Evolutionary motives in employees’ knowledge behavior when being envied at work

Purpose Knowledge transfer is a crucial ingredient of employee innovation, yet affective work events may disrupt knowledge flow among employees. This study aims to investigate a previously overlooked, yet frequently occurring affective work experience, namely, that of being envied, and examine how perceptions of being envied may drive contrastive knowledge behaviors of sharing and hiding, which subsequently impact employee innovation. The study further examines how the zero-sum game beliefs of the envied individual may moderate these mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach This study builds on territorial and belongingness theories to delineate the contrastive motivations for knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing. This study tests a moderated mediation model through a multisource survey design involving 225 employees. Findings The results support the notion that perceptions of being envied are linked to both knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing; however, the indirect effect of being envied on innovation is observed only through knowledge sharing. The indirect positive link between perceptions of being envied and innovation via knowledge sharing is weakened when the envied employee holds high zero-sum game beliefs. Originality/value This study advances knowledge scholarship by identifying and testing the organizationally relevant but largely overlooked antecedent of being envied at work. The results provide useful insights to practitioners on how sharing or hiding knowledge serves as a strategic asset in response to being envied at work and how this may in turn impact employee innovation.