in their organizational milieus, (i.e., no more than 3 months in the job), and 52% were students in the first 3 months of departmental studies. Results showed that although environmental congruence was modestly related to job satisfaction (approx. r = .22, as in previous studies) concerning both immediate and later measurements, the magnitude of the effect of group importance was considerably higher after some adaptation time had elapsed (increasing from r = .23 to r = .57). Ramifications of these findings are elaborated.
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