Looking in and looking out: Effects of (in)congruent corporate social responsibility on organizational cynicism

• Zhen Li

  Renmin University of China

• Fuxi Wang

  China Agricultural University

• Liqian Yang

  Renmin University of China

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts targeting both internal stakeholders (i.e., employees) and external stakeholders (i.e., environment, community, consumers) can mitigate employees’ negative attitudes and behavior. However, the effects of (in)congruence between internal CSR (ICSR) and external CSR (ECSR) perceptions have not yet been examined. We used social comparison theory to investigate the joint effects of ICSR and ECSR perceptions on organizational cynicism, by conducting a polynomial regression analysis of 342 employees with data from a two-wave survey. The results show that employees experienced higher cynicism when ICSR and ECSR perceptions were incongruent, with high ECSR–low ICSR causing greater cynicism. Thus, there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between congruent CSR perceptions and organizational cynicism. Our findings have implications for research and practice.

1. Zhen Li, Renmin University of China

   School of Labor and Human Resources

2. Fuxi Wang, China Agricultural University
   College of Economics and Management
3. Liqian Yang, Renmin University of China

   School of Labor and Human Resources

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