The Relationship Between Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee-Related Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Organizational Behavior
• Business Ethics
• Human Resource Management

Background:

• Extensive research exists on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee outcomes, but a quantitative synthesis is needed.
• Social identity theory is a prominent framework, suggesting employee identification mediates CSR's impact.
• This meta-analysis integrates findings on CSR (people, planet, profit) and various employee outcomes.

Approach:

• Conducted a meta-analysis of 143 studies with 89,396 participants.
• Examined relationships between CSR perceptions and employee attitudes/behaviors (identification, engagement, commitment, job satisfaction, OCB, turnover intentions).
• Investigated identification as a mediator in a meta-analytical model.

Key Points:

• Medium to large effect sizes were found for CSR's relationship with employee attitudes and behaviors.
• Relationships were stronger for attitudes than for behaviors.
• Specific CSR types demonstrated large average effect sizes, and identification significantly mediated CSR's link to commitment, job satisfaction, and OCB.

Conclusions:

• CSR significantly influences employee attitudes and behaviors, with identification playing a crucial mediating role.
• The findings support targeted CSR strategies to enhance employee engagement and satisfaction.
• Recommendations are provided for designing effective CSR initiatives that benefit employees.