The Effect of Employee Proactive Personality and Felt Responsibility on Individual Corporate Social Responsibility Behaviors: The CSR Context Matters

Abstract

This research explores the antecedents and consequences of felt responsibility for constructive change within the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR). A moderated mediation model is proposed wherein proactive personality predicts felt responsibility, which in turn influences three types of individual-level socially responsible behaviors both within and beyond organizational boundaries (i.e., socially responsible behaviors in the workplace, (refraining from) counterproductive work behaviors, and socially responsible behaviors outside the workplace). Perceptions of CSR were predicted to place a situational boundary condition on the effects of felt responsibility. Predictions tested on an employee sample showed that proactive personality drives socially responsible behaviors via felt responsibility, but that when individuals perceive a high level of CSR, the predictive power of felt responsibility is diminished (illustrating the potential power of socially responsible workplace environments). The findings suggest that internal CSR communication strategies may play an important role in encouraging prosocial behaviors of even those employees less predisposed to be socially responsible.