Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the longitudinal influence of gender, age, education level, organizational tenure and emotional intelligence on three dimensions of knowledge hiding over time. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal study using two-wave data sets of 390 employees in Chinese enterprises was conducted to build fixed, continuous and interacting models for investigating the effects of individual differences on the processes of knowledge hiding over time. Findings This research uncovered the changing relationships of individual differences on knowledge-hiding behaviors over time, such that age correlates with rationalized hiding in the interacting model, indicating younger employees are less likely to choose rationalized hiding when facing situation changes; and education level, organizational tenure and emotional intelligence moderate knowledge hiding over time, implying individuals with better education, longer tenure and higher emotional intelligence tend to exhibit more rationalized hiding behaviors rather than evasive hiding and playing dumb behaviors at Time 2. Originality/value One of the novel contributions of this study is that it tests the longitudinal effect of individual differences on knowledge hiding, providing a vertical perspective, and thereby contributing to the body of knowledge in knowledge management. The study also constructs fixed, continuous and interacting models to measure the covering longitudinal influences, thus making the research original.