Does positive supervisory support impede knowledge hiding via psychological ownership and workplace thriving?

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to examine how positive supervisory support plays a role in attenuating employees’ knowledge-hiding behavior via the underlying mechanism of psychological ownership and workplace thriving. Integrating the social information processing perspective and conservation of resource theory, this study suggests that due to the mediating role of employee psychological ownership and workplace thriving, positive supervisor support may negatively affect knowledge-hiding behavior. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses were tested with multiwave three-round survey data collected among 432 individuals in various Pakistani hotels. Findings This study found that supervisory support attenuated knowledge-hiding behavior by enhancing psychological ownership and workplace thriving serially. As expected, the supportive conduct of the supervisor positively influenced psychological ownership which, in turn, helped workplace thriving and eventually influenced employees’ knowledge hiding. Originality/value This study contributes to the extant body of knowledge on knowledge hiding by highlighting a significant antecedent that supervisory support may be instrumental in discouraging knowledge hiding. Furthermore, this study detailed an underlying serial mediating mechanism in the shape of psychological ownership and workplace thriving that connects supervisory support with reduced knowledge hiding.