Examining the Influence of the Social Cognitive Factors and Relative Autonomous Motivations on Employees’ Knowledge Sharing Behaviors

By incorporating the perspectives of social cognitive theory and relative autonomous motivations, this study examines a model that depicts the influence of personal and environmental factors on employees’ knowledge sharing behaviors (KSBs). Data that were collected from 294 professionals in the industry were analyzed using component‐based structural equation modeling to examine the proposed model. The research results indicate that trust, relationship orientation, knowledge sharing self‐efficacy, and relative autonomous motivation regarding KSBs are the key influencing factors of KSBs of professionals. A key implication is that managers must consider the impact of the level of employee‐perceived autonomous motivation when they seek to facilitate KSBs. Finally, the theoretical and practical contributions are discussed, followed by the suggestions for future research directions.