Theory of planned behavior in employees’ pro-environmental behaviours research: a systematic literature review

Introduction. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is widely used in the field of green workplace behaviours. However, scholars raised concerns about its effectiveness, highlighting the complexity of environmental decisions that may involve multiple determinants not included in the model. Objectives and Methods. Despite a sudden increase in studies investigating sustainable workplace practices referring to the TPB, there is a lack of works aimed at synthesising the existing literature. Thus, a systematic review was conducted to examine how the model was used in research and its predictive power in explaining employees’ workplace green intentions and actions. The review followed the Prisma Statement 2020 guidelines and adopted the principle of compatibility as a quality criterion for article inclusion. The selection process was streamlined using Rayyan.ai software, and the results were structured based on the TCCM framework. The final sample comprised 16 peer-reviewed English articles published after 2010. Results. The main findings indicated a tendency among researchers towards adopting extended TPB models, with moral norm emerging as the most frequently included variable (6 publications), followed by descriptive norms (4 publications), habit (3 publications), green organisational climate (2 publications), supervisor support (2 publications), and leader’s behaviour (1 publication). The original TPB explains, on average, 51.7% of the variance in intention and 14.7% in behaviour (4 publications). The introduction of additional variables enhances the model’s predictive power, explaining, on average, 57.2% and 41.4% of the variance in intention and behaviour (12 publications). Consistent with the TPB assumptions, intention was the primary determinant of behaviour, in turn being associated with attitude (16 publications) and perceived behavioural control (12 publications). Habit (2 publications) and moral norm (5 publications) also play a role, particularly in the context of energy-saving practices. Conclusions. Based on these findings, suggestions for future research and implications for practitioners are discussed.