A Curvilinear Relationship: Perceived Overqualification and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Drawing upon equity theory, we integrate two contrasting perspectives on overqualification and propose a curvilinear relationship between perceived overqualification (POQ) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) with the lowest level of OCB occurring at the intermediate levels of POQ. Further, we extend overqualification research to employees’ social context of workgroup membership and propose that workgroup fit climate moderates the curvilinear relationship between POQ and OCB. Results of multi-level analyses from 215 employees nested in 40 workgroups demonstrated a U-shaped relationship between POQ and OCB. Moreover, moderation analysis revealed that workgroup fit climate influences the relationship between POQ and OCB. Implications for individual and group level overqualification research are discussed.