Previous studies have theorized overqualification as a state of underutilization of qualifications, suggesting that overqualification creates deleterious consequences for employees’ extra-role performance. However, the existing literature has largely ignored the potential positive aspects of overqualification that it may serve as an indicator of possessing superior capabilities. This paper takes the negative and the positive aspects of overqualification into account simultaneously. Building upon a resource-based perspective, this paper suggests that overqualification generates paradoxical effects on employees’ helping behavior through two opposing pathways: Overqualification is positively related to helping via workplace status (a resource exchange pathway) and negatively related to helping via interpersonal disengagement (a resource preservation pathway). Based on two pre-registered experimental studies (Study 1a and Study 1b) and a multi-wave and multi-source field study (Study 2), I found that overqualification exhibited a positive indirect effect on helping via workplace status and a negative indirect effect on helping via interpersonal disengagement. Furthermore, the positive effect of overqualification on workplace status was stronger for overqualified employees holding highly task-interdependent jobs. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Keywords: overqualification, helping, workplace status, interpersonal disengagement, task interdependence