ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Organizational Psychology
Inspiring impression motivation and fostering knowledge sharing behavior: Role of inclusive leadership for ostracized employees
Yang Yang 1
Ying Li 1
Yaqin Wang 2
Hongyuan Lu 1
Yiyuan Liang 3
1. Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China
2. Guangzhou City Construction College, Guangzhou, China
3. Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Abstract
Although workplace ostracism is generally assumed to diminish employees' willingness to share knowledge, empirical findings remain inconclusive, suggesting that its effects may be contingent upon contextual factors. Drawing on the two-component model of impression management, this research examines whether and how inclusive leadership influences ostracized employees' knowledge sharing behavior through impression motivation. We conducted two scenario-based experiments (Study 1: hotel employees, N = 211; Study 2: software employees, N = 247) and a two-wave field survey (Study 3: full-time employees from a wide range of professional backgrounds, N = 221). Results across the three studies consistently demonstrated that inclusive leadership moderates the relationship between workplace ostracism and knowledge sharing behavior. When inclusive leadership was low, workplace ostracism negatively affected impression motivation, which in turn reduced knowledge sharing. Conversely, when inclusive leadership was high, workplace ostracism positively influenced impression motivation, subsequently enhancing knowledge sharing behavior. Impression motivation mediated the interactive effect of workplace ostracism and inclusive leadership on knowledge sharing. These findings advance the workplace ostracism literature by identifying inclusive leadership as a critical boundary condition that can transform exclusion into constructive behavioral outcomes, and extend the two-component 2 model to the domain of knowledge management. The results also offer practical implications for organizations seeking to mitigate the detrimental effects of ostracism through leadership development.
Summary
Keywords
Impression motivation, inclusive leadership, Knowledge sharing behavior, two-component model, Workplace ostracism
Received
22 January 2026
Accepted
20 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Yang, Li, Wang, Lu and Liang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Yiyuan Liang
Disclaimer
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