Corporate social responsibility: chief executive officer overconfidence and its impact on corporate engagement and disclosure—a meta-analysis

This study enhances the understanding of managerial behavior and corporate governance by analyzing how CEO overconfidence affects corporate social responsibility (CSR), particularly in terms of CSR engagement and the quality of CSR disclosure. Using a rigorous meta-analysis approach, this study synthesizes the results of 75 scientific articles from three major databases: Web of Science, Scopus and JSTOR to test eight research hypotheses. The statistical analysis, carried out using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) 3.0 software, is based on random effects model, confirmed by heterogeneity test results (Q-statistic and I²). Moderation analyses were conducted to assess the impact of several governance mechanisms (board gender diversity, ownership structure) as well as contextual factors (firm size, industry competition and cultural norms). The results show that CEO overconfidence is positively linked to CSR engagement, suggesting that this psychological disposition can motivate responsible actions with strategic aims. However, overconfidence negatively affects the quality of CSR information disclosure, raising concerns about the transparency and authenticity of the reported engagement. These effects are not uniform, they are significantly moderated by both internal governance structures and external contextual conditions. Future studies should examine (1) the effect of institutional contexts, ownership structure, and cultural orientations on the relationship between overconfidence and corporate social responsibility (engagement and disclosure), (2) open a line of inquiry into how artificial intelligence and digital tools can moderate managerial biases, (3) analyze governance mechanisms promoting authentic CSR engagement, (4) develop behavioral interventions to calibrate CEO overconfidence without neglecting emerging personality traits such as narcissism and excessive optimism.