Lead by example: The impact of environmentally specific servant leadership on newcomers’ nongreen behaviors

• Lei Xu

  School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University

• Xiyao Liu

  School of Business, Qingdao University

• Mingyue Liu

  School of Business, Qingdao University

• Xiaoyan Zhang

  Business School, Beijing Technology and Business University

Employing social cognitive theory, we developed a moderated mediation model to examine how environmentally specific servant leadership influences newcomers’ nongreen behaviors. Through a cross-sectional survey we collected valid data from 307 participants in Shandong Province in China. Empirical results of testing our proposed theoretical framework and hypotheses indicated that environmentally specific servant leadership was effective in reducing newcomers’ nongreen behaviors, and that newcomers’ perceived green psychological climate mediated this negative relationship. Individual newcomers’ environmental beliefs strengthened both the direct influence of environmentally specific servant leadership on green psychological climate and the indirect impact of environmentally specific servant leadership on newcomers’ nongreen behaviors via their perception of green psychological climate. This study expands knowledge of environmentally specific servant leadership by illustrating how to reduce and prevent newcomers’ nongreen behaviors, and provides insight into how to stimulate newcomers’ environmental behaviors.

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