Research On The Mechanism Of The Influence Of Employee’s Overqualification Perception On Workplace Deviant Behavior

In recent years,there have been significant changes in the work environment and employment situation,accompanied by a sharp increase in the number of highly educated talents.Companies are increasingly favoring employees with higher educational qualifications,resulting in more people working in jobs that do not require their level of education,knowledge,or experience.This phenomenon is known as "overqualification" in academic circles,where an individual’s qualifications,experience,and skills exceed the requirements of their job.In this increasingly common scenario,exploring the psychological and behavioral effects of talent being underutilized by organizations is a hot topic in organizational behavior research.However,there is an abundance of deviant behaviors initiated by employees in organizations that violate organizational rules and harm the interests of the organization or individuals.In China’s workplace,various types of workplace deviant behaviors,such as theft,absenteeism,early departure,damage to company property,procrastination,and slander,are prevalent.Employee workplace deviant behaviors seriously damage the interests of organizations,making it crucial to explore how employees who perceive themselves as overqualified can reduce such behaviors in the workplace.Existing research has mainly focused on exploring the effects of employees’ perceived states on their work behavior,neglecting the impact of employees’ own resources on their work behavior.Therefore,this study,based on social exchange theory,conservation of resources theory and ego depletion heory,targets grassroots employees in enterprises and public institutions as the main research subjects,analyzes the mechanisms by which the perception of overqualification affects workplace deviant behavior,and employs SPSS25.0 and AMOS26.0 for empirical verification.Finally,based on management knowledge,the following conclusions and recommendations are drawn:Firstly,there is a positive correlation between the perception of overqualification and workplace deviant behavior.Compared to employees with low perceptions of overqualification,employees with high perceptions of overqualification are more likely to engage in workplace deviation behavior.Secondly,emotional exhaustion plays a complete mediating role.The degree of emotional exhaustion of employees is influenced positively by their perception of overqualification and positively affects their workplace deviant behavior.Thirdly,organizational inputs have a moderating effect.The study found that developmental inputs significantly negatively moderate the relationship between the perception of overqualification and emotional exhaustion,while the moderating effect between emotional exhaustion and workplace deviant behavior is not significant.Material inputs have a significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and workplace deviant behavior,while the moderating effect between the perception of overqualification and emotional exhaustion is not significant.Based on the above test results,relevant management suggestions are proposed,including:firstly,managers need to change their one-sided view of pursuing highly educated talents excessively and formulate a competency model that matches job requirements fully to attract the most suitable talents.Secondly,organizations need to pay close attention to the psychological cognition and emotional state of employees,regularly conduct interviews on employee mental states,and guide employees to alleviate negative emotions.Finally,organizations should allocate resources reasonably,increase the investment in developmental resources,pay attention to employees’ development space,increase the investment in material resources,and optimize the enterprise’s salary system.