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.
Highlights
It has become increasingly common for organizations to put forth effort aimed at eliciting positive social change through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, defined as discretionary firm activities designed to accomplish social and environmental outcomes alongside traditional economic aims [1,2]
The full moderated mediation model was tested for each outcome variable (CSRBs, general socially responsible behaviors (GSRBs), and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs)) using Hayes’ [64] PROCESS macro (Model 14) for SPSS (v. 22), which applies conditional path analysis to simultaneously assess all the hypotheses collectively
Hypothesis 2a, which predicted a relationship between felt responsibility for constructive change and CSR behaviors (CSRBs), was not supported, in that a significant main effect was not detected for felt responsibility in predicting CSRB, this main effect was qualified by a significant felt responsibility × CSR perceptions interaction, which we discuss below
Summary
It has become increasingly common for organizations to put forth effort aimed at eliciting positive social change through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, defined as discretionary firm activities designed to accomplish social and environmental outcomes alongside traditional economic aims [1,2]. Many such initiatives (e.g., those pertaining to philanthropy, recycling, and energy conservation) require employee engagement [3,4,5,6]. We link the emerging findings on employee CSR perceptions with current knowledge regarding the psychological basis of socially responsible behaviors
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have