A Preliminary Investigation into the Role of Positive Psychology in Consumer Sensitivity to Corporate Social Performance

Abstract

Research on positive psychology demonstrates that specific individual dispositions are associated with more desirable outcomes. The relationship of positive psychological constructs, however, has not been applied to the areas of business ethics and social responsibility. Using four constructs in two independent studies (hope and gratitude in Study 1, spirituality and generativity in Study 2), the relationship of these constructs to sensitivity to corporate social performance (CSCSP) were assessed. Results indicate that all four constructs significantly predicted CSCSP, though only hope and gratitude interacted to impact CSCSP. Discussion focuses upon these findings, limitations of the study, and future avenues for research.

Responsible Leadership as Virtuous Leadership

“…For example, honesty, transcendent meaning, caring and giving behavior, gratitude, hope, empathy, love, and forgiveness, among other virtues, have been found to predict desired outcomes, such as individuals' commitment, satisfaction, motivation, positive emotions, effort, physical health, and psychological health (Andersson et al 2007;Giacalone et al 2005;Fry et al 2005;Kellett et al 2006;Gittell et al 2006;Luthans et al 2007;Dutton and colleagues 2006;Grant 2007;Snyder 1994;Sternberg 1998;Seligman 2002;Peterson and Bossio 1991;Harker and Keltner 2001;McCullough et al 2000;Emmons 1999). While relatively few studies have investigated virtuousness in the leadership of organizations, a limited number of investigations have explored the effects of virtuous leadership on organizational performance.…”

Applying Rawlsian Approaches to Resolve Ethical Issues: Inventory and Setting of a Research Agenda

“…Within the field of business ethics there is growing interest in the testing of ethical frameworks (cf. Giacalone et al, 2005;Robertson et al, 2008;Zarkada-Fraser, 2000), which could contribute to understanding how WRE can be established. This course should be explored further and in more depth.…”

Spiritual Intelligence of Civil Servants of Punjab and Chandigarh in Relation to their Ethical Behavior

“…For example, spiritual individuals in the workplace are more likely to demonstrate greater fairness and kindness (Baiberman & Whitty, 1997), enhanced teamwork (Mitroff & Denton, 1999;Neck & Milliman, 1994), increased trust and honesty within their organisations (Brown, 2003;Krishnakumar & Neck, 2002), increased awareness of needs of colleagues (Cash & Gray, 2000), higher incidences of organizational citizenship behaviour OCB (Nur & Organ, 2006), and expression of more subordinate supervisor behaviour (Beazley & Gemmill, 2006). The spiritual ones are prone to perceive the ethical nature of business issues more clearly ( Giacalone & Jurkiewicz, 2003b) and are more sensitive to corporate social performance (Giacalone, Paul & Jurkiewicz, 2005).…”