This study integrates the concepts of knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding to understand the underlying mechanisms of these seemingly contradictory behaviors, focusing on the nature of the requested knowledge. Employing a positivist research paradigm, we utilized a quasi-experimental design involving a serious game to collect data from knowledge workers at automotive companies in China and Germany. Statistical analysis reveals that both Chinese and German knowledge workers’ sharing and hiding behaviors are influenced by the type of knowledge requested. Specifically, Chinese workers are more likely to fully share documented knowledge than experiential knowledge, while German workers are more inclined to fully share relationship knowledge (social capital) over experiential and documented knowledge. Furthermore, in a comparative analysis, German knowledge workers demonstrate higher levels of full sharing behavior regardless of the type of knowledge requested, whereas Chinese knowledge workers are more reluctant to fully share their established relationship knowledge. These findings suggest that categorizing knowledge sharing and hiding as simple binary behaviors fails to capture the complexity of employees’ responses to knowledge requests. By uncovering variations in knowledge workers’ responses to different types of knowledge requests, this study offers valuable practical implications for organizational management.