Public Administration Perspective

Investigating the Effect of Work Conscience on the Proactive Environmental Behavior of Employees with the Role of Mediator of Employee Prosperity and Moderation of Perceived Organizational Policy in Public Organizations of Hormozgan Province

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Department of Industrial and Government Management, Faculty of Management and Accounting, University of Hormozgan , Bandar Abbas, Iran

Abstract

Purpose: The present study was conducted to examine the effect of conscientiousness on employees’ environmentally proactive behavior, while considering the mediating role of employees’ thriving and the moderating role of perceived organizational politics in governmental organizations of Hormozgan Province.
Design/methodology/approach: The present study is applied, with an objective and descriptive survey for data collection and analysis. The statistical population comprises all managers and employees of governmental organizations in Hormozgan Province, from which 200 individuals were selected using proportionate random sampling. Data were collected using books, articles, and specialized journals. In addition, the following questionnaires were used: Conscientiousness by Costa and McCrae (1992), Environmentally Proactive Behavior by Sabokroo et al. (2021), Employees’ Thriving by Carney (2014), and Perceived Organizational Politics by Kacmar and Ferris (1997). Based on the research hypotheses, the research model was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with SPSS and SmartPLS software.
Research Findings: The present study's findings indicate that conscientiousness significantly influences employees’ environmentally proactive behavior. Conscientiousness also has a significant effect on employees’ thriving, and employees’ thriving, in turn, significantly influences their environmentally proactive behavior. Moreover, conscientiousness affects employees’ environmentally proactive behavior through the mediating role of thriving. Finally, conscientiousness has a significant effect on employees’ environmentally proactive behavior, with perceived organizational politics serving as a moderating factor. Therefore, based on the statistical results, conscientiousness influences employees’ environmentally proactive behavior both directly and indirectly through thriving, as well as through its moderating effect on perceived organizational politics.
Limitations & Consequences: One limitation of the present study concerns the data collection method and the associated implementation challenges. The data were collected through questionnaires, and this method may be subject to errors resulting from respondents’ failure to express their views accurately or honestly. In addition, during data collection, some managers and employees did not fully cooperate due to time constraints or insufficient willingness. Overall, these implementation limitations may influence the diversity of perspectives and the quality of the collected information, thereby affecting the comprehensiveness of the research findings.
Practical Consequences: In this study, the researcher examined the effect of conscientiousness on employees’ environmentally proactive behavior, considering the mediating role of employees’ thriving and the moderating role of perceived organizational politics. Given the complexity of the interactions among these variables in organizational decision-making processes, previous research has paid little attention to this issue. The findings of this study can provide practical guidance for governmental organizations in Hormozgan Province, as well as for other public and private institutions, to strengthen employees’ conscientiousness and thriving, and to properly manage organizational politics to promote environmentally proactive behaviors among employees.
Innovation or value of the Article: A review of previous studies shows that conscientiousness has consistently played an important role in various variables examined, and its significance has been emphasized. However, none of these studies has specifically investigated how conscientiousness affects employees’ environmentally proactive behavior or identified the influential variables in this relationship. Accordingly, the present study develops and tests a model that examines the mediating role of employees’ thriving and the moderating role of perceived organizational politics to comprehensively and scientifically assess the impact of conscientiousness on employees’ environmentally proactive behavior.
Paper Type: Original Paper
 

Keywords

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Public Administration Perspective
Volume 16, Issue 3 - Serial Number 63
October 2025
Pages 79-103