The need for status as a hidden motive of knowledge-sharing behavior: An application of costly signaling theory

This study draws on costly signaling theory (CST) and explores the hidden motive of proactive knowledge sharing. We theorize that the need for status drives employees to generously share their tacit knowledge and special expertise to obtain social recognition and status as conferred by supervisory appraisal. We tested our hypotheses based on the moderated mediation model using a sample of 146 supervisor-subordinate dyads that were collected from South Korean organizations. The present analysis supports the proposed theoretical framework based on CST, thereby providing new insights into the need for status as an unexplored hidden motive of proactive knowledge sharing and the roles of job design factors as contextual contingencies. This study offers theoretical and practical implications related to knowledge management, employee motivation, and job design.