Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership and Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior: Mediating Role of Green Self Efficacy

Abstract

Muhammad Farhan Mughal,1 Shuang Li Cai,1 Naveed Ahmad Faraz,2 Fawad Ahmed3 1Department of Business Management, Tianj in University of Finance and Economics, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Management, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 3Entrepreneur College (Taicang), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Shuang Li Cai; Naveed Ahmad Faraz, Email [e-mail]; [e-mail]: Employees’ pro-environmental behavior is crucial for accomplishing organizations’ green initiatives. There is a dearth of empirical research that explored the underlying mechanism of environmentally specific servant leadership (ESL) influencing employees’ pro-environmental behavior (EPB). The theoretical lens of self-efficacy theory is employed to explore the influence of ESL in predicting EPB. Employees’ green self-efficacy was introduced as the mediator through which ESL influences EPB.Methodology: Time-lagged data from 381 dyads of employee-supervisor from Pakistan’s energy sector were collected during the months of June and July 2021 through systematic random sampling. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was employed to analyze data and assess hypothesized relationships.Results: The results show that all hypotheses are supported. Findings indicate that environmentally specific servant leadership has a significant direct impact on employees’ pro-environmental behavior and employees’ green self-efficacy partially mediates the positive influence of ESL on EPB.Discussion: The study’s managerial and theoretical implications are presented along with future research directions.Keywords: environmentally specific servant leadership, employees’ pro-environmental behavior, green self-efficacy, self-efficacy theory, energy sector