Does feeling envied lead to knowledge sharing or hiding? A social functional perspective on authentic and hubristic pride

Abstract Beyond interpersonal concerns and anxieties, employees who are envied may also perceive self‐advantages and self‐affirmation, which profoundly shape how they interact with colleagues. Drawing on the social functional perspective on emotions, we propose that being envied can simultaneously promote knowledge sharing through authentic pride and induce knowledge hiding through hubristic pride. We further argue that a mastery climate that emphasizes learning and knowledge strengthens the former pathway, whereas a performance climate that highlights competition and comparison amplifies the latter. Evidence from a vignette‐based experiment (Study 1) and three multi‐wave, time‐lagged surveys (Studies 2a, 2b, and 3)—involving 1077 full‐time employees—generally supports the proposed dual‐pathway model. These findings deepen our understanding of envied employees' interpersonal behaviors and offer practical insights into leveraging their human capital.