Relationships between daily affect and pro-environmental behavior at work: The moderating role of pro-environmental attitude

Research in organizational psychology has increasingly focused on understanding the determinants of "green" employee behavior. The present study used a daily diary design to investigate relationships between employees' daily affect, pro-environmental attitude, as well as daily task-related pro-environmental behavior (i.e., the extent to which employees complete required work tasks in environmentally friendly ways), and daily proactive pro-environmental behavior (i.e., the extent to which employees show personal initiative when acting in environmentally friendly ways at work). Fifty-six employees working in small businesses completed a baseline survey and two daily surveys over ten workdays. Daily unactivated positive affect and pro-environmental attitude positively predicted daily task-related pro-environmental behavior. In addition, daily activated positive affect positively predicted daily proactive pro-environmental behavior among employees with a less positive pro-environmental attitude but not among employees with a more positive pro-environmental attitude. These findings suggest that fostering pro-environmental attitudes and, to some extent, positive affect among employees could help organizations to promote pro-environmental behavior in the workplace.

On the importance of pro-environmental organizational climate for employee green behavior

In their call to action, Ones and Dilchert(2012) discuss several possible individual and some contextual determinants of employee green behavior that await examination by industrial and organizational I–O) psychologists. Although these authors briefly mentioned organizational climate, specifically ethical climate, as a potentially relevant predictor of green behaviors, they mostly emphasized the role of individual difference characteristics and traditional job performance determinants such as knowledge, skills, abilities, and other person factors (KSAOs).

Portrait of Leopold Alsberg; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

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Portrait of Max Benjamin; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

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Portrait of Max Arndt; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

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Portrait of Carl Gompertz; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

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Portrait of Karl Abenhausen; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

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Portrait of Karl Gammann; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

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Portrait of Julius Wallch; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

"1.12.1884 Julius Wallach geb. 30.5.1859. pens. 31.12.1927"

Portrait of Carl Degelow; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

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Portrait of Alfred Timme; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

"25.98.1884. Alfred Timme geb. 9.12.1860. pens. 31.12.1927"

Portrait of Josef Weismann; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

"1.1.1888. Josef Weismann geb. 20.10.1857. pens. 31.12.1927"

Portrait of Franz Trolldenier; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

"11.4.1889 Franz Trolldenier geb. 5.12.1866"

Portrait of Georg Heinrich; Employee of Mendelssohn Bank, Berlin Portraits Men

"15.4.1889 Georg Heinrich geb. 12.5.1863. pens. 31.12.1927"