Perceived Overqualification and Task Performance: Reconciling Two Opposing Pathways

Abstract

In this study, we predict that higher levels of relative deprivation and higher levels of task mastery constitute two pathways through which perceived overqualification (POQ) has indirect and opposing effects on task performance. Further, we predict that occupational instrumentality, the degree to which the individual regards their job as a stepping stone to future career opportunities, will serve as a moderator for both pathways. Across two studies, as well as a supplementary study, we found evidence that POQ is positively associated with followers’ perceptions of both task mastery and relative deprivation. In both studies, we also found consistent evidence for a positive indirect effect between POQ and task performance via perceptions of task mastery. This indirect relationship was observed for both self‐rated (Studies 1 and 2) and manager‐rated task performance (Study 2). Further, occupational instrumentality mitigated the positive relationship between POQ and relative deprivation. Overall, the results suggest that POQ–task performance relationship is a function of dual pathways that work in opposing directions and that the ability to see the job as a stepping stone is instrumental in determining the strength of these pathways.

Practitioner points Our findings suggest that when employees feel overqualified for their jobs, it can have both positive and negative effects on their level of task performance. On the one hand, when employees feel they are overqualified they may feel resentment and demotivation at work. On the other hand, such employees are also more likely to master the skills needed to perform their jobs at a high level. The demotivating effects of perceived overqualification on task performance depend on the degree to which employees regard their jobs as a stepping stone to future career opportunities. Organizations or managers of employees who feel overqualified should consider ways to highlight how their job connects to future career opportunities and offers advancement potential.