An Examination of Green Workplace Behaviors Using Variable- and Person-centered Approaches

Objectives: Environmental sustainability has emerged as a strategic and ethical priority for organizations, making the understanding of employees' green workplace behaviors a critical issue for organizations. Despite the growing body of literature on green workplace behaviors, questions remain regarding their measurement and validity. Building on recent work emphasizing the ongoing proliferation of green workplace behavior measures and calling for refinement of existing measurement approaches (Francoeur et al., 2021), this study explores the complementariness of variable- and person-centered approaches in examining the multidimensionality of green workplace behaviors and the distinct profiles that emerge.
Methods: Using data from employees' ratings of their green workplace behaviors (N = 931), this study applies variable-centered techniques (e.g., confirmatory factor models, exploratory structural equation modeling, bifactor modeling) in examining the multidimensionality of the construct and its dimensions (i.e., conserving, transforming, influencing others, avoiding harm, taking initiative, and transportation behaviors). Complementarily, this study also applies latent profile analysis to examine the existence of distinct profiles of green workplace behaviors among employees.
Results: The findings demonstrate that employees' green workplace behaviors are best conceptualized as a global overarching construct alongside specific dimensions using bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling. The person-centered analyses revealed distinct employee profiles who exhibited differentiated configurations of different green workplace behaviors.
Conclusion: These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of green workplace behaviors by highlighting the interplay between global and specific behavioral dimensions and offering a nuanced understanding of how green workplace behaviors manifest between individuals. Our study addresses the need to refine the measurement of green workplace behaviors both from a theoretical and operational perspective. They also provide practical insights for organizations to design tailored interventions and policies that address diverse employee profiles, thereby fostering more effective and sustainable workplace practices.