Evolution theory would suggest that needs and skills must be
related somehow because without the appropriate skills, P cannot
fill its needs. For example, the carnivore has to develop (evolve) the
appropriate predatory skills (stealth, speed, strength) in order to sat-
isfy its need for meat.
Having the appropriate skills, however, does not automatically
mean that the task will be completed or the need will be filled.
Having skills is not the same as using them. P has to be motivated
to use the skills. But then, using the skills, even the appropriate
skills, does not automatically mean either that P will complete the
task or fill the need. P must be enabled by E to succeed in complet-
ing the task or filling the need; that is, E must be supportive of P if
P’s (motivated) use of (appropriate) skills is to succeed.
Satisfaction
When one’s needs are filled, we say that P is satisfied(from the Latin,
satis,meaning “enough,” and facere,meaning “to make.” The mirror-
image term is satisfactory(with the same Latin derivation). Some-
thing is satisfactory only because someone is (or has been) satisfied.
Satisfaction is seen in PEC theory as the objective of P-E inter-
action, that is, its desired outcome. Satisfaction, in PEC theory, is
an affect—a feeling that is produced when one perceives a need to
be filled. The goal of both P and E in their interaction is to achieve
satisfaction.Achieving satisfaction is the motivational force that powers
the P-E interaction.
P and E interact because their respective satisfactions depend
on satisfying the other; in simple terms, each has something the
other wants. So P sets out to satisfy E, and E tries to satisfy P; each
attempts to fill the needs of the other (or at least the needs each
believes the other wants filled). In PEC theory, then, satisfaction is
the dependent variable, and P-E interaction is the independent
variable responsible for producing it.
Satisfaction may fluctuate. P’s satisfaction can change with
changes in E or P, with changes in P’s needs or skills (more precisely,
PERSON-ENVIRONMENT-CORRESPONDENCE THEORY 433