The employee-focused outcomes of CSR participation: The mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction

This study seeks to explore how CSR participation impacts the subjective well-being of frontline employees. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study proposes that psychological needs satisfaction mediates the relationship between CSR participation and the subjective well-being of frontline employees. With data collected from a field survey of 12 four-star and five-star hotels in Sanya, China, the findings reveal that both employee' in-role and extra-role CSR participation exerts a significantly positive impact on subjective well-being. The results also confirm a mediating effect of psychological needs satisfaction (i.e., autonomy and competence, except for relatedness) in the CSR participation-subjective well-being linkage. The findings of our study extend previous models that depict micro-level, employee-focused outcomes of CSR by advancing a more nuanced understanding of this missing mediating link in the interface of CSR-workplace outcomes.