Abusive supervision and knowledge hiding: the mediating role of psychological contract violation and supervisor directed aggression

Purpose The purpose of this study is to test the relationship between abusive supervision and employee’s knowledge hiding behaviour among Indian information technology (IT) employees. The paper also strives to theoretically discuss and then seek empirical evidence to the two mediational paths (namely, psychological contract violation and supervisor directed aggression) that explain the focal relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding. Design/methodology/approach To test the proposed hypotheses, the study draws cross-sectional data from Indian IT employees working in various IT firms in India. Data were collected at two time points (T1 and T2) separated by one month to counter the priming effect and neutralize any threat of common method bias. The final sample of 270 valid and complete responses was analysed using SmartPLS 3 to test the hypotheses. Findings Results showed that abusive supervision is positively related to employee’s knowledge hiding behaviours. Also, both psychological contract violation and supervisor directed aggression partially mediates the abusive supervision-knowledge hiding behaviour linkage. Originality/value First, the current study has tested the positive relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding behaviours unlike most of the previous investigations that have focussed on knowledge sharing behaviour (the two are different constructs having different antecedents). Second, the study also empirically investigated the two parallel mediational routes, namely, psychological contract violation and supervisor directed aggression that explains the blame attributed by the beleaguered employee that led to covert retaliatory behaviour, such as knowledge hiding.