ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Organizational Psychology
Anger or Pride? The Effect of Overqualification on Employees' First Job Behavior from the Perspective of the Proactive Motivation Model
Provisionally accepted
- Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
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Purpose: This study investigates the relationship between perceived overqualification and proactive behaviors in the first job, focusing on the mediating roles of job anger and authentic pride and the moderating effect of perceived supervisor support. The research aims to address the challenge of maintaining and stimulating proactive behaviors among overqualified first-time employees. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the proactive motivation model, this study collected data from 695 first-time employees and analyzed the relationships between perceived overqualification, emotions, proactive behaviors, and perceived supervisor support using statistical methods. Findings: The results indicate that perceived overqualification negatively affects proactive behavior. Job anger and authentic pride serve as significant mediators in this relationship, while perceived supervisor support moderates the effect of perceived overqualification on proactive behavior. Originality: This study contributes to the literature by integrating emotional mediators and supervisory factors into the analysis of proactive behavior among overqualified employees. It provides practical insights for enhancing human resource management and fostering proactive behaviors in the workplace, particularly for first-time employees facing overqualification.
Keywords: perceived overqualification, proactive behavior, Work Anger, Authentic pride, Perceived supervisor support
Received: 11 Aug 2025; Accepted: 26 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Zhang, Zhang and Dou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chunxin Zhang
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.