Perceived Overqualification at Work: Implications for Voice Toward Peers and Creative Performance

Abstract

Drawing on the conservation of resource theory, we examined the effect of perceived overqualification on the creative performance via voice toward peers, and how the peer group perceived overqualification moderates the relationship between perceived overqualification and creative performance. We tested this proposal using three waves of lagged data collected from 206 company employees in Shandong Province, China. The results revealed that peer group perceived overqualification moderated the indirect effects of perceived overqualification on creative performance such that there was positive indirect effect via voice toward peers when peer group perceived overqualification is high and negative indirect effect via voice toward peers when peer group perceived overqualification is low. The implications, limitations, and future directions of these findings were discussed.

How overqualified teams motivate members to explore the external environment – the mediating role of change self-efficacy

“…Furthermore, the “evaluation of individual and environmental resources or constraints” as one of the determinants of self-efficacy in a particular domain is essentially a cognitive evaluation of environmental factors (Gist and Mitchell, 1992). The team's overqualification implies that it is extremely skilled and capable of taming the negative feelings and actions of highly qualified but “under-utilized” individuals (Li et al ., 2022b). Therefore, this study infers that in a complex and changing business environment, individuals who are affected by a perception of team overqualification feel a climate of advantage, which enhances their self-confidence and motivation to cope with the complex and changing environment, i.e.…”

“…And most reports note the prevalence of such overqualification (Lin et al, 2017;O'Connell, 2010). Previous studies have focused on the analysis of overqualification at the individual level, revealing the negative impact of overqualification on employees' cognition (Simon et al, 2019), emotions (S anchez-Cardona et al, 2020), turnover (Erdogan et al, 2020) and job performance (Li et al, 2022a;Li et al, 2019), as well as the positive impact on proactive behavior (Zhang et al, 2016) and innovation performance (Dar and Rahman, 2020). The process for how staff members immediately react to a sense of team overqualification, among other things, is yet unclear (Alfes, 2013;Hu et al, 2015;Li et al, 2022, b).…”

“…Previous studies have focused on the analysis of overqualification at the individual level, revealing the negative impact of overqualification on employees' cognition (Simon et al ., 2019), emotions (Sánchez-Cardona et al. , 2020), turnover (Erdogan et al ., 2020) and job performance (Li et al. , 2022a; Li et al ., 2019), as well as the positive impact on proactive behavior (Zhang et al ., 2016) and innovation performance (Dar and Rahman, 2020).…”

“…, 2022a; Li et al ., 2019), as well as the positive impact on proactive behavior (Zhang et al ., 2016) and innovation performance (Dar and Rahman, 2020). The process for how staff members immediately react to a sense of team overqualification, among other things, is yet unclear (Alfes, 2013; Hu et al ., 2015; Li et al ., 2022, b). Particularly, in an environment where teamwork is commonplace in businesses and the external environment is becoming more challenging (Vidyarthi et al ., 2016), where people are becoming more connected to other team members (Mathieu et al ., 2017), it is not sufficiently explored how people react to changes in the external environment and what behaviors are triggered by a perceived overqualification of the internal team (Mathieu et al ., 2017).…”

The Silver Lining of Perceived Overqualification: Examining the Nexus Between Perceived Overqualification, Career Self-Efficacy and Career Commitment

“…49 Furthermore, social support can moderate the path between perceived overqualification and career self-efficacy by providing various forms of support, such as emotional support, instrumental assistance, feedback and validation, and networking and mentorship opportunities. 50 By receiving strong social support, overqualified employees may be better equipped to maintain or improve their career self-efficacy, mitigating the negative effects of POQ on their professional outlook and career decisions. 24 Hypothesis 3: Social support moderates the relationship between POQ and career self-efficacy…”