sustainability Article Exploring Characteristics of Sustainability Stimulus Patterns of Project Managers José Magano 1,2, * , Gilbert Silvius 3,4 , Cláudia Sousa Silva 5 and Ângela Leite 6   Citation: Magano, J.; Silvius, G.; Silva, C.S.; Leite, Â. Exploring Characteristics of Sustainability Stimulus Patterns of Project Managers. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4019. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su13074019 Academic Editor: Mark Anthony Camilleri Received: 9 March 2021 Accepted: 1 April 2021 Published: 4 April 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 Research Center in Business and Economics (CICEE), Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Rua Sta. Marta 47, 5 ◦ Andar, 1150-293 Lisboa, Portugal 2 ISCET—Higher Institute of Business Sciences and Tourism (ISCET), Rua de Cedofeita, 285, 4050-180 Porto, Portugal 3 Research Group Project Management, LOI University of Applied Sciences, Leidsedreef 2, 2352 BA Leiderdorp, The Netherlands; mail@gilbertsilvius.nl 4 Department of Applied Information Systems, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa 5 Departamento de Economia, Gestão, Engenharia Industrial e Turismo, GOVCOPP, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; claudia.margarida@ua.pt 6 School of Human and Social Sciences (ECHS), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal; angelal@utad.pt * Correspondence: jmagano@iscet.pt Abstract: The role of projects in the transition of organisations towards sustainability is addressed in a growing number of studies, and “sustainable” project management is considered one of the most important project management trends today. As sustainability is a normative concept based on subjective values and beliefs, project managers are bound to experience different stimuli and inhibitors for the consideration of sustainability in their projects. Earlier studies identified three distinct stimulus patterns: Intrinsically motivated, Task-driven, and Pragmatic. However, little is known about these three groups of project managers’ personal and professional characteristics and their work environments. Following up on earlier studies, this paper explores the social-demographic and professional-related characteristics that the three stimulus patterns represent in a quantitative, survey-based study on a sample of 433 project managers. Analyses of descriptive statistics (means, frequencies, and Cronbach’s alpha) and inferential statistics (chi-squared, t test, and ANOVA) were used. The findings of the study support the conclusion that sustainability is a personal trait based upon the individual’s attitude towards sustainability. The study also reveals that the stimulus patterns of project managers significantly differ over industries and types of projects. The study intends to help organisations implement sustainability strategies by deepening their understanding of project managers’ stimulus to consider sustainability in their projects. The study contributes to the emerging knowledge on sustainable project management and specifically to the understanding of stimulus patterns of project managers. Keywords: sustainable project management; project manager; project sustainability; skills; stimu- lus patterns 1. Introduction Sustainability is recognised as one of the key areas of project management develop- ment today [1]. Although the developing literature on sustainability and project manage- ment focuses mainly on the sustainability of the project’s deliverable and project man- agement processes [2], a number of studies address the role of the project manager in the sustainability of projects and project management. For example, Hwang and Ng [3] concluded that “Today’s project manager fulfils not only traditional roles of project man- agement but also must manage the project in the most efficient and effective manner with Sustainability 2021, 13, 4019. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13074019 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability