Place Attachment: Capturing Causes of Individual Pro-Environmental Behaviors in the Workplace

Abstract

Scholars from an array of disciplines have sought to explain why individuals engage in pro-environmental behaviors in various settings. In the field of environmental psychology, place attachment has been identified as a significant predictor of an individual's decision to act in pro-environmental ways. The construct of place attachment has not yet been employed in management research. Although organizational commitment and social identity, regularly used to predict behavior in the workplace, measure some similar dimensions as those found in place attachment, place attachment uniquely captures an individual's relationship with the natural environment. Recognizing possible overlaps among these literatures, as well as some remaining gaps between them, we make a preliminary investigation of how they might jointly contribute to an understanding of workplace pro-environmental behaviors, affording particular attention to how place attachment might extend management scholarship.