The Psychology of Corporate Social Responsibility: Employee Perceptions, Ethical Leadership, and Prosocial Behavior at Work

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) research has traditionally focused on strategic management, corporate governance, and stakeholder relations, highlighting how organizations use CSR to enhance reputation or fulfill ethical and regulatory obligations. However, a growing body of literature in organizational psychology emphasizes that CSR outcomes are largely determined by internal dynamics — in particular, how employees perceive and respond to their employer’s social and environmental initiatives. Employees’ attributions of CSR authenticity can profoundly shape their motivation, trust, and sense of meaning at work. Whereas genuine CSR engagement tends to strengthen identification and commitment, perceived “greenwashing” (e.g., symbolic environmental claims unmatched by action) or hypocrisy can trigger cynicism and disengagement.Emerging work has also linked CSR perception with well-being, ethical leadership, and psychological safety. Despite this progress, the mechanisms explaining how CSR translates into individual attitudes and behaviors remain fragmented, and cross-disciplinary integration between CSR research and organizational psychology is still limited. A more unified understanding of the psychological foundations of CSR can help clarify when it supports ethical and sustainable organizational cultures — and when it falls short.This Research Topic aims to explore CSR as a lived psychological experience within organizations. It seeks to unpack how employees interpret, internalize, and enact CSR in their daily work, and how leadership, motivation, and organizational climate influence this process. Contributors are invited to examine how ethical, servant, and responsible leadership foster CSR authenticity, and how CSR engagement links to prosocial motivation, meaningful work, and well-being. Guiding questions include: What cognitive, affective, and social mechanisms underlie employees’ responses to CSR? Under what conditions do CSR initiatives inspire collective prosocial behavior or, conversely, elicit moral disengagement or fatigue? The ultimate goal is to advance a psychologically grounded model of CSR that connects individual experiences with broader organizational ethics and sustainability outcomes.The scope of this Research Topic encompasses empirical, conceptual, and review contributions grounded in organizational psychology and related disciplines. It primarily focuses on micro-level processes through which employees and leaders shape CSR outcomes, though papers integrating multiple levels of analysis are welcome.To gather further insights into employee-centered CSR dynamics, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Employee perceptions and attributions of CSR (substantive vs. symbolic)• Ethical, servant, and responsible leadership as transmitters of CSR meaning• Prosocial motivation, meaningful work, and organizational identification• Organizational citizenship and pro-environmental behavior at work• CSR, psychological safety, well-being, and burnout• The “dark side” of CSR: perceived hypocrisy (e.g., greenwashing), moral licensing, and CSR fatigue• Cross-cultural and small-to-medium enterprise (SME) perspectives on employee CSR engagementAccepted article types include empirical studies, conceptual frameworks, theoretical reviews, and meta-analyses.Note: All contributions submitted through Frontiers in Psychology are examined through an organizational psychology lens, with primary focus on individual- and team-level psychological processes — including perception, motivation, identity, and well-being. Submissions centered on environmental governance, corporate strategy, or sustainability outcomes are better suited to be submitted through other sections of Frontiers journals. For any questions about your submission, contact your editorial office at psychology@frontiersin.org Topic editors: Katarina Zvarikova, Jakub Michulek, Zdenko Metzker Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82884/the-psychology-of-corporate-social-responsibility-employee-perceptions-ethical-leadership-and-prosocial-behavior-at-work