The influence of employees’ regulatory focus on knowledge hiding behavior

BACKGROUND Knowledge sharing is a prerequisite for organizational success, while knowledge hiding is often detrimental to organizational development. OBJECTIVE Drawing upon regulatory focus theory and interactionism, this research aims to investigate how regulatory focus influences employees’ knowledge hiding and the moderating role of cooperative climate. METHODS Data were collected through a time-lagged survey of 320 full-time employees enrolled in a professional training program at a Chinese university. Confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive analysis, hierarchical regression analyses, and bootstrap analysis were some of the analytical techniques used. RESULTS The results indicate that promotion focus has a positive impact on knowledge hiding, whereas prevention focus is negative to knowledge hiding. Furthermore, cooperative climate moderates the influence of regulatory focus on knowledge hiding. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to our understanding of the important role of employees’ regulatory focus on knowledge hiding behavior in the workplace.