CEO Characteristics and Corporate Social Responsibility and Irresponsibility: Mirrored or Distinct Correlates? A Meta-Analytic Review

Research Question/Issue: Are specific characteristics of CEOs—a key corporate governance actor—related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and/or Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI) of the firms they lead?. Research Findings: Based on 420 primary studies (425 independent samples), this meta-analysis found that a majority of CEO characteristics examined were significantly associated with firm-level CSR and less consistently related to CSI. Only three characteristics (gender, political connections, and liberalism) demonstrated symmetric relationships, such that the sign/valence was positive for CSR (CSI) and negative for CSI (CSR). Education was positively associated with CSR (but not CSI), whereas tenure showed negative, and narcissism positive, associations with both. Institutional context altered some relationships. Rather than being inversely related, the relationship between CSR and CSI was moderate and positive, further demonstrating that CSR and CSI are not simply two ends of a “corporate social performance” continuum. Theoretical/Academic Implications: This work advances corporate governance and strategic leadership research by providing across-study estimates of relationships between a host of CEO characteristics and two seemingly opposite forms of corporate social performance. Practitioner/Policy Implications: These findings suggest a framework for succession planning and executive selection that considers both CSR and CSI tendencies, while accounting for context and CEO characteristics that may act as a double-edged sword.