1. Perceived Overqualification and Innovative Behavior

Perceived overqualifications refer to the level of knowledge, skills, experience, and ability that an individual possesses that exceeds the requirements of the current job, which is a situation of underemployment [2]. Perceived overqualifications can be divided into two types: subjective perception and objective perception. Among them, subjective perceived overqualification is an individual’s self-perceived belief that the level of knowledge and ability they possess is higher than that required for the job [1,20]. In the existing organizational behavior research, subjective perceived overqualification is more often studied. Because this study mainly investigated the influence of excess qualification on employees’ innovative behavior, the concept of perceived overqualification was chosen. Employee innovative behavior refers to the new ideas, new products, new services, or new methods that employees generate in their work that are meaningful to the enterprise [21], and it is also a key topic of current organizational management research. In the face of the complex and changeable external business environment, the continuous emergence of employees’ innovative behavior is an important guarantee for the company to maintain its competitive advantage and obtain sustainable development [9].

Many articles on perceived overqualification show that the sense of perceived overqualification is a negative feeling, but it also indicates that employees have knowledge and abilities above the job requirements [22,23]. The high work ability of employees can stimulate some positive behaviors, such as improving innovation ability and improving task performance [24,25]. First, perceived overqualified employees are capable of divergent thinking, drilling, and reflection, thus promoting the innovation process [26]; second, perceived overqualified employees can complete the tasks assigned by the organization in a shorter time, and thus have free time to think and explore, discover existing deficiencies, generate new ideas, and then enhance innovative behavior. Third, perceived overqualified employees are easily dissatisfied with their existing jobs, which sometimes motivates them to engage in more interesting and challenging jobs, such as innovative behaviors, to enhance their sense of accomplishment [27].

2.Mediating Effect on Perceived Overqualification and Innovative Behavior

Felt Trust

Felt trust refers to the perception of one party’s willingness to take risks for the actions of another party [28]. When employees perceive that their superiors have assigned them an important task that is directly related to the development of the enterprise, they will feel trusted by their superiors. Since only the superiors know whether they truly trust the subordinates or not, any information regarding being trusted by the superiors from the perspective of the subordinates is regarded as “felt trust” [13].

Compared with employees with perceived underqualification, employees with perceived overqualification are more likely to be valued by their superiors because of their higher level of ability and knowledge and are more likely to be entrusted with important responsibilities by their superiors, thus increasing the level of felt trust. On the other hand, employees with perceived overqualification can complete the tasks assigned by the organization in a short time, thus having some leisure time, further promoting the entrustment of heavy responsibilities by the superiors, and improving the felt trust level of employees.

On the other hand, self-evaluation theory points out that the formation of an individual’s self-evaluation will be affected by the social environment and social information in which they live [14]. When social information is positive and originates from important members of the organization (such as superior leaders), the influence of individuals will be further increased [15]. According to trust-related research, leaders are an important source of social information for employees at work, and trust itself is a positive message. Therefore, when employees feel that they are trusted by their superiors, they are more likely to use this information for self-evaluation, which further affects their attitudes and behaviors [14]. Most studies showed that felt trust can significantly stimulate employees’ organizational citizenship behavior, innovative behavior, and individual performance [13,28,29]. Due to positive feedback information, employees will show more behaviors expected by their superiors, such as innovative behavior [21,27].

In summary, employees with a sense of perceived overqualification have a relatively high level of knowledge and ability to complete their work and they are able to complete the tasks assigned by the organization more quickly, have spare time to do other tasks, increase the possibility of their superiors assigning important tasks, and promote the perception of being trusted. On the other hand, employees who feel the trust of their superiors as positive feedback will stimulate more innovative behavior.

3.The Moderating Effect of Ability Face Pressure 

Ability Face Pressure

“Face” is a social psychological construct rooted in a culture that is the internal self-esteem and self-image of the individual, as well as social respect and identity that the individual constantly seeks [18]. In a social culture that values face, individuals will attach great importance to their social status in the interpersonal network; therefore, they are very sensitive to the recognition and evaluation from others [30], and thus, face pressure is generated. Zhu believed that face pressure refers to the psychological process of negative self-perceptions perceived by individuals after receiving certain social feedback [31]. Therefore, this study explored the moderating influence of face pressure and regards face pressure as a continuous psychological process. Face pressure is divided into three types: ability face pressure, autonomous face pressure, and communicative face pressure. Among them, ability face pressure is feedback on personal ability [18]. Ability face pressure, also known as “perceived face threat based on ability,” is a result of the perceived possibility and potential risk of losing face due to the individual’s desire for others to recognize their own abilities, achievements, and status [31].

能力面对压力本身，作为压力源泉，是员工基于他们在组织中感知到的社会反馈而产生的消极的自我能力意识[32]，这对工作有明显的影响。根据面子理论，个人在工作中受到"丢面子"的威胁。当员工面临社会评价时，比如他们的资历过高和感受到组织的信任，他们的最终行为必须受到能力面对压力的影响[33]。

对于面临压力能力高的员工，他们会特别注重社会的尊重和认可，通过自我认知产生消极的自我能力意识[32]。当员工在更大程度上受到上级的信任时，他们更倾向于照顾自己不要"丢面子"，而创新行为本身就是有风险的，新想法的产生可能不一定得到公司的重视和认可[34，35]，从而减少了创新行为的产生。同样，当员工有超额资格感时，他们往往会"不丢面子"，这减少了冒险行为，减少了创新。

相比之下，当员工的能力面对压力较低时，他们对自己能力的"面子"关注较少。当他们感受到积极的外部支持，例如来自上级的信任时，他们会更好地利用自己的资源来发挥自己的价值，然后激发创新行为[13，36，37];当员工认为自己资历过高时，他们会在工作中利用资源和才能进行探索和发现，以发挥更大的价值并促进创新行为[27]。

4.服务年限对能力面临的协同调节作用

服务期限

服务年限是员工自进入组织以来工作的时间长度，其中服务时间长短会对员工的感知，自我评估，态度甚至行为产生重要影响[38]。在以往的大多数研究中，服务年限仅作为对照变量存在，但一些学者表明，服务年限不仅是一个重要的控制变量，而且还可能在实证研究之间的因果影响关系中发挥重要作用[39]。能力面对压力会削弱感觉信任、感知到的超额资格和员工创新行为的积极影响;然而，这种影响也取决于员工在组织中的时间长度[40]。由于工作时间较短的新员工对工作环境的熟悉程度较低，工作经验不足，因此他们可能无法立即实现创新行为[41]。

在组织中工作时间较长的年长员工往往具有更高水平的工作经验，以及更好的人际关系，更高水平的组织归属感和组织承诺[42]。结合面子理论的分析，随着服务时间的增加，组织内员工的人际关系得到加强，工作的熟练程度和经验得到提高，收到的负面反馈减少。这也无意中减慢了员工对能力面压力的感知，自然而然地削弱了人脸能力压力的调节作用。此外，这项研究认为，随着员工工作的时间越来越长，具有超额资格感的员工不会消极地对待他们的工作，并减少他们的工作承诺和创新。相比之下，由于服务时间较长，他们对自己的工作越来越熟悉，他们获得了更多的资源和支持，他们可以完成工作，仍然有空闲时间进行探索和发现，他们对创新的承诺会更高，这反过来又会刺激创新行为[43]。

对于工作时间较短的员工来说，人际关系较弱，因为他们对工作环境和工作不够熟悉，周围的同事也更不熟悉。在这种不确定的环境中，员工的工作完成程度可能较低，并特别注意周围人的评价和反馈。根据人脸理论，员工会非常重视自己在人际网络中的社会地位，对他人的认可和评价很敏感，尤其是在不确定的环境中，这无疑会影响面对压力的能力，从而最终减少创新行为的发生。