Antecedents of knowledge hiding: the indirect roles of positive affect and perceived organizational support

The literature on knowledge hiding encourages researchers to further explore organizational-level antecedents. Drawing on affective events theory, this study addresses a notable gap by examining the impact of HRM practices and knowledge sharing culture on knowledge hiding behaviour, specifically through the lenses of positive affect and perceivedorganizational support. Utilizing a two-wave survey of 312 faculty members at a university in Myanmar, the study reveals that positive affect and perceived organizational support mediate the relationship between HRM practices and (a) evasive hiding and (b) playing dumb in a competitive and fully mediating manner. Additionally, perceived organizational support fully mediates the relationship between HRM practices and (c) rationalized hiding. Interestingly, the findings indicate that HRM practices have a direct positive impact on (a) evasive hiding, while the indirect effects through positive affect and perceived organizational support are negative. Moreover, the influence of knowledge sharing culture on (a) evasive hiding and (b) playing dumb is partially and fully mediated by positive affect, respectively. Lastly, perceived organizational support fully mediates the relationship between knowledge sharing culture and (b) playing dumb and (c) rationalized hiding.