The Impact of Green Human Resource Management on Green Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Role of Organizational Identification in Iraqi Higher Education
Keywords:
green HRM; organizational identification; Green OCB; social identity theory; higher education; IraqAbstract
Developing countries are putting more pressure on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to embrace green practices, but the psychological processes that relate Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) to voluntary employee green behavior are not well understood. This paper utilized the Social Identity Theory to analyze how the GHRM practices affect Green Organizational Citizenship Behavior (Green OCB) in academic and administrative employees in Iraqi universities and the mediating role of Organizational Identification. A cross-sectional research design was used as quantitative. A sample of 300 academic and administrative personnel at the University of Anbar and the University of Babylon was used to gather data through a self-administered questionnaire due to their performance in the UI GreenMetric rankings. To test the hypothesized relationships, the collected data was analyzed with the help of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that the GHRM practices positively influence both Organizational Identification and Green OCB significantly. Moreover, the research establishes that the role of Organizational Identification is critical as a mediating factor, indicating that the practice of GHRM is effective in influencing voluntary green behavior by improving the psychological attachment and the pride of employees of their university regarding green identity. The paper fills a major gap in the literature as it presents empirical evidence of the Iraqi higher education sector. It confirms Social Identity Theory in a non-Western setting and proves that the development of the so-called Green Organizational Identity is one of the effective strategic mechanisms that can be used by the university to enhance their environmental performance and global sustainability scores.References
Agarwal, P., Upadhyay, R. K., Anuj, Ahalawat, K., Kukreti, R., & Akhtar, A. (2024). Environmental performance in higher education and green HRM: The mediating role of organisational citizenship behavior. International Journal of Management Practice, 17(6), 713–734. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMP.2024.142041
Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2013). Embedded versus peripheral corporate social responsibility: Psychological foundations. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 6(4), 314–332. https://doi.org/10.1111/iops.12059
Anwar, N., Nik Mahmood, N. H., Yusliza, M. Y., Ramayah, T., Noor Faezah, J., & Khalid, W. (2020). Green human resource management for organisational citizenship behavior towards the environment and environmental performance on a university campus. Journal of Cleaner Production, 256, Article 120401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120401
Ashforth, B. E., Harrison, S. H., & Corley, K. G. (2008). Identification in organizations: An examination of four fundamental questions. Journal of Management, 34(3), 325–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206308316059
Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 20–39. https://doi.org/10.2307/258189
Bies, R. J. (1989). Organizational citizenship behavior: The good soldier syndrome. Academy of Management Review, 14(2), 294–297. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4282145
Brislin, R. W. (1986). The wording and translation of research instruments. In W. J. Lonner & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Field methods in cross-cultural research (pp. 137–164). Sage Publications.
Cao, Y., Yan, B., & Teng, Y. (2023). Making bad things less bad? Impact of green human resource management on counterproductive work behaviors of grassroots employees: Evidence from the hospitality industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 397, Article 136610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136610
Chaudhary, R. (2019). Green human resource management and employee green behavior: An empirical analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(2), 630–641. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1827
Freire, C., & Gonçalves, J. (2021). The relationship between responsible leadership and organizational citizenship behavior in the hospitality industry. Sustainability, 13(9), Article 4705. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094705
Freire, C., & Pieta, P. (2022). The impact of green human resource management on organizational citizenship behaviors: The mediating role of organizational identification and job satisfaction. Sustainability, 14(13), Article 7557. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137557
Gheribi, E. (2017). The activities of foodservice companies in the area of corporate social responsibility: On the example of an international fast food chain. Journal of Positive Management, 8(1), 64–77. https://doi.org/10.12775/JPM.2017.005
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Han, S., & Fan, Y. (2025). From psychological imbalance to behavioral withdrawal: Unraveling the impact of relative deprivation on organizational citizenship behavior in tourism enterprises. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1619960. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1619960
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
Irani, F., Kiliç, H., & Adeshola, I. (2022). Impact of green human resource management practices on the environmental performance of green hotels. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 31(5), 570–600. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2022.2022554
Jameel, A. S., Massoudi, A. H., & Agha, A. M. Q. (2021). Knowledge sharing among academic staff in the higher education institutions. Cihan University-Erbil Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(1), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.24086/cuejhss.v5n1y2021.pp67-74
Kehoe, R. R., & Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Management, 39(2), 366–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206310365901
Liu, Z., Mei, S., & Guo, Y. (2021). Green human resource management, green organization identity and organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: The moderating effect of environmental values. Chinese Management Studies, 15(2), 290–304. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-10-2019-0366
Luo, J., Ng, L.-P., & Choong, Y.-O. (2025). The effect of responsible leadership on organizational citizenship behavior: Double mediation of gratitude and organizational identification. BMC Psychology, 13(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02337-w
Moin, M. F., Omar, M. K., Wei, F., Rasheed, M. I., & Hameed, Z. (2021). Green HRM and psychological safety: How transformational leadership drives follower’s job satisfaction. Current Issues in Tourism, 24(16), 2269–2277. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1829569
Organ, D. W. (1988). Organizational citizenship behavior: The good soldier syndrome. Lexington Books.
Ren, S., Tang, G., & Jackson, S. E. (2018). Green human resource management research in emergence: A review and future directions. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 35(3), 769–803. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-017-9532-1
Renwick, D. W. S., Redman, T., & Maguire, S. (2013). Green human resource management: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00328.x
Saeed, J., Mehmood, N., Aftab, S., Irum, S., & Muhammad, A. (2024). Unlocking sustainability: The dynamic nexus of organizational support, identification, and green HRM practices in cultivating pro-environmental excellence. Foresight, 26(5), 902–920. https://doi.org/10.1108/FS-03-2023-0037
Song, W., & Yu, H. (2018). Green innovation strategy and green innovation: The roles of green creativity and green organizational identity. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(2), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1445
Tajfel, H. (1974). Social identity and intergroup behavior. Social Science Information, 13(2), 65–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/05390184740130020
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks/Cole.
Yong, J. Y., Yusliza, M.-Y., Ramayah, T., Chiappetta Jabbour, C. J., Sehnem, S., & Mani, V. (2020). Pathways towards sustainability in manufacturing organizations: Empirical evidence on the role of green human resource management. Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(1), 212–228. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2359
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Alaa S. JAMEEL, Ahmed S. ALHEETY, Saif Ibrahim MAWED
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) with the condition to attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor. They may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
