Measuring Perceived Overqualification in Workers: Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version
Giulia Paganin, Marcella Floris, Dina Guglielmi
The perception of overqualification represents a form of misalignment between the individual and the job position, which occurs when individuals believe that their skills, knowledge, and experience significantly exceed the requirements of the role they occupy. This condition can have notable impacts on employee well-being and organizational effectiveness. The present study aims to provide a valid and reliable measure of perceived overqualification within the Italian context, assessing its psychometric properties. To this end, a sample of 398 Italian workers (55.80% women), with an average age of 40, completed a self-report questionnaire. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) support the adequacy of a single-factor model, which shows good fit indices. The internal consistency of the scale is also satisfactory, confirming the reliability of the instrument. Moreover, in line with existing literature, a negative association was found between perceived overqualification and work engagement, highlighting the potentially detrimental effects of this perception on professional involvement.In conclusion, the study confirms the structural validity, internal consistency, and criterion validity of the perceived overqualification scale in the Italian cultural context, establishing it as a psychometrically sound and useful tool for both research purposes and organizational and managerial insights.
Keywords
Overqualification, Person-job mismatch, Work engagement, Structural validity, Reliability, Perceived Overqualification scale.
