Alternative models of person-environment fit: prediction of morale in three homes for the aged.

The notion of congruence or P-E fit has been suggested as a fruitful theoretical scheme for the understanding of the impact of environments on the well-being of older people (French et al., 1974; Kahana, 1975). Alternative models have been proposed for understanding the type of congruence which results in the most positive outcomes. Such models have differential implications for intervention to enhance well-being of the aged. This paper represents an initial effort to put these alternative theoretical models to an empirical test. Data for this study came from 124 interviews at three homes for the aged. In order to overcome methodological problems posed by conventional approaches, a procedure which measures incongruence in terms of non-linear transformations of difference scores was used. Congruence models examined included non-directional, one-directional, and two-directional models. The findings point to the importance of P-E fit in the arenas of congregation, impulse control, and segregation. In contrast, personal and/or environmental characteristics rather than fit were found to be more important along the dimensions of affective expression and institutional control in explaning morale.