Unraveling the Paradox of Abusive Supervision: How It Ignites Knowledge Hiding and Knowledge Sharing

This study aims to present a unified picture of the relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge management behaviors to answer a fundamental question: How and when does abusive supervision evoke knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing among employees? Drawing from a face-based perspective, we propose a dual-path effect on knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing, mediated by two forms of face threat: capability-based and relationship-based. Additionally, we investigate the moderating role of individual perceptions of the motivational climate. We use a two-wave survey from 517 employees and a 216 employees’ experiment. Results found that employees who perceive a performance climate as dominant are more likely to engage in knowledge hiding as a result of capability-based face threats triggered by abusive supervision. On the other hand, employees with a mastery climate perception are more inclined to respond to abusive supervision by increasing knowledge sharing through relationship-based face threats. These findings have important implications for research and practice.