Sl. Wilk et al., GRAVITATION TO JOBS COMMENSURATE WITH ABILITY - LONGITUDINAL AND CROSS-SECTIONAL TESTS, Journal of applied psychology, 80(1), 1995, pp. 79-85
Two large data sets were used to test the premise that individuals wil
l, over time, gravitate into jobs commensurate with their abilities. F
irst, in a longitudinal data set with the individual as the unit of an
alysis, cognitive ability predicted movement in a job hierarchy over a
5-year period. Second, in a cross-sectional data set with the job as
the unit of analysis, groups made up of less experienced incumbents we
re found to be slightly less homogeneous with respect to cognitive abi
lity than groups made up of more experienced incumbents. Thus, support
for the gravitational hypothesis was found.