Employee-Oriented CSR and Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: The Role of Perceived Insider Status and Ethical Climate Rules

Abstract

Although existing research generally has found that corporate social responsibility (CSR) has a positive impact on organizations and individuals, researchers should still be alert to the potential risks it may bring. This study will explore why employee-oriented corporate social responsibility (employee-oriented CSR) triggers unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). Based on the social identity theory, this study establishes a moderated mediation model to explore the impact mechanism of employee-oriented CSR on UPB. We collected survey data from 298 employees of manufacturing organizations to test our research model. The regression statistics results indicate that employee-oriented CSR can indirectly (via perceived insider status (PIS)) affect employees’ UPB. Moreover, ethical climate rules negatively moderate the relationship between PIS and UPB, and negatively moderate the indirect effect of employee-oriented CSR on UPB. This study promotes a full understanding of the impact of CSR, expands the micro-foundation of CSR, and extends the research on the antecedents of employees’ UPB by revealing the social-psychological mechanism of employee-oriented CSR impact UPB, and also gives specific suggestions to put into practice.