Motivations and Barriers to Positive Socio-environmental Impact Work in Brazil

This research examines the social phenomenon of individuals who work towards positive socio-environmental impact (PSEI). Such work is often culturally and institutionally marginal, especially within Western capitalist societies, despite its potential to mitigate pressing socio-environmental issues. Across multiple impact-oriented literatures, this study is grounded in responsible careers, and, for methodological purposes, it focuses on the work domains of social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability agency, alongside prosocial and pro-environmental behaviours. In this body of literature, empirical attention to the endurance of motivation and agency has been limited, while Global South perspectives remain underrepresented.
Using an interdisciplinary, intersectional lens, this research explores how individuals engaged with PSEI sustain their motivation over time as they face barriers in their careers. The qualitative method used is phenomenological interviewing with 52 workers in Brazil, who reported long-term commitment to one of these three domains as their primary occupation. These participants were selected through purposive sampling, and the analytical method used was thematic analysis with an abductive approach.
This investigation advances responsible careers and extends the positive social change literature by empirically demonstrating how motivation in PSEI work is sustained over time as an ongoing dynamic process shaped by emotional, relational, and structural conditions. A mapping of intertwined strategies reveals the temporality of motivation, through which individuals overcome barriers. This includes uncovering and connecting talents with PSEI, embracing doing one’s part, adapting lifestyles, and networking with PSEI peers for support and collaboration. By foregrounding Brazil, this study presents how, in the Global South, work motivation towards PSEI is embedded in cultivating a sense of duty oriented towards locally situated issues. Future research could adopt longitudinal and comparative demographic designs to examine PSEI work agency in different contexts and contribute to these research streams across domains and regions.