Abstract
This study delved into the relationship between workplace ostracism and knowledge hoarding among employees, a critical concern for corporations striving for innovation. Leveraging Affective Events Theory (AET), we hypothesized that workplace ostracism fosters knowledge hoarding, potentially mediated by negative emotions. In addition, we proposed that proactive personality and core self-evaluations could moderate this connection. Utilizing a time-lagged research design, survey data were gathered from 332 employees in Pakistan's hospitality service sector. Our findings revealed that workplace ostracism indeed spurred knowledge hoarding, with negative emotions acting as a mediator. Moreover, we observed that this link was stronger among individuals with lower levels of proactive personality and core self-evaluation, in line with our hypotheses. From a practical standpoint, our study provides management with valuable insights for mitigating knowledge hoarding and workplace ostracism. Overall, our contribution lies in the development and validation of a moderated mediation model that sheds light on the overlooked dynamics between workplace ostracism and knowledge hoarding among hotel employees in the Asian context of Pakistan.