Feel warm then do well: understanding how green human resources management improves employee extra-role green behavior and person-organization fit

Abstract Although it is an increasingly popular assumption that green human resource management (GHRM) can improve employee green behaviors, little empirical evidence has studied the link between different types (in-role and extra-role) of green behavior and how GHRM may have an impact beyond its original environmental domain. To bridge the research gap, this study develops and tests two serial mediation models of GHRM based on warm glow theory. Specifically, we propose that GHRM -as an organization management measure-will first increase employee in-role green behavior (IRGB). Then, due to employees’ perception and cognitive appraisal of organization’s GHRM policy and prosocial ‘Halo effect’ of green behavior, employees feel that they are doing the ‘right thing’, thus feel warm glow (WG) psychologically. The positive emotional experience accumulated by warm glow allows employees to obtain intrinsic rewards, resulting in green behaviors that are beyond their core task responsibilities and that can increase employee value and psychological consistency with organization. Drawing upon 301 data collected from Prolific, results support two significant serial mediation models. First, GHRM increased extra-role green behavior (ERGB) through in-role green behavior and warm glow. Second, GHRM increased person-organization fit through in-role green behavior and warm glow. Therefore, warm glow creates a spillover effect at the employee behavioral level and at the personal value level. This study contributes to existing literature by explaining how GHRM affects extra-role green behavior from a new perspective. By establishing a link between GHRM and non-green outcomes, we also expands the scope of GHRM research.