Working remotely and feeling lonely? – Knowledge hiding and the role of work characteristics

Abstract

As remote work has become prevalent in recent years, it has brought to light several concern-ing challenges, such as the issue of knowledge hiding. This study uses social informationprocessing theory to investigate knowledge hiding in remote work. It investigates the ante-cedents, i.e., job characteristics and consequence, i.e., workplace loneliness of perceived knowl-edge hiding among knowledge workers. The study investigates the phenomenon from the lensof knowledge seekers. Using PROCESS MACRO, a survey-based field study of 500 mid-levelexecutives was conducted in two phases to test the hypothesised model. The results supportthe hypothesised framework and reveal a positive relationship between work characteristics,i.e., role and task conflict with knowledge hiding. It further confirms the mediating effect ofknowledge hiding between work characteristics and workplace loneliness. This study high-lights the challenges knowledge workers face in remote setups and offers implications forfuture research and practice.