Abusive supervision and knowledge hiding: The moderated mediation role of overall justice and gender

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of abusive supervision on knowledge hiding via overall justice based on social exchange theory. In addition, using a moderated mediation framework, gender is proposed and tested as a moderator of the relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding through overall justice, grounded in social role theory. Two hundred and forty-three participants are recruited from public listed companies in Malaysia. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used as the main analytic tool. The results reveal that abusive supervision has a significant negative influence on overall justice. In addition, both the influence of overall justice on knowledge hiding and the mediating effect of overall justice between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding is not significant. However, the influence of abusive supervision on knowledge hiding through overall justice is significant for males but not for females. The study contributes to the knowledge-hiding literature by providing new insights into how males and females cope with abusive supervision to restore equity.