Workplace Ostracism and Knowledge Hiding: The Mediating Role of Job Tension

Abstract

This study examined the impact of workplace ostracism on employees’ knowledge hiding behavior. Based on the conservation of resource theory, this study seeks to identify the effects of job tension as a mediator and the moderating effect of employee loyalty. Using a time-lagged research design, we collected the data from 392 employees of the textile industry. Results indicate that workplace ostracism positively influences the knowledge hiding behavior such as evasive hiding and playing dumb, whereas it is not significantly related with rationalized hiding. More specifically, workplace ostracism increases the feeling of job tension, while job tension mediates the relationship between workplace ostracism and knowledge hiding. In addition, we found that workplace ostracism demolished the benefits of employee loyalty, as high workplace ostracism more strongly influences the feeling of job tension. We also discussed the theoretical and practical implications.

The mediating effect of interpersonal distrust on the relationship between perceived organizational politics and workplace ostracism in higher education institutions

“…The scale's first six items depicted ‘general political behavior’; the next four items represented the political behavior of ‘go along to go ahead’; and the last two items indicated perceived politics in relation to ‘pay and promotion policies’. It should be emphasized that the study used the scale as a unidimensional measure which was validated in many studies (e.g., De Clercq et al., 2018 ; Husain, 2017 ; Malik et al., 2019 ; Mathotaarachchi, 2017 ; Riaz et al., 2019a , Riaz et al., 2019b ; Valle and Witt, 2001 ). Sample items were ‘Favoritism not merit gets people ahead’ and ‘Policy changes help only a few’.…”

“…In certain instances, it may happen unintentionally when the source is too busy or not aware that his or her behavior socially ignores someone else ( Al-Atwi, 2017 ; Chung and Kim, 2017 ). Whether it is intentional or unintentional, ostracized employees tend to feel humiliated, powerless, angry, stressed, dissatisfied, and revengeful, resulting in negative behavior ( Fiset et al., 2017 ; Gkorezis et al., 2016 ; Liu and Xia, 2016 ; Riaz et al., 2019a , Riaz et al., 2019b ). According to Gkorezis et al.…”

Tit for Tat: Abusive Supervision and Knowledge Hiding-The Role of Psychological Contract Breach and Psychological Ownership

“…Abusive behaviors of supervisors include mocking, rudeness, public ridicule, belittlement, and other hostile behaviors [15], such as employing the silent treatment, breaking promises [30], and aggressive eye contact [31]. Past studies have shown that abusive behaviors of supervisors are associated with employees' undesirable attitudinal and behavioral outcomes, such as low job performance [30], a decrease in organizational citizenship behavior [32], an increase in deviant workplace behavior, job burnout, and emotional exhaustion [33][34][35][36][37].…”

“…Past studies have shown that abusive behaviors of supervisors are associated with employees' undesirable attitudinal and behavioral outcomes, such as low job performance [30], a decrease in organizational citizenship behavior [32], an increase in deviant workplace behavior, job burnout, and emotional exhaustion [33][34][35][36][37]. Moreover, prior studies tested several individual (i.e., professional commitment and psychological entitlement) and organizational factors (i.e., organizational culture, policies, leadership styles) as antecedents with KH [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]20]. However, one such undesirable behavioral outcome is KH, which is largely ignored in the abusive supervision literature.…”

“…Prior studies have identified three major factors influencing KH including individual factors, knowledge content, and organizational factors. For example, research has established the relationship between personal level factors and KH, such as the perceived value of knowledge, psychological entitlement, professional commitment, and psychological ownership of knowledge [12][13][14][15]. Similarly, knowledge-related factors that contribute to KH include task relatedness and complexity of knowledge [6].…”