Activating employee pro-environmental behavior in the workplace: the effects of environmental self-identity and behavioral integrity

Scholars have gradually turned their attention to ethical leadership within the developing discussion of leaders’ influence on employee pro-environmental behavior. However, few have regarded ethical leadership as an antecedent of employee pro-environmental behavior. Based on social and role identity theories, we investigated the mechanism by which ethical leadership affects employee pro-environmental behavior through employee environmental self-identity. We also explored the moderating role of behavioral integrity in the process of employee environmental self-identity being rendered into pro-environmental behavior. We gathered data from 284 subordinate–supervisor dyads across China’s various regions and industries and utilized a regression analysis and bootstrapping test to evaluate our hypotheses, all of which were supported by the results. We found that employee environmental self-identity played a partial mediating role in the relationship between ethical leadership and employee pro-environmental behavior. When employees perceived that their leaders had a high (low) level of behavioral integrity, employee environmental self-identity was more (less) effectively transformed into pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, the indirect effect of ethical leadership on employee pro-environmental behavior is higher (lower) through environmental self-identity at the same time. In response to calls to advance research on pro-environmental behavior and ethical leadership, our research reveals potential antecedents to employee pro-environmental behavior.