Purpose Drawing on the lens of cognitive evaluation theory (CET), this study examines the relationships between paternalistic leadership dimensions and knowledge sharing and hiding. In addition, this study also aims to investigate the mediating role of psychological empowerment in these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The study data were collected from a survey of 386 employees in service companies in Vietnam. The study used partial least squares structural equation modeling to evaluate the proposed hypotheses and analyzed the collected data with the help of SmartPLS 4.0.9 software. Findings The empirical study confirmed the effects of authoritarian and moral leadership (ML) on knowledge sharing and hiding, and these relationships were fully mediated by psychological empowerment. However, the study data only confirm the partial mediating role of psychological empowerment in the relationship between benevolent leadership and knowledge sharing and hiding. Practical implications Managers should focus on the aspects of benevolent and ML, which include actions such as caring about personal life, developing a fair environment in the organization and participating in special events in employees' families; pay significant attention to empowering their employees and avoid the authoritarian aspect by not using abusive language, harsh punishment for mistakes and excessive control of employees to promote beneficial behaviors (knowledge sharing) and minimize detrimental behaviors (knowledge hiding) for the organization. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing literature by examining the influence of paternalistic leadership dimensions on knowledge sharing and hiding based on CET. In addition, this is one of the few studies that investigate the influence of leadership style and psychological empowerment on knowledge hiding.
Thi Phuong Linh Nguyen (2026) studied this question.