Employees' Reactions To Coworker's Pro-Environmental Behaviour: Insights From Social Cognitive Theory And Social Comparison Theory

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dc.contributor.advisorShao. Ruodan
dc.contributor.authorHe, Long
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-10T10:43:17Z
dc.date.available2025-04-10T10:43:17Z
dc.date.copyright2024-09-06
dc.date.issued2025-04-10
dc.date.updated2025-04-10T10:43:17Z
dc.degree.disciplineAdministration
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractEnvironmental issues are severe worldwide concerns that threaten ecosystems and humanity. The increased demand for pro-environmental behavior (PEB) has drawn attention to the environmental impact of organizations (Ones & Dilchert, 2012a). Employee PEB is essential for improving organizational environmental performance and sustainability (Boiral, 2009). Despite frequent peer interactions at work, little research has examined whether coworkers’ PEB positively influences focal employees’ PEB. Integrating social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) with social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954), this dissertation examines the focal employee’s differential responses toward various types of coworkers’ PEB. Using Boiral and Paillé’s (2012) widely recognized categorization, I propose that a coworker’s eco-civic engagement, eco-initiatives, and eco-helping can have both positive and negative impacts on the focal employee. Specifically, I document three psychological mechanisms—integrity-based trust toward the coworker, the focal employee’s green self-efficacy, and the focal employee’s moral inferiority—that mediate the effects of a coworker’s PEB on the focal employee’s subsequent behaviors, including PEB at work and in life, collaboration with the coworker, and ostracism toward the coworker. Task interdependence and performance inferiority are proposed to moderate these mediated relationships. Four scenario-based experiments (Studies 1a–d) and a survey with dyadic data (Study 2) were used to test hypotheses. Studies 1a–d found that coworkers’ eco-civic engagement and eco-initiatives increased focal employees’ integrity-based trust toward coworkers, especially under higher task interdependence. Coworkers’ eco-initiatives and eco-helping positively impacted focal employees’ green self-efficacy, with the relationship between eco-helping and green self-efficacy being more pronounced under higher (vs. lower) task interdependence. Additionally, coworkers’ eco-helping increased focal employees’ moral inferiority, which was strengthened by performance inferiority. Study 2 replicated most findings from Studies 1a–d except for the relationship between coworkers’ eco-initiatives and focal employees’ green self-efficacy. Study 2 further found that coworkers’ eco-civic engagement and eco-initiatives increased collaboration via focal employees’ integrity-based trust and was amplified by task interdependence. Coworkers’ eco-helping increased focal employees’ personal PEB via focal employees’ green self-efficacy, which was strengthened by task interdependence. Eco-helping increased focal employees’ ostracism toward coworkers through focal employees’ moral inferiority, with performance inferiority exacerbating this relationship. Implications and future directions were also discussed.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/42758
dc.languageen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subject.keywordsPro-environmental behavior
dc.subject.keywordsGreen behavior
dc.subject.keywordsCoworkers
dc.subject.keywordsEthical behavior
dc.subject.keywordsCorporate social responsibility
dc.subject.keywordsSocial comparison
dc.subject.keywordsGreen self-efficacy
dc.subject.keywordsRelational perspective
dc.subject.keywordsOstracism
dc.subject.keywordsIntegrity-based trust
dc.titleEmployees' Reactions To Coworker's Pro-Environmental Behaviour: Insights From Social Cognitive Theory And Social Comparison Theory
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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