Abstract
Drawing upon prior research on job engagement and person-environment fit, this study examine the congruence effect of individuals’ and co-workers’ job engagement on individuals job stress level, which in turn influences individuals exhaustion. Data was collected from 495 team members comprising 128 R&D teams in Taiwanese high-tech industry. Hypotheses were tested with polynomial regressions and several statistical methods. Results indicated that (in)congruence of job engagement between individuals and co-workers was related to the individual exhaustion through the individual job stress. In addition, congruence effects were found wherein individuals had higher-level job stress when co-workers were aligned with individuals at a high level of job engagement rather than at a low level of job engagement. Asymmetrical incongruence effects were found wherein individuals had higher-level job stress when the individual job engagement was higher than co-workers’ rather than when the individual job engagement is lower. Specifically, (in)congruence of job engagement between individuals and co-workers influence individuals’ exhaustion through the mediation effect of the individual job stress. We discuss the implications of these findings related to teamwork management and develop practical implications from our findings as well as directions for future research.