A Daily Investigation of the Effect of Performance Pressure on Pro-Environmental Behavior

Abstract

Research on workplace pro-environmental behavior is on the raise, but little research has examined the dynamic fluctuations in pro-environmental behaviors. Due to the scarcity of that research, it remains unclear when and under which conditions employees’ pro-environmental behavior will be triggered or constrained from time to time. This research provides insights into the dynamic nature of pro-environmental behavior and its work-relevant predictors. Drawing on threat rigidity theory, we theorize that daily performance pressure, as one of the most salient threatening work experiences, will increase self-concern which correlates with task-related pro-environmental behavior, and will decrease other-concern which correlates with prosocial pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, employees’ functional attitudes towards pro-environmental behavior are predicted to moderate these effects. In an experience sampling study of 114 employees across 10 consecutive workdays, we found that daily performance pressure had a negative effect on prosocial pro-environmental behavior through a decrease in other-concern. Furthermore, this relationship was mitigated by employees’ value-expressive function such that the negative effect was weaker for employees with a high (vs. low) value-expressive function towards pro-environmental behavior. Interestingly, we also found that daily performance pressure had a negative effect on task-related pro-environmental behavior through an increase in self-concern. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.