The effect of perceived overqualification on job satisfaction and career satisfaction among immigrants: Does host national identity matter?

Abstract

Overqualification is a form of person-job misfit that is common among those who reside in a foreign country. It is associated with poor work-related well-being and can inhibit full adjustment to the host society. The goal of our study is to examine the impact of perceived overqualification on job satisfaction and career satisfaction among immigrants. Furthermore, we investigated immigrants’ host national identity as a moderator of the impact of perceived overqualification on job satisfaction and career satisfaction. We analysed longitudinal online survey data from 124 Italian and Spanish immigrants who migrated to Germany between 2000 and 2014. Regression analyses show that perceived overqualification is negatively associated with job satisfaction six months later. Furthermore, host national identity moderates the association between perceived overqualification and job satisfaction: low overqualification is beneficial for job satisfaction whereas high overqualification is a threat for job satisfaction, especially for immigrants who identify strongly with the host society. We do not find corresponding direct and moderating effects on career satisfaction. We conclude that indicators of acculturation, such as host national identity, are worth considering in order to understand the impact of person-job misfit on work-related well-being among immigrants.

Structural position and relative deprivation among recent migrants: a longitudinal take on the integration paradox

“…To explore alternative explanations of the integration paradox, we combined the relative deprivation framework with the integration paradox literature. Whereas previous studies have stressed that a mismatch between educational level and economic position can affect one's mental well-being and life satisfaction (Wassermann, Fujishiro, and Hoppe 2017;George et al 2012), our study shows that such a mismatch does not influence migrants' destination country identification, even though this was one of the implicit suggestions in the paradox literature. In general, a higher educational level decreases migrants' sense of belonging in the Netherlands regardless of their economic position and a mismatch therewith.…”

“…A mismatch between educational and economic position may resolve the integration paradox as it implies that it is not so much being successful in the structural domain which causes migrants to turn away from the destination country, but actually a mismatch between educational level and economic position that does so. That relative deprivation might matter indeed has been illustrated before, for instance by studies on life satisfaction (Grant 2008;Wassermann, Fujishiro, and Hoppe 2017). We argue that a mismatch between educational level and economic position can also bring about lower destination country identification.…”

“…Second, we will integrate existing work of the relative deprivation framework into the paradox literature by theorising the mutual dependence between educational level and economic position, which has remained implicit in previous studies. A mismatch between educational level and economic position, such as being underemployed, is a common experience among migrants (Wassermann, Fujishiro, and Hoppe 2017). Previous research has illustrated that such a mismatch has negative consequences for subjective well-being and life satisfaction in the destination country (George et al 2012), whereas there is surprisingly little known about the impact of such mismatches on integration outcomes such as destination country identification (Piracha and Vadean 2013).…”

This Job is Beneath Me: Subjective Underemployment, Person-Job Fit, and the Role of Proactive Behaviours

“…Past research has found proactive career behavious to be positively associated with subjective financial success, possibly protecting against the "pay" aspect of underemployment. Additionally, networking has been found to increase career and job satisfaction, known negative correlates of underemployment and perceived overqualification, and this relation has been evidenced among a recent graduate sample transitioning from college to work (Vos, Clippeleer & Dewilde, 2010;Kifle, Kler, & Shankar, 2018;Wassermann, Fujishiro, & Hoppe, 2017;Wolff & Moser, 2009).…”

“…Perceived overqualification has also been conceptualized as a mismatch within a personjob fit framework, and has been examined alongside a number of organizational outcomes (Jansen & Kristof-Brown, 2006;Wassermann, Fujishiro, & Hoppe, 2017). Indeed, a recent meta-analysis examining 61 studies found that perceptions of overqualification were negatively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational behaviour, and positively related to turnover intentions and job search behaviours .…”