The Catalyst of Moral Emotions: Unpacking How and When Perceived Socially Responsible Human Resource Management Impacts Employee Expediency

ABSTRACT

Given the covert, prevalent, and costly nature of employee expediency, identifying effective human resource management (HRM) practices to curb such behavior is important. Drawing on the theories of moral emotions, we propose that perceived socially responsible HRM (SRHRM) elicits organization‐directed, other‐praising moral emotions, which in turn inhibit employee expediency. Moreover, we theorize moral ownership as a boundary condition that amplifies this indirect effect. Through a two‐wave field study in China and a pre‐registered experiment in the US and the UK, our hypotheses were empirically supported.