ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Knowledge hiding, as an intentional and interactive behavior, has received widespread attention in organizational behavior and knowledge management in recent decades. Despite the rapid growth of related research, existing findings remain fragmented in terms of theoretical perspectives and research conclusions, and insufficient attention is paid to new forms of knowledge hiding in the context of artificial intelligence. Therefore, this paper reviews and integrates representative research in the field of knowledge hiding, providing a comprehensive assessment of existing literature from the perspectives of conceptual definition, theoretical foundation, antecedent mechanisms, and outcome effects. Research shows that knowledge hiding differs from knowledge withholding, knowledge non-sharing, or knowledge hoarding; its occurrence is mainly influenced by social exchange relationships, resource threat perception, motivational structures, and social learning processes, producing a series of negative consequences at the individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels. Based on this, the paper constructs a comprehensive and integrated theoretical framework that reveals the behavioral mechanisms of knowledge hiding. Finally, this paper proposes a future research agenda in the context of artificial intelligence, providing a reference for deepening theory on knowledge hiding and optimizing organizational knowledge management practices.
Akhtar, M. W., Karatepe, O. M., Syed, F., & Husnain, M. (2022). Leader knowledge hiding, feedback avoidance and hotel employee outcomes: A moderated mediation model. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34(2), 578–600. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2021-0545
Alisic, A., Noppeney, R., & Wiese, B. S. (2024). When doubts take over: A longitudinal study on emerging disengagement in the PhD process. Higher Education, 88(3), 1165–1182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01164-z
Anand, A., Centobelli, P., & Cerchione, R. (2020). Why should I share knowledge with others? A review-based framework on events leading to knowledge hiding. Journal of Organizational Change Management, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print). https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-06-2019-0174
Anand, A., Offergelt, F., & Anand, P. (2022). Knowledge hiding – a systematic review and research agenda. Journal of Knowledge Management, 26(6), 1438–1457. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-04-2021-0336
Arain, G. A., Bhatti, Z. A., Hameed, I., & Fang, Y.-H. (2020). Top-down knowledge hiding and innovative work behavior (IWB): A three-way moderated-mediation analysis of self-efficacy and local/foreign status. Journal of Knowledge Management, 24(2), 127–149. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-11-2018-0687
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Bari, M. W., Abrar, M., Shaheen, S., Bashir, M., & Fanchen, M. (2019). Knowledge Hiding Behaviors and Team Creativity: The Contingent Role of Perceived Mastery Motivational Climate. SAGE Open, 9(3), 215824401987629. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019876297
Bashir, H., & Saleem, S. (2024). The Masked Mentor: Unveiling the Impact of Perceived Leader Knowledge Hiding on Employee Behavior. Journal of the Knowledge Economy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02258-4
Bashir, M., Naqshbandi, M. M., & Pradhan, S. (2023). The role of institutional and individual factors in knowledge hiding and team creativity. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 21(6), 1095–1108. https://doi.org/10.1080/14778238.2022.2155593
Bashir, M., Naqshbandi, M. M., & Pradhan, S. (2025). How ‘work from anywhere’ impacts knowledge hiding, distrust, and socialization: The role of knowledge infrastructure. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 212, 123977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2025.123977
Bilgino?lu, E. (2019). Knowledge hoarding: A literature review. Management Science Letters, 61–72. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2018.10.015
Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange & Power in Social Life. Routledge.
Blau, P. M. (1967). Exchange And Power In Social Life (2nd Edition). Routledge.
Bogilovi?, S., ?erne, M., & Škerlavaj, M. (2017). Hiding behind a mask? Cultural intelligence, knowledge hiding, and individual and team creativity. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 26(5), 710–723. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2017.1337747
Boz Semerci, A. (2019). Examination of knowledge hiding with conflict, competition and personal values. International Journal of Conflict Management, 30(1), 111–131.
Cegarra-Navarro, J.-G., Bolisani, E., & Cepeda-Carrión, G. (2022). Linking good counter-knowledge with bad counter knowledge: The impact of evasive knowledge hiding and defensive reasoning. Journal of Knowledge Management, 26(8), 2038–2060. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-05-2021-0395
?erne, M., Hernaus, T., Dysvik, A., & Škerlavaj, M. (2017). The role of multilevel synergistic interplay among team mastery climate, knowledge hiding, and job characteristics in stimulating innovative work behavior. Human Resource Management Journal, 27(2), 281–299. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12132
?erne, M., Nerstad, C. G. L., Dysvik, A., & Škerlavaj, M. (2014). What Goes Around Comes Around: Knowledge Hiding, Perceived Motivational Climate, and Creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 57(1), 172–192. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.0122
Chatterjee, S., Chaudhuri, R., Thrassou, A., & Vrontis, D. (2021). Antecedents and consequences of knowledge hiding: The moderating role of knowledge hiders and knowledge seekers in organizations. Journal of Business Research, 128, 303–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.02.033
Chatterjee, S., Chaudhuri, R., & Vrontis, D. (2023). Bright and dark side of knowledge management practices in firms using information systems: Examining different moderating impacts. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 53(5), 880–900. https://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-07-2022-0222
Chavali, K., Mavuri, S., Jayawardena, N., & Gupta, M. (2024). What is the impact of knowledge hiding behavior on subjective career success? The role of career barriers for finance professionals in modifying their career prospects. International Studies of Management & Organization, 54(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00208825.2023.2268482
Chen, L., Luo, X., Zhou, F., & Zhang, T. (2022). Knowledge Hiding and Hider’s Innovative Behavior in Chinese Organizations: The Mediating Role of Silence Behavior and the Moderating Role of Zhongyong Thinking. Management and Organization Review, 18(3), 491–518. https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2021.76
Chow, J. T., Hui, C. M., & Lau, S. (2015). A depleted mind feels inefficacious: Ego?depletion reduces self?efficacy to exert further self?control. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(6), 754–768.
Connelly, C. E., ?erne, M., Dysvik, A., & Škerlavaj, M. (2019). Understanding knowledge hiding in organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(7), 779–782. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2407
Connelly, C. E., Zweig, D., Webster, J., & Trougakos, J. P. (2012). Knowledge hiding in organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(1), 64–88. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.737
De Clercq, D., Sofyan, Y., Shang, Y., & Espinal Romani, L. (2022). Perceived organizational politics, knowledge hiding and diminished promotability: How do harmony motives matter? Journal of Knowledge Management, 26(7), 1826–1848. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-03-2021-0231
Di Vaio, A., Hasan, S., Palladino, R., Profita, F., & Mejri, I. (2021). Understanding knowledge hiding in business organizations: A bibliometric analysis of research trends, 1988–2020. Journal of Business Research, 134, 560–573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.040
El-Kassar, A.-N., Dagher, G. K., Lythreatis, S., & Azakir, M. (2022). Antecedents and consequences of knowledge hiding: The roles of HR practices, organizational support for creativity, creativity, innovative work behavior, and task performance. Journal of Business Research, 140, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.079
Emerson, R. M. (1976). Social Exchange Theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 2(1), 335–362. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.02.080176.002003
Evans, J. M., Hendron, M. G., & Oldroyd, J. B. (2015). Withholding the Ace: The Individual- and Unit-Level Performance Effects of Self-Reported and Perceived Knowledge Hoarding. Organization Science, 26(2), 494–510. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2014.0945
Fatima, T., Bilal, A. R., Imran, M. K., Ayub, A., & Arshad, H. (2024). Who is likely to hide knowledge after peer ostracism? An exchange-based perspective of contact quality and need to belong. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 54(1), 108–128.
Ferris, G. R., Harrell-Cook, G., & Dulebohn, J. H. (2000). Organizational politics: The nature of the relationship between politics perceptions and political behavior. In Research in the Sociology of Organizations (pp. 89–130). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Fong, P. S. W., Men, C., Luo, J., & Jia, R. (2018). Knowledge hiding and team creativity: The contingent role of task interdependence. Management Decision, 56(2), 329–343. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2016-0778
Ghani, U., Zhai, X., Spector, J. M., Chen, N.-S., Lin, L., Ding, D., & Usman, M. (2020). Knowledge hiding in higher education: Role of interactional justice and professional commitment. Higher Education, 79(2), 325–344. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00412-5
Guo, M., Brown, G., & Zhang, L. (2022). My knowledge: The negative impact of territorial feelings on employee’s own innovation through knowledge hiding. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(5), 801–817. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2599
He, P., Jiang, C., Xu, Z., & Shen, C. (2021). Knowledge Hiding: Current Research Status and Future Research Directions. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 748237. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748237
He, P., Zhou, H., Zhou, Q., Liu, X., & Xu, Z. (2025). From Harmful Acts to Helping Hands: When and How Employee Deceptive Knowledge Hiding Promotes Workplace Helping Behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 46(9), 1247–1264. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.70012
Hernaus, T., Cerne, M., Connelly, C., Poloski Vokic, N., & Škerlavaj, M. (2019). Evasive knowledge hiding in academia: When competitive individuals are asked to collaborate. Journal of Knowledge Management, 23(4), 597–618. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-11-2017-0531
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of Resources. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.3.513
Hobfoll, S. E. (2001). The Influence of Culture, Community, and the Nested?Self in the Stress Process: Advancing Conservation of Resources Theory. Applied Psychology, 50(3), 337–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/1464-0597.00062
Hobfoll, S. E., Halbesleben, J., Neveu, J.-P., & Westman, M. (2018). Conservation of Resources in the Organizational Context: The Reality of Resources and Their Consequences. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5(1), 103–128. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104640
Homans, G. C. (1958). Social Behavior as Exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63(6,), 597–606.
Jahanzeb, S., Fatima, T., Bouckenooghe, D., & Bashir, F. (2019). The knowledge hiding link: A moderated mediation model of how abusive supervision affects employee creativity. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 28(6), 810–819. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2019.1659245
Jiang, X., Gao, J., & Chen, L. (2025). When leaders conceal: The influence of supervisor knowledge hiding on subordinates’ perceived employability in hospitality. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 131, 104311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2025.104311
Joo, J., Lee, Y., & Song, J. H. (2025). Validation of knowledge hiding measurement in South Korea. In EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT (Vol. 49, Issue 5/6, pp. 533–551). EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-01-2024-0004
Khan, M. A., Malik, O. F., & Shahzad, A. (2022). Social Undermining and Employee Creativity: The Mediating Role of Interpersonal Distrust and Knowledge Hiding. Behavioral Sciences, 12(2), 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12020025
Khizar, H. M. U., Khurshid, R., & Al-Waqfi, M. (2024). Unraveling the two decades of Knowledge Hiding scholarship: A systematic review, bibliometric analysis, and literature synthesis. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 9(4), 100624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2024.100624
Khoreva, V., & Wechtler, H. (2020). Exploring the consequences of knowledge hiding: An agency theory perspective. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 35(2), 71–84.
Kim, B.-J., & Lee, J. (2025). “Demanding perfection, losing innovation”: The sequential mediating roles of psychological contract breach and knowledge-hiding behavior and the buffering effect of artificial intelligence technology acceptance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 10(5), 100803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2025.100803
Koay, K. Y., Sandhu, M. S., Tjiptono, F., & Watabe, M. (2022). Understanding employees’ knowledge hiding behaviour: The moderating role of market culture. Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(4), 694–711. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2020.1831073
Kumar Jha, J., & Varkkey, B. (2018). Are you a cistern or a channel? Exploring factors triggering knowledge-hiding behavior at the workplace: evidence from the Indian R&D professionals. Journal of Knowledge Management, 22(4), 824–849. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-02-2017-0048
Lanke, P. (2018). Knowledge hiding: Impact of interpersonal behavior and expertise. Human Resource Management International Digest, 26(2), 30–32.
Li, J., Yuan, L., Ning, L., & Li-Ying, J. (2015). Knowledge sharing and affective commitment: The mediating role of psychological ownership. Journal of Knowledge Management, 19(6), 1146–1166.
Liu, R., Long, J., & Liu, L. (2025). Why do low power-high status employees in digital teams hide (or not) knowledge? A perspective of resource gain–loss. Personnel Review, 54(4), 1029–1047. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2023-0955
Malik, O. F., Shahzad, A., Raziq, M. M., Khan, M. M., Yusaf, S., & Khan, A. (2019). Perceptions of organizational politics, knowledge hiding, and employee creativity: The moderating role of professional commitment. Personality and Individual Differences, 142, 232–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.05.005
Men, C., Fong, P. S. W., Huo, W., Zhong, J., Jia, R., & Luo, J. (2020). Ethical Leadership and Knowledge Hiding: A Moderated Mediation Model of Psychological Safety and Mastery Climate. Journal of Business Ethics, 166(3), 461–472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4027-7
Michalová, T., Maršíková, K., Falát, L., & Madzík, P. (2024). Altruistic leadership and its role in reducing knowledge hiding: The mediating effects of team learning and knowledge culture. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 9(4), 100592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2024.100592
Mittal, S., & Dhar, R. L. (2015). Transformational leadership and employee creativity: Mediating role of creative self-efficacy and moderating role of knowledge sharing. Management Decision, 53(5), 894–910. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-07-2014-0464
Nauman, S., Tahir, M. Z., Ali, F. H., & Sumbal, M. S. U. K. (2024). The missing link: Knowledge hiding behavior and project performance. In MANAGEMENT DECISION. EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-12-2023-2381
Nonaka, I. (1994). A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. ORGANIZATION SCIENCE, 5(1).
Oliveira, M., Curado, C., & De Garcia, P. S. (2021). Knowledge hiding and knowledge hoarding: A systematic literature review. Knowledge and Process Management, 28(3), 277–294. https://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1671
Peng, H. (2013). Why and when do people hide knowledge? Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(3), 398–415. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-12-2012-0380
Qin, Y., Xie, Y., & Cooke, F. L. (2023). Unethical leadership and employee knowledge-hiding behavior in the Chinese context: A moderated dual-pathway model. Asian Business & Management, 22(2), 740–764.
Rong, P., & Liu, S. (2021). Top Management Team Knowledge Hiding and Enterprise Innovation Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 783147. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.783147
Serenko, A., & Bontis, N. (2016). Understanding counterproductive knowledge behavior: Antecedents and consequences of intra-organizational knowledge hiding. Journal of Knowledge Management, 20(6), 1199–1224. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-05-2016-0203
Shen, Y., Lythreatis, S., Singh, S. K., & Cooke, F. L. (2025). A meta-analysis of knowledge hiding behavior in organizations: Antecedents, consequences, and boundary conditions. Journal of Business Research, 186, 114963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114963
Shukla, M., Tyagi, D., & Mishra, S. K. (2024). “You reap what you sow”: Unraveling the determinants of knowledge hoarding behavior using a three-wave study. Journal of Knowledge Management, 28(4), 1074–1095. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-10-2022-0856
Silva De Garcia, P., Oliveira, M., & Brohman, K. (2022). Knowledge sharing, hiding and hoarding: How are they related? Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 20(3), 339–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/14778238.2020.1774434
Sitkin, S. B., & Roth, N. L. (1993). Explaining the limited effectiveness of legalistic “remedies” for trust/distrust. Organization Science, 4(3), 367–392.
Škerlavaj, M., Connelly, C. E., Cerne, M., & Dysvik, A. (2018). Tell me if you can: Time pressure, prosocial motivation, perspective taking, and knowledge hiding. Journal of Knowledge Management, 22(7), 1489–1509. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-05-2017-0179
Syed, F., Naseer, S., Akhtar, M. W., Husnain, M., & Kashif, M. (2021). Frogs in boiling water: A moderated-mediation model of exploitative leadership, fear of negative evaluation and knowledge hiding behaviors. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(8), 2067–2087. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-11-2019-0611
Thibaut, J. W., & Kelley, H. H. (1959). The social psychology of groups (1st ed.). Routledge.
Wu, Q., Muktar, S. N., Zin, H. M., & Tian, F. (2026). Factors Influencing Employee Creativity in Higher Education: A Bibliometric Analysis, Systematic Literature Review, and Future Research Directions. Environment and Social Psychology, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v11i1.3536
Xiao, M., & Cooke, F. L. (2019). Why and when knowledge hiding in the workplace is harmful: A review of the literature and directions for future research in the Chinese context. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 57(4), 470–502. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12198
Xiong, C., Chang, V., Scuotto, V., Shi, Y., & Paoloni, N. (2021). The social-psychological approach in understanding knowledge hiding within international R&D teams: An inductive analysis. Journal of Business Research, 128, 799–811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.04.009
Xu, J., Zhu, D., & Li, Y. (2022). Does small and medium enterprise differential leadership increase subordinate knowledge hiding? Evidences from job insecurity, territorial consciousness and leadership performance expectation. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 983669. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.983669
Yao, G., Zhao, H., Hu, Y., & Zheng, X. (2023). Exploring knowledge sharing and hiding on employees’ creative behaviors: A coopetition perspective. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 8(4), 100447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2023.100447
Zada, S., Khan, J., Saeed, I., Jun, Z. Y., Vega-Muñoz, A., & Contreras-Barraza, N. (2022). Servant Leadership Behavior at Workplace and Knowledge Hoarding: A Moderation Mediation Examination. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 888761. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.888761
Zhang, Z., & Min, M. (2021). Organizational rewards and knowledge hiding: Task attributes as contingencies. Management Decision, 59(10), 2385–2404. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-02-2020-0150
Zhang, Z., Takahashi, Y., & Rezwan, R. B. (2025). Knowledge hiding and social exchange theory: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1516815. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1516815
Zhao, H., Liu, W., Li, J., & Yu, X. (2019). Leader–member exchange, organizational identification, and knowledge hiding: T he moderating role of relative leader–member exchange. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(7), 834–848.
Zhao, H., Xia, Q., He, P., Sheard, G., & Wan, P. (2016). Workplace ostracism and knowledge hiding in service organizations. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 59, 84–94.
Zhou, Y., Li, P., Wang, Y., & Sun, Z. (2025). The double-edged sword effect of fixed creative mindset on creativity: Investigating when and how it facilitates or hinders creativity. Acta Psychologica, 258, 105139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105139
Zutshi, A., Creed, A., Bhattacharya, A., Bavik, A., Sohal, A., & Bavik, Y. L. (2021). Demystifying knowledge hiding in academic roles in higher education. Journal of Business Research, 137, 206–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.030
Wu, Q., Muktar, S. N., & Zin, H. M. (2026). Knowledge Hiding in Organizations: Antecedents, Consequences, and an Integrative Theoretical Framework. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 16(3), 1494–1513.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode