The Relationship between Emotions and Workplace Pro-Environmental Behaviors

This chapter argues that emotions play a critical role in determining pro-environmental behavior both within and outside the workplace. Using Ashkanasy’s (2003) multi-level model of emotions, it illustrates how emotions influence organizational greening at all levels of analysis. Specifically, the chapter examines pro-environmental behavior research that occurs at the five levels of: within-person, between-persons, interpersonal interactions, group-level, and organizational-level. A recurring theme throughout the review is the interrelatedness of emotions and pro-environmental behavior across all of the levels of analysis. It is clear that most of the research reviewed could be considered to span multiple levels. The chapter describes the implications for future research and practice and notes the need for future research to develop further in the exploration of emotions at macro-level analyses. Particularly, research that examines how emotions progress from the individual to the organizational-level and vice versa will be important in advancing understanding of how emotions affect organizational greening.