When Broken Promises Breed Silence: How Positivity Stops Knowledge Hiding

What is it about?

This study explores how perceived contract breaches—employees’ beliefs that their organization has failed to honor commitments—can lead to lower job performance. It explains this connection through knowledge hiding, where employees intentionally withhold valuable information that others need to perform effectively. The study also examines how employees’ positive affectivity, or their general tendency to experience optimism and enthusiasm, can weaken this harmful process. Using three-wave, multisource data from employees and peers in Pakistani organizations, the study finds that when employees feel let down by their organization, they often hide knowledge, avoiding collaboration to protect themselves from further disappointment. This withdrawal harms performance, as valuable insights go unused. However, employees with high positive affectivity are less likely to react defensively, remaining cooperative and constructive even when organizational promises are broken. For organizations, these findings highlight that unfulfilled promises can trigger counterproductive cycles of disengagement and secrecy. Managers can prevent this by fostering open communication, managing expectations transparently, and encouraging a workplace culture grounded in trust. At the same time, HR initiatives that promote emotional positivity—through recognition, supportive leadership, and well-being programs—can help employees sustain cooperative behaviors even in times of disappointment.

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Photo by Jud Mackrill on Unsplash

Photo by Jud Mackrill on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is unique in identifying knowledge hiding as a critical behavioral mechanism linking perceived contract breaches to lower job performance, while highlighting positive affectivity as an emotional buffer. It expands conservation of resources theory by showing that withholding knowledge represents a self-protective but ultimately harmful response to resource loss stemming from broken psychological contracts. Its timeliness lies in its focus on Pakistani organizations, where psychological contracts and social expectations are especially salient in maintaining workplace harmony. As employees globally face growing uncertainty and shifting employer promises, these findings underscore the importance of fostering positive emotional climates to prevent defensive knowledge behaviors and preserve performance in the face of organizational change.