Overqualification influences employee silence behavior: Effects of psychological contract breach, work alienation, and justice sensitivity

Abstract

Overqualification has become a widespread social phenomenon in many countries. We collected data from 503 respondents via an online survey and used SPSS 24.0 and Mplus 8.0 for data analysis. Results showed that employee overqualification had a significant positive impact on use of silence behavior and that psychological contract breach and alienation from work partially mediated this relationship. However, the serial mediating effect of psychological contract breach and alienation from work was not significant. Justice sensitivity played a moderating role in the relationship between employee overqualification and use of silence behavior. Our research clarifies the internal mechanism between overqualification and employee silence behavior and provides a reference for managers to optimize the employment environment and use of human resources.