ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain.
Sec. Sustainable Organizations
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsus.2025.1535809
Servant Leadership for Hospitality Sustainability: Green Psychological Capital as a Pathway to Environmental Citizenship Behavior
Provisionally accepted
- King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
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The hospitality industry, recognized for its resource-intensive nature, plays a critical role in advancing sustainability through eco-friendly leadership practices. This study empirically examines how environmentally specific servant leadership (ESSL) influences organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE) by fostering Green Psychological Capital (GPsyCap) as a psychological resource. Specifically, it investigates the direct impact of ESSL on GPsyCap and OCBE, as well as the mediating role of GPsyCap in the ESSL-OCBE relationship within the hospitality industry. Data for this study were gathered from 388 fulltime employees of eco-friendly five-star hotels in Egypt using convenience sampling and analyzed through PLS-SEM. The findings indicate that ESSL positively influences both GPsyCap and OCBE, demonstrating that environmentally responsible leadership fosters voluntary pro-environmental behaviors among employees. Furthermore, GPsyCap significantly predicts OCBE and partially mediates the relationship between ESSL and OCBE, suggesting that GPsyCap serves as a crucial psychological mechanism through which leadership practices are translated into employee-driven sustainability efforts. Building on these empirical insights, the study contributes to theory by extending the Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, Social Exchange Theory (SET), and the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) Model, integrating green organizational (ESSL) and psychological (GPsyCap) resources within the hospitality sector. By positioning GPsyCap as a mediating construct, this study offers a novel perspective on how leadership-driven sustainability initiatives influence employees' pro-environmental behaviors. Practically, the study highlights the need for organizations to cultivate ESSL qualities in leaders, enhance GPsyCap among employees, and foster a culture of environmental stewardship to promote sustainability in the hospitality industry.
Keywords: Extra-role behavior, Sustainable leadership, COR, SET, Green Psychology, ecofriendly. 1. Introduction
Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Abdou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ahmed Hassan Abdou, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
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