CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 44Knowledge Management and SharingJob Satisfaction and Organizational BehaviorTeam Dynamics and Performance

Leader humility and knowledge sharing intention: a serial mediation model

Open access
Nguyen, Diep T. N., Teo, Stephen T. T., Halvorsen, Beni, Staples, Warren·2020·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560704PMC PMC7794012
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Purpose: This paper examines the influence of leader humility on knowledge sharing intention. Drawing on social exchange theory (SET), we test the direct and indirect mechanisms to explain the influence leader humility has on knowledge sharing intention. Design/Methodology/Approach: A two-wave, time-lagged field study was conducted. We surveyed 252 professional employees from Australia. Findings: Results show a significant direct, positive association between leader humility and knowledge sharing intention. While leader humility had a direct, positive association with affective trust in supervisor and work engagement, it did not directly impact on organizational citizenship behaviors directed toward the individual (OCB-I). There were three SET-related, serial mediators in the relationship between leader humility and knowledge sharing intention. These were affective trust, work engagement, and OCB-I. Research Limitations/Implications: Future studies should collect multi-source data such as peers’ or supervisors’ ratings of the focal respondents’ work engagement, OCB-I, and knowledge sharing behaviors to augment single-source data. Future studies could adopt an affect theory of social exchange to further explore the relationships tested in this study. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the affect SET and knowledge management literature on how leadership behaviors impact the intention to share knowledge. Our study highlights the preference of the willingness to share knowledge with their co-workers is mediated by affective trust in their immediate supervisors, work engagement, and OCB-I that are equally important as treating their subordinates with humility.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560704

Cites

4 of 4 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Many studies did not control any positive leadership when studying the effect of humble leadership.

    “many studies (e.g., Yang et al., 2019; Nguyen et al., 2020) did not control any positive leadership (e.g., transformational leadership).”

    From Humble leadership and its outcomes: A meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as Nguyen et al., 2020

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 66

  1. Anand A. Walsh I. Moffett S. (2019). Does humility facilitate knowledge sharing? Investigating the role of humble knowledge inquiry and response. J. Knowledge Manage. 23 1218– 1244. 10.1108/jkm-06-2018-0353 · DOI
  2. Bakker A. B. (2017). Strategic and proactive approaches to work engagement. Organ. Dyn. 46 67– 75. 10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.04.002 · DOI
  3. Bartol K. M. Liu W. Zeng X. Wu K. (2009). Social exchange and knowledge sharing among knowledge workers: the moderating role of perceived job security. Manage. Organ. Rev. 5 223– 240. 10.1111/j.1740-8784.2009.00146.x · DOI
  4. Bharanitharan K. Chen Z. X. Bahmannia S. Lowe K. B. (2019). Is leader humility a friend or foe, or both? An attachment theory lens on leader humility and its contradictory outcomes. J. Bus. Ethics 60 729– 743. 10.1007/s10551-018-3925-z · DOI
  5. Bock G. W. Zmud R. W. Kim Y. G. Lee J. N. (2005). Behavioral intention formation in knowledge sharing: examining the roles of extrinsic motivators, social-psychological factors, and organizational climate. MIS Quarterly 29 87– 111. 10.2307/25148669 · DOI
  6. Brandon D. M. Long J. H. Loraas T. M. Mueller-Phillips J. Vansant B. (2013). Online instrument delivery and participant recruitment services: emerging opportunities for behavioral accounting research. Behav. Res. Accounting 26 1– 23. 10.2308/bria-50651 · DOI
  7. Burke C. S. Sims D. E. Lazzara E. H. Salas E. (2007). Trust in leadership: a multi-level review and integration. Leadership Quarterly 18 606– 632. 10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.09.006 · DOI
  8. Cabrera E. F. Cabrera A. (2005). Fostering knowledge sharing through people management practices. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manage. 16 720– 735. 10.1080/09585190500083020 · DOI · Paper page
  9. Carnevale J. B. Huang L. Paterson T. (2019). LMX-differentiation strengthens the prosocial consequences of leader humility: an identification and social exchange perspective. J. Bus. Res. 96 287– 296. 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.11.048 · DOI
  10. Casimir G. Lee K. Loon M. (2012). Knowledge sharing: influences of trust, commitment and cost. J. Knowledge Manage. 16 740– 753. 10.1108/13673271211262781 · DOI
  11. Cropanzano R. Anthony E. L. Daniels S. R. Hall A. V. (2017). Social exchange theory: a critical review with theoretical remedies. Acad. Manage. Ann. 11 479– 516. 10.5465/annals.2015.0099 · DOI
  12. Cropanzano R. Mitchell M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: an interdisciplinary review. J. Manage. 31 874– 900. 10.1177/0149206305279602 · DOI · Paper page
  13. Dirks K. T. Ferrin D. L. (2002). Trust in leadership: meta-analytic findings and implications for research and practice. J. Appl. Psychol. 87 611– 628. 10.1037/0021-9010.87.4.611 12184567 · DOI · Paper page
  14. Engelbrecht A. Heine G. Mahembe B. (2017). Integrity, ethical leadership, trust and work engagement. Leadership Organ. Dev. J. 38 368– 379. 10.1108/lodj-11-2015-0237 · DOI · Paper page
  15. Ete Z. Sosik J. J. Cheong M. Chun J. U. Zhu W. Arenas F. J. (2020). Leader honesty/humility and subordinate organizational citizenship behavior: a case of too-much-of-a-good-thing? J. Managerial Psychol. 35 391– 404. 10.1108/jmp-10-2019-0557 · DOI
  16. Feng J. Wang C. (2019). Does abusive supervision always promote employees to hide knowledge? From both reactance and COR perspectives. J. Knowledge Manage. 23 1455– 1474. 10.1108/jkm-12-2018-0737 · DOI
  17. Gagné M. Tian A. W. Soo C. Zhang B. Ho K. S. B. Hosszu K. (2019). Different motivations for knowledge sharing and hiding: the role of motivating work design. J. Organ. Behav. 40 783– 799. 10.1002/job.2364 · DOI
  18. Gerpott F. H. Ulrike F. Burmeister A. (2019). Respectful leadership and followers’ knowledge sharing: a social mindfulness lens. Human Relat. 73 789– 810. 10.1177/0018726719844813 · DOI
  19. Gould-Williams J. (2003). The importance of HR practices and workplace trust in achieving superior performance: a study of public-sector organizations. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manage. 14 28– 54. 10.1080/09585190210158501 · DOI
  20. Hair J. F. Black W. C. Babin B. Y. A. Anderson R. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis, 7th Edn New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
  21. Han S. H. Yoon D. Y. Suh B. Li B. Chae C. (2019). Organizational support on knowledge sharing: a moderated mediation model of job characteristics and organizational citizenship behavior. J. Knowl. Manag. 23 687– 704. 10.1108/JKM-03-2018-0213 · DOI
  22. Henseler J. Ringle C. M. Sarstedt M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. J. Acad. Market. Sci. 43 115– 135. 10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8 · DOI · Paper page
  23. Hu L. T. Bentler P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct. Equ. Model. Multidiscip. J. 6 1– 55. 10.1080/10705519909540118 · DOI · Paper page
  24. Ipe M. (2003). Knowledge sharing in organizations: a conceptual framework. Hum. Resour. Dev. Rev. 2 337– 359. 10.1177/1534484303257985 · DOI · Paper page
  25. Jo S. J. Joo B. K. (2011). Knowledge sharing: the influences of learning organization culture, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors. J. Leadership Organ. Stud. 18 353– 364. 10.1177/1548051811405208 · DOI
  26. Kankanhalli A. Tan B. C. Wei K. K. (2005). Contributing knowledge to electronic knowledge repositories: an empirical investigation. MIS Quarterly 29 113– 143. 10.2307/25148670 · DOI
  27. Kim S. L. Kim M. Yun S. (2015). Knowledge sharing, abusive supervision, and support: a social exchange perspective. Group Organ. Manage. 40 599– 624. 10.1177/1059601115577514 · DOI
  28. Kim T. Y. Lee D. R. Wong N. Y. S. (2016). Supervisor humor and employee outcomes: the role of social distance and affective trust in supervisor. J. Bus. Psychol. 31 125– 139. 10.1007/s10869-015-9406-9 · DOI
  29. Le P. B. Lei H. (2018). The mediating role of trust in stimulating the relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge sharing processes. J. Knowl. Manag. 22 521– 537. 10.1108/JKM-10-2016-0463 · DOI
  30. Lee K. Allen N. J. (2002). Organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviance: the role of affect and cognitions. J. Appl. Psychol. 87 131– 142. 10.1037/0021-9010.87.1.131 11916207 · DOI
  31. Lin C. P. Joe S. W. (2012). To share or not to share: assessing knowledge sharing, inter-employee helping, and their antecedents among online knowledge workers. J. Bus. Ethics 108 439– 449. 10.1007/s10551-011-1100-x · DOI
  32. Lindell M. K. Whitney D. J. (2001). Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs. J. Appl. Psychol. 86 114– 121. 10.1037/0021-9010.86.1.114 11302223 · DOI · Paper page
  33. McAllister D. J. (1995). Affect-and cognition-based trust as foundations for interpersonal cooperation in organizations. Acad. Manage. J. 38 24– 59. 10.2307/256727 · DOI · Paper page
  34. Navimipour N. J. Charband Y. (2016). Knowledge sharing mechanisms and techniques in project teams: literature review, classification, and current trends. Comp. Hum. Behav. 62 730– 742. 10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.003 · DOI · Paper page
  35. Newton D. W. LePine J. A. (2018). “ Organizational citizenship behavior and job engagement: “You gotta keep’em separated!”,” in 2018 The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Citizenship Behavior, eds Podsakoff P. MacKenzie S. Podsakoff N. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press).
  36. Nguyen D. T. Teo S. T. Grover S. L. Nguyen N. P. (2019). Respect, bullying, and public sector work outcomes in Vietnam. Public Manag. Rev. 21 863– 889. 10.1080/14719037.2018.1538426 · DOI
  37. Nielsen R. Marrone J. A. (2018). Humility: our current understanding of the construct and its role in organizations. Int. J. Manage. Rev. 20 805– 824. 10.1111/ijmr.12160 · DOI
  38. Oc B. Bashshur M. R. Daniels M. A. Greguras G. J. Diefendorff J. M. (2015). Leader humility in Singapore. Leadership Quarterly 26 68– 80. 10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.11.005 · DOI
  39. Oc B. Daniels M. A. Diefendorff J. M. Bashshur M. R. Greguras G. J. (2020). Humility breeds authenticity: how authentic leader humility shapes follower vulnerability and felt authenticity. Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process. 158 112– 125. 10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.04.008 · DOI
  40. Ou A. Y. Tsui A. S. Kinicki A. J. Waldman D. A. Xiao Z. Song L. J. (2014). Humble chief executive officers’ connections to top management team integration and middle managers’ responses. Admin. Sci. Quarterly 59 34– 72. 10.1177/0001839213520131 · DOI
  41. Owens B. P. Hekman D. R. (2012). Modeling how to grow: an inductive examination of humble leader behaviors, contingencies, and outcomes. Acad. Manage. J. 55 787– 818. 10.5465/amj.2010.0441 · DOI · Paper page
  42. Owens B. P. Hekman D. R. (2016). How does leader humility influence team performance? Exploring the mechanisms of contagion and collective promotion focus. Acad. Manage. J. 59 1088– 1111. 10.5465/amj.2013.0660 · DOI
  43. Owens B. P. Baker W. E. Sumpter D. M. Cameron K. S. (2016). Relational energy at work: implications for job engagement and job performance. J. Appl. Psychol. 101, 35– 49. 10.1037/apl0000032 26098165 · DOI
  44. Podsakoff P. M. MacKenzie S. B. Podsakoff N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 63 539– 569. 10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100452 21838546 · DOI · Paper page
  45. Qian X. Zhang M. Jiang Q. (2020). Leader humility, and subordinates’ organizational citizenship behavior and withdrawal behavior: exploring the mediating mechanisms of subordinates’ psychological capital. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17: 2544 10.3390/ijerph17072544 PMC7178220 32276358 · DOI
  46. Reijseger G. Peeters M. C. W. Taris T. W. Schaufeli W. B. (2017). From motivation to activation: why engaged workers are better performers. J. Bus. Psychol. 32 117– 130. 10.1007/s10869-016-9435-z · DOI
  47. Rich B. L. Lepine J. A. Crawford E. R. (2010). Job engagement: antecedents and effects on job performance. Acad. Manage. J. 53 617– 635. 10.5465/amj.2010.51468988 · DOI
  48. Rousseau D. M. Sitkin S. B. Burt R. S. Camerer C. (1998). Not so different after all: a cross-discipline view of trust. Acad. Manage. Rev. 23 393– 404. 10.5465/amr.1998.926617 · DOI · Paper page
  49. Ryu S. Ho S. H. Han I. (2003). Knowledge sharing behavior of physicians in hospitals. Expert Syst. Appl. 25 113– 122. 10.1016/s0957-4174(03)00011-3 · DOI
  50. Schaufeli W. B. Bakker A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: a multi-sample study. J. Organ. Behav. 25 293– 315. 10.1002/job.248 · DOI · Paper page
  51. Serenko A. Bontis N. (2016). Negotiate, reciprocate, or cooperate? The impact of exchange modes on inter-employee knowledge sharing. J. Knowledge Manage. 20 687– 712. 10.1108/jkm-10-2015-0394 · DOI
  52. Škerlavaj M. Connelly C. Cerne M. Dysvik A. (2018). Tell me if you can: time pressure, prosocial motivation, perspective taking, and knowledge hiding. J. Knowledge Manage. 22 1489– 1509. 10.1108/jkm-05-2017-0179 · DOI
  53. Spector P. E. (2019). Do not cross me: optimizing the use of cross-sectional designs. J. Bus. Psychol. 34 125– 137. 10.1007/s10869-018-09613-8 · DOI
  54. Spender J. C. Grant R. M. (1996). Knowledge and the firm: overview. Strategic Manage. J. 17 5– 9. 10.1002/smj.4250171103 · DOI · Paper page
  55. Stenius M. Haukkala A. Hankonen N. Ravaja N. (2017). What motivates experts to share? A prospective test of the model of knowledge-sharing motivation. Hum. Resour. Manage. 56 871– 885. 10.1002/hrm.21804 · DOI
  56. Teh P. Sun H. (2012). Knowledge sharing, job attitudes and organisational citizenship behavior. Industrial Manage. Data Syst. 112 64– 82. 10.1108/02635571211193644 · DOI
  57. Wang H.-K. Yen Y.-F. Tseng J.-F. (2015). Knowledge sharing in knowledge workers: the roles of social exchange theory and the theory of planned behavior. Innovation 17 450– 465. 10.1080/14479338.2015.1129283 · DOI
  58. Wang L. Owens B. P. Li J. Shi L. (2018). Exploring the affective impact, boundary conditions, and antecedents of leader humility. J. Appl. Psychol. 103 1019– 1038. 10.1037/apl0000314 29781636 · DOI
  59. Wang S. Noe R. A. (2010). Knowledge sharing: a review and directions for future research. Hum. Resour. Manage. Rev. 20 115– 131. 10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.10.001 · DOI
  60. Wasko M. M. Faraj S. (2005). Why should I share? Examining social capital and knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice. MIS Quarterly 29 35– 57. 10.2307/25148667 · DOI
  61. Williams L. J. Vandenberg R. J. Edwards J. R. (2009). 12 structural equation modeling in management research: a guide for improved analysis. Acad. Manage. Ann. 3 543– 604. 10.5465/19416520903065683 · DOI
  62. Wu W. L. Lee Y. C. (2017). Empowering group leaders encourages knowledge sharing: integrating the social exchange theory and positive organizational behavior perspective. J. Knowl. Manag. 21 474– 491. 10.1108/JKM-08-2016-0318 · DOI
  63. Yang J. Mossholder K. W. (2010). Examining the effects of trust in leaders: a bases-and-foci approach. Leadership Quarterly 21 50– 63. 10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.10.004 · DOI
  64. Yang J. Zhang W. Chen X. (2019). Why do leaders express humility and how does this matter: a rational choice perspective? Front. Psychol. 10: 1925 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01925/full PMC6712434 31496980 · DOI
  65. Zhang X. Jiang J. Y. (2015). With whom shall I share my knowledge? A recipient perspective of knowledge sharing. J. Knowledge Manage. 19 277– 295. 10.1108/jkm-05-2014-0184 · DOI
  66. Zhu W. Newman A. Miao Q. Hooke A. (2013). Revisiting the mediating role of trust in transformational leadership effects: do different types of trust make a difference? Leadership Quarterly 24 94– 105. 10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.08.004 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Nguyen, D. T. N., Teo, S. T. T., Halvorsen, B., & Staples, W.
Affiliations
  • Edith Cowan University (AU)
  • RMIT University (AU)
Corresponding author
  • Nguyen, Diep T. N.
  • Teo, Stephen T. T.
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2020-12-08
Volume
11
Pages
560704-560704
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560704
PMC
PMC7794012
OpenAlex
W3111024401
Cited by
44
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 2
FWCI
4.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (acceptedVersion)
  • Australasian Journal of Paramedicine (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RMIT Research Repository (RMIT University Library) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Knowledge Management and Sharing
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Team Dynamics and Performance
Keywords
leader humility, knowledge sharing intention, social exchange theory, work engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, knowledge management, leadership behavior, serial mediation

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review