Purpose – This study empirically tests the impact of the Dark Triad personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) and co-worker competitiveness on knowledge sabotage. Design/methodology/approach – A model was constructed and tested by means of Partial Least Squareswith data from 150 participants recruited via Amazon’sMechanical Turk. Findings – The individual personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy are significant predictors of individual knowledge sabotage behavior, whereas co-worker Machiavellianism and psychopathy trigger co-worker knowledge sabotage. Out of the three Dark Triad traits, individual and co-worker psychopathy emerged as the strongest knowledge sabotage predictor. Co-worker competitiveness has a positive effect on co-workers’ knowledge sabotage behavior. There is a relatively strong relationship between co-worker and individual knowledge sabotage which suggests that knowledge sabotage is a form of contagious workplace behavior. Individuals underestimate their negative behavior and traits and/or overestimate those of their fellow co-workers. Practical implications –Managers should realize that the Dark Triad personality traits could predispose certain individuals to engage in extremely harmful counterproductive knowledge behavior. They need to ensure that individuals with these traits are not hired or are identified during their probation periods. It is recommended that organizations include knowledge sabotage measures in their periodic employee surveys. Organizations should help their employees objectively re-evaluate their own traits and knowledge behavior as well as those of their colleagues to ensure that their reciprocating knowledge behavior is more alignedwith the reality in their organization. Originality/value – This study offers a reliable and valid quantitative survey instrument to measure the presence of knowledge sabotage.

中文翻译：

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知识破坏是适得其反的知识行为的一种极端形式：自恋，马基雅维利主义，精神病和竞争力的作用

目的–这项研究从经验上检验了黑暗三合会的人格特质（自恋，马基雅维利主义，精神病）和同事竞争力对知识破坏的影响。设计/方法/方法–通过偏最小二乘构建并测试了模型，并通过Amazon's Turk招募了150名参与者的数据。研究发现–自恋，马基雅维利主义和心理疾病的个人人格特征是个人知识破坏行为的重要预测指标，而同事马基雅维利主义和心理疾病则引发同事知识破坏行为。在“黑暗三合会”的三个特征中，个人和同事的精神病成为最强的破坏知识的预测因子。同事的竞争力对同事的知识破坏行为有积极影响。同事与个人知识破坏之间存在相对较强的关系，这表明知识破坏是一种具有传染性的工作场所行为。个人低估了他们的消极行为和特质和/或高估了同事的消极行为和特质。实际意义–管理者应意识到，黑暗三合会的人格特质可能使某些人容易从事极其有害的适得其反的知识行为。他们需要确保在试用期不雇用或识别具有这些特征的个人。建议组织在定期的员工调查中包括破坏知识的措施。组织应帮助员工客观地重新评估他们自己以及同事的特质和知识行为，以确保他们的往复式知识行为与组织中的实际情况更加一致。原创性/价值–这项研究提供了一种可靠且有效的定量调查工具，可以衡量知识破坏的存在。