Open AccessCan work climate foster pro-environmental behavior inside and outside of the workplace?
Author(s) -
Carol Hicklenton,
Donald W. Hine,
Natasha M. Loi
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0223774
Subject(s) - autonomy , work (physics) , work environment , psychology , social psychology , applied psychology , business , engineering , political science , job satisfaction , mechanical engineering , law
Guided by self-determination theory, we investigated the potential impact of work climate on employee motivation, and pro-environmental behavior (PEB) inside and outside of the workplace. We found that in workplaces with stronger pro-environmental climates and at least moderate levels of autonomy support, employees reported higher levels of autonomous motivation to engage in PEB. In turn, autonomously motivated employees engaged in more PEBs, both inside and outside the workplace. Controlled motivation played a more limited role in predicting employee PEBs. Overall, our findings suggest work climates that support pro-environmental actions and employee autonomy may not only foster PEBs within the workplace but also lay the foundation for PEBs in other non-workplace settings.