Uncovering How and When Environmental Leadership Affects Employees' Voluntary Pro-environmental Behavior

Environmental sustainability at the firm level is largely shaped by and dependent on individual-level pro-environmental behavior. Accordingly, investigating the antecedents of employees' environmentally friendly behavior has become the focus of much scholarly inquiry. Research in this area has identified environmentally specific transformational leadership as an important antecedent. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms through which this type of leadership affects employees' voluntary pro-environmental behavior, and the conditions under which any such effects are enhanced or attenuated. The present research sought to fill this gap. Data from 125 employee dyads revealed that environmentally specific transformational leadership directly and indirectly affects employees' voluntary pro-environmental behavior, and the indirect effect is only present for employees who are moderate, high, and very high in environmental locus of control. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.