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Perceived overqualification and career indecisiveness: examining the mediating role of career self-efficacy and moderating role of social support

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Abstract

The study aimed to shed light on a less-explored aspect of careers–career indecisiveness. This uncertainty regarding one's career path holds noteworthy importance in a person's professional journey, and scholarly investigation has progressively emphasized its underlying factors. This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge on career indecisiveness by examining it through the lens of perceived overqualification (POQ). Based on the person-job fit theory, we examined the effect of POQ on employees career indecisiveness, along with the mediating role of career self-efficacy on the POQ–career indecisiveness relationship and the moderating role of social support. Data was collected from 443 employees and 48 line supervisors in corporate companies in the southern region of China. The study utilized the PLS-SEM approach and analyzed the data using SmartPLS 4 software. The findings showed that POQ was positively related to career indecisiveness and negatively related to career self-efficacy. Moreover, the mediating role of career self-efficacy has been found in the link between POQ and career indecisiveness. The research identified that the relationship between POQ and career self-efficacy is influenced by the moderating role of social support. This study contributes to the existing knowledge of the person-job fit theory by shedding light on POQ influence on career self-efficacy and indecisiveness. The findings suggest that addressing POQ and enhancing career self-efficacy can help reduce career indecision among employees.

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Funding

This work was sponsored in part by Jilin Provincial Department of Education Project (JJKH20211310SK).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China

    Dan Wang

  2. School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China

    Runkai Jiao

  3. Worldskills Competition China (Tianjin) Research Center, Tianjin University of Technology and Education, Tianjin, 300222, China

    Heli Wang

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  1. Dan Wang
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Correspondence to Runkai Jiao.

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Wang, D., Jiao, R. & Wang, H. Perceived overqualification and career indecisiveness: examining the mediating role of career self-efficacy and moderating role of social support. Curr Psychol 43, 11983–11997 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05333-2

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