The Moral Architecture of Green Performance: Building Sequential Identity from Values and Virtues to Sustained Action in Hospitality

This study addresses a critical gap in sustainable human resource management research by examining the psychological mechanisms through which Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) influences Sustainable Employee Performance in hospitality organizations. Data were collected through a two-wave time-lagged design from 392 hotel employees in Egypt’s hospitality sector. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test direct effects, parallel mediation, and sequential mediation pathways. The results reveal that GHRM significantly shapes both Moral Self and Moral Integrity, which in turn drive Sustainable Employee Performance. The sequential mediation pathway through which GHRM influences Moral Self, subsequently cultivating Moral Integrity and ultimately enhancing performance, was strongly supported, with approximately 81% of GHRM’s total effect operating through these moral identity mechanisms. Sustainable performance was found to be explained by over 61% of variance in the model, illustrating substantial predictive validity, thus confirming that moral identity is the central psychological conduit for the direct effect of the organizational sustainability system on employee behavior.