10

Person-Environment-

Correspondence Theory

Rene V. Dawis

Person-environment-correspondence (PEC) theory is the general-
ized version of the theory of work adjustment (TWA; Dawis &
Lofquist, 1984), which is described in detail in the third edition of
this volume (Brown & Brooks, 1994). TWA evolved over some
forty-odd years, beginning in the late 1950s, as the theoretical frame-
work for the Work Adjustment Project. This project had been orga-
nized to conduct research on factors affecting the work adjustment
of vocational rehabilitation clients. As TWA evolved, it became
clear that (1) TWA could be generalized to other environments
besides work and to other populations besides rehabilitation clients,
and (2) TWA and its subsequent generalized form (PEC theory)
were themselves specific cases of a more generic type of theory in
psychology: person-environment (P-E) theory. The second observa-
tion requires some preliminary comments about psychological the-
ory; then PEC theory can be presented.

Psychological Theory

Psychological theory is unique among the sciences because it deals
with so-called subjective reality. All other sciences deal with objec-
tive reality, that is, the observer is separate (apart and distinct) from
what is being observed. Not so in psychology. In psychology, some-
times the observation itself is to be observed, and we have the enigma

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