What drives students' knowledge-withholding intention in management education? An empirical study in Taiwan

Students' knowledge-withholding behavior is an obstacle to social knowledge construction in the context of management education. Although prior studies have explored the factors that influence knowledge-sharing intention, few studies have investigated the factors that affect the intention to withhold knowledge. This study aims to investigate the factors that affect students' knowledge-withholding intention in the context of undergraduate management education by integrating the concepts of the Big Five personality traits, social identity theory, and social exchange theory. Data collected from 365 undergraduate management students in Taiwanese universities were tested against the research model using the structural equation modeling approach. The results indicate that perceived social identity, expected rewards, and expected associations directly affect knowledge-withholding intention, and that extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience indirectly influence knowledge-withholding intention through the mediation of perceived social identity. In addition, expected associations enhance the negative effect of perceived social identity on knowledgewithholding intention. The findings provide several important theoretical and practical implications regarding students' knowledge-withholding behaviors in the context of management education.