Gender, Linguistic Time Orientation, and Environmental Practices Under Resource Constraints

ABSTRACT This study examines how gender, language, and operating conditions shape firms' environmental practices. We test whether female ownership and top management interact with linguistic future time reference (FTR) and with resource constraints such as power outages and internet disruptions. Female‐led firms report lower environmental engagement than male‐led firms, suggesting that communal and long‐term expectations associated with female leadership do not automatically translate into organizational behavior. In weak FTR contexts, where the future is perceived as close to the present, this gap narrows and can reverse. However, under resource constraints, this alignment erodes, as disruptions narrow managerial attention to immediate continuity and the benefit of weak FTR diminishes, leaving female‐led firms comparatively more penalized. Overall, the results indicate a conditional role congruity effect in which female leadership supports environmental practice when cultural frames favor intertemporal commitment but weakens when operational pressures elevate short‐term priorities.