THE IMPACT OF PERCEIVED OVERQUALIFICATION ON LAWYERS’ TASK PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EMOTIONAL LABOR
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Abstract
Purpose: In an increasingly specialized and highly competitive legal services market, more highly educated lawyers are performing low-complexity and repetitive work, undermining their sense of job value and intensifying perceived overqualification. Although previous research has examined the emotional and behavioral consequences of perceived overqualification, the extent to which it affects lawyers’ task performance remains unclear, particularly given the lack of systematic tests of the mediating role of emotional labor. Grounded in Cognitive Evaluation Theory, this study investigates the effect of perceived overqualification on lawyers’ task performance and examines the mediating role of emotional labor.
Study Design/Methodology/Approach: A survey of practicing lawyers in Shaanxi Province, yielding 473 valid questionnaires (approximately 2.5% of the province’s roughly 19,000 practicing lawyers). Multiple regression analyses were conducted using SPSS, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and mediation tests were performed using AMOS.
Findings: Perceived overqualification has a significant negative effect on lawyers’ task performance. Emotional labor mediates this relationship: surface acting has a positive mediating effect, whereas deep acting has a negative mediating effect.
Originality/Value: This study examined the performance consequences of perceived overqualification among lawyers and refined the underlying mechanism through a dual-path perspective on emotional labor, thereby extending existing theoretical explanations. Practically, the findings indicated that law firms should improve person-job fit and relieve perceived overqualification through measures such as case grading, job rotation, and career development support, while strengthening emotion management training to enhance task performance and job satisfaction.
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