Leadership Styles and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour for the Environment: A Systematic Literature Review

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-622-7_19How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Organisational Citizenship Behaviour for the Environment (OCBE); responsible leadership; transformational leadership; sustainability-oriented leadership; servant leadership; ethical leadership; empowering leadership; spiritual leadership; authentic leadership

Abstract

Research purpose: This study aims to synthesise the current state of knowledge on how different leadership styles influence Organisational Citizenship Behaviour for the Environment (OCBE), with particular attention to the underexplored role of green and environmentally specific authentic leadership.

Research motivation: Although prior studies have examined responsible, transformational, servant, ethical, empowering, and sustainability-oriented leadership in relation to OCBE, findings remain fragmented and inconsistent. Authentic leadership, despite its emphasis on moral perspective, transparency, and value congruence, has rarely been tested as a direct antecedent of OCBE. Addressing this gap is crucial to strengthen theoretical clarity and support organisations in achieving sustainability objectives and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Research design, approach, and method: Following the PRISMA framework, we conducted a systematic literature review of 45 peer-reviewed studies indexed in ISI and Scopus up to September 2025. Content analysis and coding were applied to classify leadership styles, mediating and moderating variables, contextual factors, and effect strengths.

Main findings: The review reveals that responsible and transformational leadership are the most extensively studied, but their effects on OCBE range from weak to strong depending on mediators such as psychological ownership, affective commitment, and green organisational climate. Servant, ethical, spiritual, and empowering leadership also demonstrate positive but variable associations. Authentic leadership remains underexamined, with existing studies positioning it primarily as a mediator or moderator rather than a direct predictor of OCBE.

Practical/managerial implications: The findings highlight the potential of authentic leadership to mobilise employees’ pro-environmental behaviours by bridging the value and behaviour gap. Organisations are encouraged to cultivate leaders who demonstrate transparency, moral consistency, and environmental sincerity, thereby creating climates that stimulate voluntary ecological contributions and strengthen corporate sustainability performance.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Uyen Phuong Le Nguyen
AU  - Viet Quoc Cao
AU  - Thanh Thi Bui
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/21
TI  - Leadership Styles and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour for the Environment: A Systematic Literature Review
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Challenges: Business Dynamics in Disruptive Economy (ICECH 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 296
EP  - 323
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-622-7_19
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-622-7_19
ID  - LeNguyen2026
ER  -