Unraveling the roles of malicious envy and servant leadership in the ties between everyday sadism and knowledge sabotage

Purpose This study aims to investigate whether malicious envy mediates the relationship between everyday sadism and knowledge sabotage. It also examines whether servant leadership can mitigate malicious envy’s harmful influence on knowledge sabotage. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 355 full-time employees in southeastern Nigeria using a three-wave, time-lagged design. Findings The results confirm that malicious envy mediates the link between everyday sadism and knowledge sabotage. However, contrary to the hypothesis, servant leadership did not moderate the relationship between envy and sabotage. Practical implications Rather than using aggressive screening procedures, organizations should strike a balance by evaluating qualifications, skills and interpersonal dynamics, while focusing on building workplaces that discourage toxic behaviors. Since eliminating envy entirely is unrealistic, management should address its structural roots. This can be done by creating objective, fair reward systems and transparent performance-appraisal processes that reduce zero-sum peer comparisons. Originality/value This study complements previous studies linking malevolent personality traits and insidious emotions to knowledge-related deviance and the role of leadership in mitigating knowledge-related harm.