“Too Drained to be Green”: How Work Overload Inhibits Pro‐Environmental Behavior Through Burnout, and the Buffering Role of Job Crafting

ABSTRACT This study investigates the psychological process linking work overload to employees' pro‐environmental behavior at work (PEBW). Drawing on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and the Job Demands‐Resources (JD‐R) model, we tested a moderated mediation model where burnout mediates the relationship between work overload and PEBW, and job crafting moderates the first stage of this mediation. We collected three‐wave, time‐lagged survey data from 204 full‐time employees across a variety of industries in South Korea. The predictor (work overload) and moderator (job crafting) were measured at Time 1, the mediator (burnout) at Time 2, and the outcome variable (PEBW) at Time 3. Structural equation modeling and a bootstrapping procedure were used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that burnout fully mediated the negative relationship between work overload and PEBW; the direct effect was not significant. Furthermore, job crafting significantly buffered the positive relationship between work overload and burnout. A moderated mediation analysis confirmed that the indirect effect of work overload on PEBW (via burnout) was significant for employees with low levels of job crafting but was non‐significant for those with high levels of job crafting. The results highlight that employee burnout is a critical mechanism through which excessive workloads undermine corporate sustainability efforts. However, employees' proactive efforts to craft their jobs can effectively neutralize this detrimental process. To foster PEBW, organizations must focus on managing employee well‐being by preventing burnout and empowering employees to become active agents in shaping their work environment.