Why and how does the Dark Triad personality influence knowledge hiding? A generativity perspective
Journal of Knowledge Management
ISSN: 1367-3270
Article publication date: 2 July 2024
Issue publication date: 10 October 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the generativity framework, this study aims to investigate the relationship between the Dark Triad personalities (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and knowledge hiding. This study also identifies the mediating role of generativity motivation and the moderating role of focus on opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a convenience sample, a two-wave time-lagged study collected survey responses from 498 employees from manufacturing industries in China, and the data was analyzed using hierarchal regression and bootstrapping methods.
Findings
This study found that Machiavellianism and psychopathy are both positively related to generativity motivation. The generativity motivation plays a mediating role in the paths of Machiavellianism and psychopathy on knowledge hiding, and a focus on opportunities positively moderates the direct and indirect effect of Machiavellianism and psychopathy on knowledge hiding.
Originality/value
Based on the generativity framework, we find a new underlying mechanism between the Dark Triad personalities and knowledge hiding, thereby further enriching the literature in relation to their influence over knowledge management. Moreover, it also finds that a focus on opportunities can weaken the negative relationships between the Dark Triad personalities and knowledge hiding.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This work is supported by the Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71972185), the Project of the Social Science Foundation of Hunan Province (20YBA255), “High-End Think Tank” Project of Central South University (2020znzk04).
Disclosure statement: The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.
Data availability statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.
Citation
Yan, A., Sun, Y., Brooks, S., Zhang, Y. and Duan, J. (2024), "Why and how does the Dark Triad personality influence knowledge hiding? A generativity perspective", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 28 No. 8, pp. 2220-2237. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-06-2023-0489
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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