Citizenship pressure and knowledge hiding: The mediating role of citizenship fatigue and the moderating role of supervisor–subordinate guanxi

Abstract

Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine the relationship between citizenship pressure and knowledge hiding, exploring the underlying mechanism between the two through citizenship fatigue and supervisor–subordinate guanxi. Two three‐wave sets of data were collected and analyzed with PROCESS. Study 1 revealed that employees' perceived pressure to engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) can lead them to experience citizenship fatigue and to seek to conserve resources through deceptively hiding knowledge (i.e., evasive hiding and playing dumb). However, rationalized hiding will not be adopted by employees as a strategy to reserve resources under citizenship pressure. Supervisor–subordinate guanxi also serves as a reverse moderator, in that high guanxi mitigates the direct impact of citizenship pressure on citizenship fatigue and the indirect impact of citizenship pressure on evasive hiding and playing dumb through citizenship fatigue. Study 2 replicated and extended the findings of Study 1 by considering the negative affect as a potential mediator and the leader–member exchange (LMX) as a potential moderator. The findings show that citizenship pressure has a positive effect on evasive hiding and playing dumb through the mediating role of citizenship fatigue; and supervisor–subordinate guanxi negatively moderates the positive effect of citizenship pressure on citizenship fatigue and the mediating effect of citizenship fatigue, whereas LMX has no significant moderating effect on these linkages. This research advances our understanding of the “dark side” of OCB and enriches knowledge hiding studies by introducing a new predictor about extra‐role work stressors.

Portuguese version of the Citizenship Fatigue Scale: adaptation and evidence of validity

“…However, although research is still uncovering the conditions under which employees experience CF, some studies have highlighted the negative implications of CF for organizations. In addition to the decrease in OCB, Bolino et al (2015) and He et al (2023) found an inverse relationship between CF and voluntary knowledge sharing and thriving at work, demonstrating that CF is an important factor in organizational and employee performance, and needs to be examined in more detail.…”

Editorial: Moral emotion, moral cognition, and (im)moral behavior in the workplace

“…Workplace moral behavior (e.g., pro-social behavior and organizational citizenship behavior) and immoral behavior (e.g., interpersonal abusive behavior, deviant/counterproductive behavior, and unethical pro-organizational behavior) have received substantial attention over the past decades (see for example Podsakoff et al, 2009;Dufy et al, 2012;Moore et al, 2012Moore et al, , 2018Bolino and Grant, 2016;Chen et al, 2016;He et al, 2017He et al, , 2020He et al, , 2023aOrgan, 2018;Mishra et al, 2021). The existing research has provided us with knowledge on the antecedents and consequences of workplace moral and immoral behaviors (He et al, 2021).…”