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The Hidden Costs of Negative Workplace Gossip: Its Effect on Targets’ Behaviors, the Mediating Role of Guanxi Closeness, and the Moderating Effect of Need for Affiliation

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Abstract

This research explores the harmful effects of negative workplace gossip (NWG) on targets and organizations, including its impacts on helping behavior and knowledge hiding. The mediating role of guanxi closeness and the moderating role of need for affiliation are also examined. The study, based on conservation of resources theory, collected data from 526 employees in the hospitality industry in China, using a three-wave survey design. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was employed to test the hypotheses. The empirical results showed that NWG was a strong predictor of reduced helping behavior and increased knowledge hiding; and that guanxi closeness mediated both the negative relationship between NWG and helping behavior, and the positive relationship between NWG and knowledge hiding. Additionally, need for affiliation was shown to act as a moderator between NWG and guanxi closeness: high need for affiliation amplified the negative impact of NWG on guanxi closeness, and then further affected employees’ helping behavior and knowledge hiding. This study therefore offers an important new perspective for interpreting the detrimental effects of negative gossip in organizations, providing not just theoretical advances but practical ways in which managers can proactively reduce these impacts.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 72102189); MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (grant numbers 21YJC630015); Sichuan Planning Program of Philosophy and Social Science (grant number SC21C068).

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  1. School of Business Administration, Faculty of Business Administration, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China

    Bao Cheng

  2. School of Management, Xiamen University, No. 422 Siming South Road, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian, China

    Yan Peng

  3. College of Business, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Ahmed Shaalan

  4. School of Management, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK

    Ahmed Shaalan & Marwa Tourky

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Cheng, B., Peng, Y., Shaalan, A. et al. The Hidden Costs of Negative Workplace Gossip: Its Effect on Targets’ Behaviors, the Mediating Role of Guanxi Closeness, and the Moderating Effect of Need for Affiliation. J Bus Ethics 182, 287–302 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04994-y

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