The Silent Path to Cynicism: Knowledge Donating and Collecting as Mediators Linking Organizational Silence to Cynicism in Higher Education

This study examines the relationships between organizational silence, knowledge‐sharing behaviors, and organizational cynicism among academic staff in Greek higher education institutions (HEIs). Drawing on Social Exchange Theory and Self-Determination Theory, the study investigates how three forms of silence—defensive, acquiescent, and prosocial—associated to donating and knowledge collecting, and whether these knowledge behaviors are associated with the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of organizational cynicism. Using a cross-sectional survey of 751 academics and PROCESS mediation analysis, the findings show that defensive and acquiescent silence are negatively associated with both knowledge donating and knowledge collecting, while prosocial silence shows no such relationship. Both knowledge behaviors demonstrate significant negative associations with all dimensions of cynicism. Knowledge donating partially mediates the relationship between defensive silence and cognitive cynicism, while knowledge collecting partially mediates the associations between acquiescent silence and both affective and cognitive cynicism. The results highlight the central role of knowledge exchange in shaping cynical attitudes and underscore the importance of reducing silence in HEIs to maintain trust, psychological safety, and institutional effectiveness.