Why do good soldiers in good organizations behave wrongly? The vicarious licensing effect of perceived corporate social responsibility

PurposeWhile most corporate social responsibility (CSR) research has focused on its positive effects, the potential “dark side” of CSR has received scant attention. Grounded in vicarious moral licensing theory and insights from related literature, the current study examines how employees' perceptions of external CSR could result in unintentional negative consequences like unethical pro-organizational behavior via psychological entitlement. The study also investigates the direct and conditional effects of private self-awareness.Design/methodology/approachA two-wave survey of 609 full-time employees from various occupations was conducted to empirically test the hypotheses. Several techniques and remedies were applied to control the quality of the sample data and mitigate the effects of potential common method bias.FindingsThe results demonstrate that unethical pro-organizational behavior can be an unintentional negative outcome of perceived external CSR, and psychological entitlement mediates the relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThis work contributes to the moral licensing literature by examining vicarious moral licensing in the work domain. It offers several new and significant implications for research on CSR, psychological entitlement, and unethical pro-organizational behavior. The results suggest that managers should be mindful of unethical pro-organizational behavior as a potential negative consequence of external CSR engagement.Originality/valueThis study is among the first attempts to examine vicarious moral licensing in the work domain and investigates a largely neglected research area – the negative aspect of external CSR.