Multilevel examination of how and when socially responsible human resource management improves the well-being of employees

Although empirical evidence has shown that socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) practices positively influence employees’ outcomes, knowledge on the social impact of SRHRM practices on employee well-being has been limited. Drawing upon the social information processing theory and attribution theory, we investigate whether, how, and when SRHRM practices increase the well-being of employees. Using multiphase and multilevel data from 474 employees in 50 companies, we find that SRHRM practices positively predict employee well-being and that the relationship is mediated by employees’ perspective-taking. Furthermore, substantive attributions strengthen the positive relationship between SRHRM practices and perspective-taking of employees, whereas symbolic attributions weaken this relationship. We also find that substantive attributions positively moderate the indirect effect of SRHRM practices on employee well-being through perspective-taking, whereas symbolic attributions negatively moderate this indirect effect. Our study contributes to the understanding of the complex effect that SRHRM has on employee well-being.