Congruence in perceived overqualification of team members and organizational identification
International Journal of Manpower
ISSN: 0143-7720
Article publication date: 5 September 2020
Issue publication date: 19 May 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the equity theory and self-categorization theory, the authors examine the congruence effect of perceived self-overqualification and perceived coworker-overqualification on team–member exchange (TMX) quality, which in turn influences employees' organizational identification.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 392 employees in 78 teams at 2 time points, and polynomial regressions was used to test the hypothesized associations.
Findings
The more consistent perceived self-overqualification is with perceived coworker-overqualification, the higher quality of TMX. Moreover, TMX mediates the relationship between this congruence on organizational identification, which indicates that the congruence of perceived overqualification is related to higher-quality TMX, and then makes overqualified employees produce higher levels of organizational identification.
Originality/value
The findings of the research contributes to theory building of perceived overqualification through distinguishing perceived overqualification as an individual characteristic from the perception of overqualification that occurs in teams. Besides, by analyzing employees' experiences of overqualification in the context of their colleague-group, this study demonstrates the importance of considering overqualified individuals' social context (e.g. the composition of teams) in exploring the consequences of perceived overqualification. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71702115), Beijing Talents Project (2017000020124G138) and Young Academic Innovation Team Project (QNTD202003).
Citation
Chu, F. (2021), "Congruence in perceived overqualification of team members and organizational identification", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 42 No. 3, pp. 488-501. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-09-2019-0429
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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