The knowledge hiding link: a moderated mediation model of how abusive supervision affects employee creativity

Abstract

Drawing on social exchange and displaced aggression theories, this study investigates the mediating role of knowledge hiding in the relationship between employees’ exposure to abusive supervision and their creative performance, as well as the invigorating role of their negative reciprocity beliefs in this process. We collected time-lagged data from employees in a sample of Pakistani organizations and found that an important reason abusive supervision decreases employees’ creativity is that employees reciprocate through self-serving knowledge-hiding behaviour. This mechanism, in turn, is more prominent among employees who score high on negative reciprocity beliefs. This study reveals a key factor, i.e., knowledge hiding, by which abusive supervision hinders employees’ creativity, but our findings indicate that this process is more likely to escalate when employees have negative reciprocity beliefs, which cause them to be more vulnerable to experiencing negative social exchanges.