Impacts of Corporate Social Responsibility on Employees’ Mental Fatigue: Employees’ Ethical Perspective

Zheng, Linlin and Li, Wenzhuo and Addis, Amsalu K. and Di Ye, Di and Dong, Yashi (2022): Impacts of Corporate Social Responsibility on Employees’ Mental Fatigue: Employees’ Ethical Perspective. Published in: Frontiers in Psychology , Vol. 13, No. 918106 (15 June 2022): pp. 1-16.

Abstract

With the rise of cost of living and COVID-19 global pandemic therewithal, finding reliable measures to reduce employees’ mental fatigue has become a great challenge. In this context, scholars have mainly focused on solutions for relieving employees’ mental fatigue from the perspective of human resource management, but barely from employees’ ethical perspectives and that of internal and external corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employees’ ethics. This study uses hierarchical regression analysis, and attempts to formulate and analyze the relationship between CSR, perceptions of corporate hypocrisy, and employees’ mental fatigue along with the mediating role of ethical egoism and altruistic choice. It also conceptualizes models, develops various hypotheses and theoretical logic. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed, and 176 valid responses were subsequently gathered. The results show that employees’ mental fatigue significantly reduces when either internal or external CSR has a positive impact on employees’ altruistic choice and significantly increases either internal or external CSR has a negative effect on ethical egoism. Similarly, reducing perceptions of corporate hypocrisy can enhance the positive impact of external CSR on altruistic choice, which consequently reduces employees’ mental fatigue.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Corporate social responsibility (CSR); Ethical egoism; Mental fatigue; Altruistic choice; Corporate hypocrisy
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health; M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M1 - Business Administration

References

Akarsu, T. N., Foroudi, P., and Melewar, T. (2020). What makes Airbnb likeable? Exploring the nexus between service attractiveness, country image, perceived authenticity and experience from a social exchange theory perspective within an emerging economy context. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 91:102635. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102635.

Almeida, M. da G.M.C., and Coelho, A. F. M. (2019). The antecedents of corporate reputation and image and their impacts on employee commitment and performance: The moderating role of CSR. Corporate Reputation Review, 22(1): 10-25. doi: 10.1057/s41299-018-0053-8.

Argyris, C. (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing profession. Social Service Review, 49(2): 292-293. doi: 10.1086/643248.

Bahman, S. P., Kamran, N., and Mostafa, E. (2014). Corporate social responsibility: A literature review. African Journal of Business Management, 8(7): 228-234. doi: 10.5897/AJBM12.106.

Banerjee, S., Lim, K.H. J., Kamposioras, K.V., Murali, K., Kamposioras, K., et al. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on oncology professionals: Results of the ESMO resilience task force survey collaboration. ESMO open. 6:100058.

Berman, S. L., Wicks, A. C., Kotha, S., and Jones, T. M. (1999). Does stakeholder orientation matter? The relationship between stakeholder management models and firm financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 42(5): 488-506. doi: 10.5465/256972.

Boutmaghzoute, H., and Moustaghfir, K. (2021). Exploring the relationship between corporate social responsibility actions and employee retention: A human resource management perspective. Human Systems Management, 40(6): 789-801. doi: 10.3233/HSM-211202.

Branco, M. C., and Rodrigues, L. L. (2006). Corporate social responsibility and resource-based perspectives. Journal of Business Ethics, 69: 111–132. doi: 10.1007/s10551-006-9071-z.

Byrne, B. M. (1994). Structural Equation Modeling with EQS and EQS/Windows. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Chang, H. E., and Cho, S. H. (2021). The influence of social support on the relationship between emotional demands and health of hospital nurses: A cross-sectional study. Healthcare, 9(2): 115. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9020115.

Chen, F., Curran, P. J., Bollen, K. A., Kirby, J., and Paxton, P. (2008). An empirical evaluation of the use of fixed cutoff points in RMSEA test statistic in structural equation models. Sociological methods & research, 36(4): 462–494. doi:10.1177/0049124108314720.

Clarkson, M.B. (1994). A Risk Based Model of Stakeholder Theory. Tronto: The Centre for Corporate Social Performance and Ethics

Clarkson, M. B. (1995). A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. The Academy of Management Review, 20(1): 92-117. doi: 10.2307/258888.

Collier, J., and Esteban, R. (2007). Corporate social responsibility and organizational commitment. Business Ethics: A European Review, 16(1): 19-33.doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8608.2006.00466.x.

Cropanzano, R., and Mitchell, M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 31(6): 874-900. doi: 10.1177/0149206305279602.

Dmytriyev, S. D., Freeman, R. E., and Hrisch, J. (2021). The relationship between stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility: Differences, similarities, and implications for social issues in management. Journal of Management Studies, 58(6): 441-1470. doi: 10.1111/joms.12684.

Dolan, E. D., Mohr, D., Lempa, M., Joos, S., Fihn, S. D., Nelson, K. M., and Helfrich, C. D. (2015). Using a single item to measure burnout in primary care staff: A psychometric evaluation. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 30(5): 582-587. doi: 10.1007/s11606-014-3112-6.

Dragone, M., Esposito, C., De Angelis, G., Affuso, G., and Bacchini, D. (2019). Pathways linking exposure to community violence, self-serving cognitive distortions and school bullying perpetration: A three-wave study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(1): 188. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17010188.

Dutton, J. E., Dukerich, J. M., and Harquail, C. V. (1994). Organizational images and member identification. Administrative Science Quarterly, 39(2): 239-263. doi: 10.2307/2393235.

Ellis, A. D. (2009). The impact of corporate social responsibility on employee attitudes and behaviors. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2009(1): 1-6. doi:10.5465/AMBPP.2009.44251836.

Fan, X., Wang, L., and Thompson, B. (1999). Effects of sample size, estimation methods, and model specification on structural equation modeling fit indexes. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1): 56–83.

Farh, J. L., Earley, P. C., and Lin, S. C. (1997). Impetus for action: A cultural analysis of justice and organizational citizenship behavior in chinese society. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(3): 421-444. doi: 10.2307/2393733.

Farooq, O., Rupp, D.E., and Farooq, M. (2016). The multiple pathways through which internal and external corporate social responsibility influence organizational identification and multifoci outcomes: The moderating role of cultural and social orientations. Academy of Management Journal, 60(3): 954–985. doi: 10.5465/amj.2014.0849.

Fassin, Y., and Buelens, M. (2011). The hypocrisy-sincerity continuum in corporate communication and decision making: A model of corporate social responsibility and business ethics practices. Management Decision 49(4): 586-600. doi: 10.1108/00251741111126503.

Forsyth, D. R. (1992). Judging the morality of business practices: The influence of personal moral philosophies. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(5): 461-470. doi: 10.1007/BF00870557.

Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Boston: Pitman Publishing.

Freeman, R. E., and Dmytriyev, S. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder theory: Learning from each other. Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management, 2(1): 7-15. doi: 10.4468/2017.1.02freeman.dmytriyev.

Freudenberger, H. J. (1975). The staff burn-out syndrome in alternative institutions. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 12(1): 73-82. doi: 10.1037/h0086411.

Frost, F. A. (1995). The use of stakeholder analysis to understand ethical and moral issues in the primary resource sector. Journal of Business Ethics, 14(8): 653-661. doi: 10.1007/BF00871346.

Gkorezis, P. and Bellou, V. (2016), The relationship between workplace ostracism and information exchange: The mediating role of self-serving behavior, Management Decision, 54(3): 700-713. doi: 10.1108/MD-09-2015-0421.

Glavas, A. (2016). Corporate social responsibility and employee engagement: Enabling employees to employ more of their whole selves at work. Frontiers in Psychology, 7:796. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00796.

Griffin, J. J., and Mahon, J. F. (1997). The corporate social performance and corporate financial performance debate: Twenty-five years of incomparable research. Business & Society, 36(1): 5-31. doi: 10.1177/000765039703600102.

Hooper, D., Coughlan, J., and Mullen, M. R. (2008). Structural equation modelling: guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Method, 6: 53–60.

Hoyle, R. H. (2012). "Confirmatory Factor Analysis," in Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods. ed. M. Lewis-Beck, A. Bryman, and T. Liao, (Thousand Oaks,, CA: SAGE Publications) 169–175.

Iverson, R.D., Olekalns, M., and Erwin, P. J. (1998). Affectivity, organizational stressors, and absenteeism: A causal model of burnout and its consequences. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 52(1): 1-23. doi: 10.1006/jvbe.1996.1556.

Jia, Y., Yan, J., Liu, T., and Huang, J. (2019). How does internal and external CSR affect employees’ work engagement? Exploring multiple mediation mechanisms and boundary conditions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(14): 2476. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16142476.

Jiang, W. (2016). Limited public resources allocation model based on social fairness using an extended VIKOR method. Kybernetes. 45(7): 998-1012. doi: 10.1108/K-05-2014-0108.

Kabiri, S., Shadmanfaat, S., Smith, H., and Cochran, J. (2020). A social learning model of antisocial coaching behavior. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 64(8): 860-879. doi: 10.1177/0306624X19899608.

Karaibrahimoglu, Y. Z. (2010). Corporate social responsibility in times of financial crisis. African Journal of Business Management, 4(4): 382-389.

Kim, H., Rhou, Y., Topcuoglu, E., and Kim, Y. G. (2020). Why hotel employees care about corporate social responsibility (CSR): Using need satisfaction theory. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 87:102505. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102505.

Kung, Y. T., Chi, S. C., Chen, Y. C., and Chang, C. M. (2021). Using residual dynamic structural equation modeling to explore the relationships among employees' self-reported health, daily positive mood, and daily emotional exhaustion. Healthcare. 9:93. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9010093.

Lemke, M., and Vries, R. (2021). Operationalizing behavior change theory as part of persuasive technology: a scoping review on social comparison. Frontiers in Computer Science, 3:656873. doi: 10.3389/fcomp. 2021.656873.

Littlejohn, S. W., and Foss, K. A. (2009). "Organizational Identity Theory," in Encyclopedia of Communication Theory, ed. S. W. Littlejohn and K. A. Foss (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Incorporated), 717-718.

MacKenzie, S. B., Podsakoff, P. M., and Fetter, R., 1991. Organizational citizenship behavior and objective productivity as determinants of managerial evaluations of salespersons’ performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(1): 123–150.

Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., and Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1): 397-422. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397.

Miao, Q., and Zhou, J. (2020). Corporate hypocrisy and counterproductive work behavior: a moderated mediation model of organizational identification and perceived importance of CSR. Sustainability, 12(5): 1847. doi: 10.3390/su12051847.

Miles, S. (2017). "Stakeholder theory classification, definitions and essential contestability," in Stakeholder Management (Business and Society 360, Vol. 1), ed. D. M Wasieleski. (Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited), 21-47.

Miller, M. K., and Flores, D. (2007). "Social Comparison Theory," in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, ed. G. Ritzer (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons),

Miller, M. K., Reichert, J., and Flores, D. (2015). "Social Comparison," in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, ed. G. Ritzer (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons),

Mory, L., Wirtz, B. W., and Göttel, V. (2016). Factors of internal corporate social responsibility and the effect on organizational commitment. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27:1393-1425. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2015.1072103.

Mulaik, S. A., James, L. R., Van Alstine, J., Bennett, N., Lind, S., and Stilwell, C. D. (1989). Evaluation of goodness-of-fit indices for structural equation models. Psychological Bulletin, 105(3): 430–445. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.105.3.430.

O’Riordan, L., and Fairbrass, J. (2008). Corporate social responsibility (CSR): Models and theories in stakeholder dialogue. Journal of Business Ethics, 83(4): 745-758. doi: 10.1007/s10551-008-9662-y.

Prudon, P. (2015). Confirmatory factor analysis as a tool in research using questionnaires: a critique. Comprehensive Psychology, 4(10): 03.CP.4.10. doi:10.2466/03.CP.4.10.

Qi, L., Liu, B., and Mao, K. (2020). Spare the rod and spoil the child? A study on employee workplace deviant behavior. Nankai Business Reveiw International, 11(1): 1-22. doi: 10.1108/NBRI-03-2018-0019.

Richter, U. H., Shirodkar, V., and Shete, N. (2020). Firm-level indicators of instrumental and political CSR processes – A multiple case study. European Management Journal, 39(2), 279-290. doi: 10.1016/j.emj.2020.07.004.

Roberts, P., and Priest, H. (2006). Reliability and validity in research. Nursing Standard, 20(44):, 41–46.

Runkel, P. J., Argyris, C., and Schon, D. A. (1976). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness. The Journal of Higher Education, 47(1): 113. doi: 10.2307/1978718.

Saleem, M., Qadeer, F., Mahmood, F., Han, H., Giorgi, G., and Ariza-Montes, A. (2021). Inculcation of green behavior in employees: A multilevel moderated mediation approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(1): 331. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18010331.

Scheidler, S., Edinger-Schons, L. M., Spanjol, J., and Wieseke, J. (2019). Scrooge posing as Mother Teresa: How hypocritical social responsibility strategies hurt employees and firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 157(2): 339-358. doi: 10.1007/s10551-018-3788-3.

Schermelleh-Engel, K., Moosbrugger, H., and Müller, H. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of Psychological Research, 8(2): 23–74.

Schumacker, R. E., and Lomax, R. G. (1996). A Beginner’s Guide to Structural Equation Modeling: Fourth Edition. New York: Psychology Press.

Shao, B., Cardona, P., Ng, I., and Trau, R. (2017). Are prosocially motivated employees more committed to their organization? The roles of supervisors' prosocial motivation and perceived corporate social responsibility. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 34(4): 951-974. doi: 10.1007/s10490-017-9512-5.

Sheldon, O. (2003). The Philosophy of Management. London: Routledge.

Sidgwick, H. (2011). The Methods of Ethics. Cambridge,: Cambridge University Press.

Slack, R. E., Corlett, S., and Morris, R. (2015). Exploring employee engagement with (corporate) social responsibility: a social exchange perspective on organisational participation. Journal of Business Ethics, 127(3): 537-548. doi: 10.1007/s10551-014-2057-3.

Sürücü, L., and Maslakci, A. (2020). Validity and reliability in quantitative research. Bus. Manag. Business And Management Studies An International Journal, 8(3): 2694–2726. doi:10.15295/bmij.v8i3.1540.

Tavakol, M., and Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2(PMC4205511): 53-55. doi:10.5116/ijme.4dfb.8dfd. Taber, K. S. (2018). The use of Cronbach’s alpha when developing and reporting research instruments in science education. Research in Science Education, 48(6): 1273-1296. doi: 10.1007/s11165-016-9602-2.

Tekleab, A. G., Reagan, P. M., Do, B., Levi, A., and Lichtman, C. (2020). Translating corporate social responsibility into action: a social learning perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 171(4): 756. doi:10.1007/s10551-020-04447-y.

Thau, S., Crossley, C., Bennett, R. J., and Sczesny, S. (2007). The relationship between trust, attachment, and antisocial work behaviors. Human Relations, 60(8): 1155-1179. doi: 10.1177/0018726707081658.

Thompson, M. J., Carlson, D. S., Kacmar, K. M., and Vogel, R. M. (2019). The cost of being ignored: Emotional exhaustion in the work and family domains. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(2): 186-195.. doi: 10.1037/apl0000433.

Thyer, B. A., and Myers, L. L. (1998). Social learning theory. J. Hum. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 1(1): 33-52. doi:10.1300/J137v01n01_03.

Tiwari, M., Tiwari, T., Sam Santhose, S., Mishra, L., MR, R., and Sundararaj, V. (2021). Corporate social responsibility and supply chain: A study for evaluating corporate hypocrisy with special focus on stakeholders. International Journal of Finance & Economics, 1–13. doi: 10.1002/ijfe.2483.

Tokoro, N. (2007). Stakeholders and corporate social responsibility (CSR): A new perspective on the structure of relationships. Asian Business & Management, 6(2): 143-162.doi: 10.1057/palgrave.abm.9200218.

Villalba-Ríos, P., Barroso-Castro, C., and Vecino-Gravel, J. D., (2022). The influence of CEO profile on corporate social responsibility companies. A qualitative comparative analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(2): 356–366. doi: 10.1002/csr.2205.

Wagner, T., Lutz, R. J., and Weitz, B. A. (2009). Corporate hypocrisy: Overcoming the threat of inconsistent corporate social responsibility perceptions. Journal of Marketing, 73(6): 77-91. doi: 10.1509/jmkg.73.6.77.

Wu, T. J., Gao, J. Y., Wang, L. Y., and Yuan, K. S. (2020). Exploring links between polychronicity and job performance from the person–environment fit perspective—The mediating role of well-being. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(10): 3711. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17103711.

Wu, T. J., Wang, L. Y., Gao, J. Y., and Wei, A. P. (2020). Social support and well-being of Chinese special education teachers - An emotional labor perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(18): 6884. doi:10.3390/ijerph17186884.

Wu, Y. J., and Wu, T. (2019). Innovative work behaviors, employee engagement, and surface acting: A delineation of supervisor-employee emotional contagion effects. Management Decision, 57(11): 32003216. doi: 10.1108/MD-02-2018-0196.

Yang, J., and Diefendorff, J. M. (2010). The relations of daily counterproductive workplace behavior with emotions, situational antecedents, and personality moderators: A diary study in Hong Kong. Personnel Psychology, 62(2): 259-295. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.2009.01138.x.

Žukauskas, P., Vveinhardt, J., and Andriukaitienė, R. (2018). Corporate Social Responsibility as the Organization’s Commitment against Stakeholders. London: IntechOpen.