Exploring reciprocal within‐person relations between proactive employee green behavior and subjective well‐being: A four‐wave longitudinal study

A promising approach for organizations to advance environmental sustainability and ensure the long-term well-being of humanity is to encourage employees to proactively address environmental issues. However, the understanding of how proactive employee green behavior (EGB) is associated with the well-being of employees engaging in such behavior is currently limited. This is problematic, as the potential co-benefits of proactive EGB and well-being may motivate employees to engage in proactive EGB and encourage organizations to promote environmental and well-being goals simultaneously. Based on data from n = 1354 employees in Germany collected across four measurement points separated by 3-month time lags, we examine how proactive EGB and work-related subjective well-being (i.e., job satisfaction and positive and negative affect) are related to one another over time. Results of random intercept cross-lagged panel models did not provide support for effects of proactive EGB on subsequent well-being. However, higher positive affect predicted a subsequent increase in proactive EGB. Additionally, we found that the positive within-person association between job satisfaction and subsequent proactive EGB was stronger among employees who perceived stronger organizational pro-environmental norms. These findings highlight the importance of promoting subjective well-being and organizational pro-environmental norms to support employee initiative that addresses environmental issues.