Virtuous cycles of organizational climate action: a multilevel view of pro-environmental behavior in the workplace

Abstract

Addressing the global climate crisis requires expansive behavior change across domains. Behavioral science research has focused disproportionately on changing individual behavior in the home and as a consumer. This review focuses on individual behavior change in an organizational context (i.e., in the workplace) and the virtuous cycles that can emerge. By reviewing the recent literature on this topic, this review offers a multilevel framework that integrates individual, social, and organizational factors that shape pro-environmental behavior in the workplace. The literature has focused on the discrete effects of the individual, social, and organizational factors on behavior, and this review summarizes the main findings at each level. The review underscores the potential of organizational culture, including green human resource management and leadership, to foster systemic change. There is a paucity of research on the interlevel dynamics and the collective and temporal dynamics in this area. Future research is called upon to further develop and refine behavioral measurement tools in the organizational context.