The effects of perceived overqualification on spouse undermining and support

Purpose Based on the work–home resources model regarding the work domain and the home domain as a whole resource exchange system with directional resource flows, this study proposed that perceived overqualification could lead to personal resources drain, especially for employees with high work–family centrality (i.e. valuing work more than family). Furthermore, the drained personal resources of the focal employees brought in more spouse undermining and less spouse support at home. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach in which Study 1 involving 259 pairs and Study 2 involving 260 pairs of employees and their spouses from China provided support to the first-stage moderated mediation model. Findings Results revealed that when employees' work–family centrality is high, perceived overqualification could elicit personal resources drain and induce more spouse undermining and less spouse support. On the contrary, when employees' work–family centrality is low, perceived overqualification could reduce personal resources drain and render less spouse undermining and more spouse support. The two studies consistently provided support for most of the hypotheses. Practical implications The research results suggest that organizations could take some feasible measures to help overqualified employees articulate the value of work–family centrality to manage overqualified employees' work–family resources further, bringing appropriate sequential behaviors at home. Originality/value Research on perceived overqualification has primarily focused on its consequences in the work domain, paying scant attention to whether it can influence the home domain outside work. This research contributes to this line of literature by investigating how and when perceived overqualification leads to family outcomes.