Research on knowledge hiding, the intentional attempt to withhold knowledge that others have requested, strikingly shows its detrimental consequences. But, if it has only negative effects, why do employees hide knowledge in their everyday work at all? With this diary study, we address this question, shedding light on the instrumentality of knowledge hiding. Specifically, placing it within the transactional stress model, we argue that deceptive knowledge hiding (playing dumb and evasive hiding) may function as coping, relating negatively to psychological strain responses to experienced interpersonal conflict. Accordingly, we tested evasive hiding and playing dumb as mediators of the day-specific relationship between conflict and end-of-work exhaustion and negative affect. Based on data of 101 employees who reported on 615 workdays, results of multilevel path analyses showed relationship conflict positively related to evasive hiding and playing dumb. Playing dumb was negatively related to end-of-work psychological strain responses, resulting in inconsistent mediation. Evasive hiding was unrelated to psychological strain. Showing the potential intrapersonal benefits of playing dumb, this paper helps to better understand the occurrence of enacted ‘negative’ interpersonal work behaviors, yielding important implications for research and practice.

对知识隐藏的研究（有意试图保留他人所要求的知识），惊人地表明了它的有害后果。但是，如果只产生负面影响，为什么员工根本不在日常工作中隐藏知识呢？通过日记研究，我们解决了这个问题，阐明了知识隐藏的手段。具体来说，将其置于交易压力模型中，我们认为欺骗性知识隐藏（玩弄愚蠢和回避性隐藏）可能起到应对作用，与应对经历的人际冲突的心理压力反应呈负相关。因此，我们测试了回避性的躲藏和愚蠢行为，以作为冲突与工作结束疲惫和负面影响之间特定于一天的关系的中介者。根据101个员工的615个工作日的报告数据，多层次路径分析的结果表明，关系冲突与规避躲藏和玩弄哑度呈正相关。打哑巴与工作结束时的心理压力反应负相关，导致调解不一致。躲躲躲闪与心理压力无关。显示出玩哑巴游戏对人的潜在好处，本文有助于更好地理解已制定的“消极”人际工作行为的发生，从而对研究和实践产生重要影响。