Knowledge hiding in the workplace

: an empirical examination of antecedents, mechanisms, and boundary conditions

Abstract

Knowledge hiding has emerged as a significant barrier to effective knowledge management in
organizations, undermining collaboration, innovation, and employee well-being. While prior
research has identified a variety of antecedents and outcomes, existing findings remain
fragmented and theoretically underdeveloped. This dissertation addresses these limitations
through a multi-method research design consisting of four interconnected studies.
Study 1 presents a meta-analysis that synthesizes existing evidence on the antecedents and
consequences of knowledge hiding. The results highlight their extensive negative outcomes,
such as psychological distress and performance decline, while revealing a lack of coherence in
understanding the diverse antecedents. This thesis also identifies the need to clarify boundary
conditions and underlying mechanisms.
Building upon these insights, Study 2 adopts a systematic literature review approach to develop
a conceptual framework that categorizes antecedents into five dimensions: work stress and
resource appraisal, motivational orientation and cognitive framing, social interaction and
exchange structures, organizational climate and structural cognition, and job characteristics and
task demands. This framework further identifies two primary psychological mechanisms that
link antecedents to hiding knowledge, namely, a defensive pathway and a deviation pathway.
Studies 3 and 4 provide empirical tests of these two pathways. Study 3, drawing on
conservation of resources theory, examines how self-serving leadership leads to knowledge
hiding through emotional exhaustion, and investigates the moderating role of thriving at work.
Study 4, grounded in integrated ethical decision-making theory, explores how illegitimate tasks
trigger knowledge hiding through emotional dissonance and perceived obstruction of work
goal progress, with ethical leadership serving as a cross-level moderator. The empirical studies
employ multi-wave survey designs based on employee samples from multinational
corporations in China and Germany.
Together, the four studies advance knowledge hiding research by constructing a structured
nomological framework, clarifying dual-pathway psychological mechanisms, and identifying
key contextual moderators. The findings offer actionable implications for mitigating
knowledge hiding, which is detrimental to organizations, and promoting a more ethical and
transparent knowledge-sharing environment in organizations.

Date of Award	9 Dec 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Sophie Lythreatis (Supervisor) & Palie K Smart (Supervisor)