Abstract: The present research shifts the eyesight to need of relatedness, proposing that organizational belongingness can effectively buffer the impact of perceived overqualification on turnover intention. The job embeddedness model provides a theoretical basis for developing this hypothesis. Furthermore, drawing upon a “needs-supplies fit” perspective, the research identifies the boundary condition of the moderating effect - specifically, the level of an employee’s need of belonging. This leads to the development of a three-order interaction model. The expected significant three-order interaction is found in Study 1. In contrast to Study 1, Study 2’s sample consists of 261 factory workers with different education levels. Moreover, Study 2 supports the notion that turnover intention can predict objective voluntary quitting one year later. This study contributes new theoretical and practical implications for reducing the turnover tendency among employees with high perceived overqualification.

Key words: perceived overqualification, turnover intention, organizational belongingness, need of belonging, job embeddedness theory