Working in a Physically Dangerous Work Environment: Employee Vitality and Sustainable Behavior

Abstract

There is a limited understanding of the antecedents and consequences of employee vitality during war zone exposure. The current study is one of the first ones to investigate the direct effects of perceived danger on employee vitality by collecting data from Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Furthermore, it was investigated how employee vitality affects sustainable behavior at the workplace. The hypotheses of the study have been tested by using data from two surveys collected from 192 employees working in small-sized private businesses in Afghanistan. The results indicate that high levels of perceived danger negatively impact employee vitality at work. In addition, we found that employees with vitality engage in more pro-environmental behavior in the workplace. The engagement of vital employees in pro-environmental behavior is higher among those employees who have a high level of environmental awareness. This paper concludes by presenting the limitations and implications of this study, as well as highlighting potential avenues for future research.

Sustainable development challenges in a war‐torn country: Perceived danger and psychological well‐being

“…Environmental and psychological safety is important for employees' happiness and vitality at the workplace (Kark & Carmeli, ). Supporting our arguments, Jahanshahi, Brem, & Gholami, () have found that employees' aliveness and vitality are lower among those working in a physically dangerous work environment. Therefore we hypothesized that a high level of fear (perceived danger) threatens the quality of employees' work life and eventually leads to the decline of the employees' sense of well‐being.H1 There is a negative and significant impact between perceived danger and employees' well‐being.…”

Ethical Leadership and Employee Green Behavior: A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Analysis

“…Employees with high environmental awareness can identify the costs and benefits linked with environment-related issues and tend to become involved in eco-friendly behaviors in the workplace. Further, environmentally aware employees pay close attention to environmental challenges and tend to exhibit sustainability-oriented behaviors at the workplace [62]. Usually, individuals do not become involved in situations about which they have limited knowledge, and they tend to avoid these situations [17].…”

So you think you are an ally? Effects of (in)congruence between men's self‐perceptions and women's perceptions of men's values and allyship on women's inclusion and vitality

“…While discrimination is associated with poorer well‐being (Deitch et al, 2003) and greater stress (Pascoe & Smart Richman, 2009), feelings of inclusion predict enthusiasm and vitality (Warren et al, 2021). Vitality, or a sense of liveliness, is valuable for women's careers because it is associated with workplace well‐being (Ryan & Frederick, 1997; van Scheppingen et al, 2015), productivity and motivation (Afshar Jahanshahi et al, 2019; Ryan & Deci, 2008). Past research shows that work relationships impact employee's feelings of vitality (Carmeli, 2009).…”