Firm‐Level Corporate Social Responsibility and Employees' Affective Outcomes: A Multilevel Approach

ABSTRACT This study advances research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employees' work attitudes by distinguishing between employee‐level CSR perceptions and firm‐level CSR practices. Prior research has mainly focused on how employees' perceptions of CSR relate to their affective outcomes; this study extends that perspective by jointly examining both levels to clarify their distinct and interrelated associations. Using a multilevel framework, we analyzed the relationships between firm‐level CSR practices—charitable donations, employee volunteering, diversity and equal opportunity promotion, and the integration of ethical values into selection and promotion—and employees' CSR perceptions regarding donations, goals, and discrimination. We then related these to three affective outcomes: work engagement, job satisfaction, and affective organizational commitment. Hierarchical linear modeling was applied to data from 1419 employees across 355 German establishments. The findings revealed weak associations between firm‐level CSR practices and employee‐level CSR perceptions except for donations, and limited evidence of a direct positive cross‐level relationship between firm‐level CSR practices and affective outcomes. In contrast, employees' CSR perceptions were consistently and positively related to all three affective outcomes. CSR perceptions did not mediate the relationship between CSR practices and affective outcomes. These results highlight that employees' subjective CSR perceptions differ from firms' objective CSR practices. The study emphasizes the need to distinguish between perceptions and practices in future CSR research and warns against relying solely on perceptions as proxies for organizational CSR engagement.