Abusive Supervision and Employee Knowledge Sharing: The Roles of Psychological Safety and Perceived Motivational Climate

Abstract

Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study examines the relationship between abusive supervision and employee knowledge sharing and investigates the mechanism underlying their relationship through perceived motivational climate and psychological safety. The data were collected from 337 supervisor-employee dyads from knowledge-based companies in China. Hierarchical regression and path analysis were used for data analysis. The results showed that abusive supervision played a detrimental role in affecting employees’ willingness to share knowledge and that a perceived motivational climate moderated the effect of abusive supervision on employee knowledge sharing through psychological safety. Based on the findings, we provide the theoretical and practical implications.