Theory of Planned Behavior: Public Employee Intentions to Recycle Correctly

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2021-11-14

Department

Graduate School of Hood College

Program

Doctoral Program in Organizational Leadership

Citation of Original Publication

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States

Abstract

Environmental performance refers to the impact business operations have on the natural environment. The more employees perform green behaviors, the greater an organization’s environmental performance becomes, and the less its business operations damage the natural environment. Yet, there is a general lack of investigation into why employees voluntarily engage in green workplace behaviors. To address limited research in this area, this study took a formative research approach to identify and evaluate the determinants driving public employee intention to recycle correctly. Mixed methods were used first to elicit determinants from employees using semi-structured interviews (n = 22). Then, the saliency of each elicited determinant was validated using a cross-sectional survey administered to the entire workforce (n=105). Data analysis consisted of testing three mediated multiple regression models based on tenets from Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior. Results from the elicitation phase unearthed 32 initial determinants. Of these, nine were identified as salient determinants within the target population, and of those nine salient determinants, seven were found during data analysis to significantly impact public employee correct recycling intention. Behavioral beliefs of employees were the most influential determinant explaining 38% of the model variance. These findings are helpful for designing recycling initiatives within the studied municipality. Research implications are discussed in relation to the theory, practice, and future exploration in the field of pro-environmental workplace behavior. This study also proposes a scholar-practitioner framework for streamlining formative research on green workplace behaviors.