Abstract
While the past decade has brought growing interest in and focus on the subjective wellbeing of society, there have been few empirical studies that have explored the social responsibilities, roles, and contributions of business, despite the pervasiveness of businesses as one of the core social institutions of modern societies. Through a survey of 1319 Australians, this study examines public perspectives of the social responsibilities of business to enhance subjective wellbeing. The findings suggest that the public does believe that businesses have some social responsibilities for subjective wellbeing. Exploratory analyses suggest that support is stronger for less privileged segments of the Australian public, and that a greater degree of social responsibility is expected for high-proximity stakeholders (e.g., employees) than low-proximity stakeholders (e.g., customers). Further, business activities that enhance subjective wellbeing may translate into desirable instrumental outcomes relevant to business performance. While findings need to be confirmed in other samples and using alternative study designs, the results suggest that ongoing policy debates on the various social determinants of societal wellbeing might benefit from incorporating consideration of the roles and responsibilities of business.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
We initially set this up to ask participants to rank order all fourteen social issues by perceived importance. Feedback from pilot participants indicated that the cognitive load of the task was excessively high. To enhance the participant experience and minimize attrition (Sikkel et al. 2014) we opted to have participants rate each item for importance, rather than indicating a specific order.
References
Ahuvia, A., Thin, N., Haybron, D., Biswas-Diener, R., Ricard, M., & Timsit, J. (2015). Happiness: An interactionist perspective. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(1), 1–18.
Amrhein, V., Trafimow, D., & Greenland, S. (2019). Inferential statistics as descriptive statistics: There is no replication crisis if we don’t expect replication. The American Statistician, 73(sup1), 262–270.
Ayton, P., Pott, A., & Elwakili, N. (2007). Affective forecasting: Why can't people predict their emotions? Thinking & Reasoning, 13(1), 62–80.
Barnett, M. L., & Salomon, R. M. (2012). Does it pay to be really good? Addressing the shape of the relationship between social and financial performance. Strategic Management Journal, 33(11), 1304–1320.
Beresford, P. (2005). Redistributing profit and loss: The new economics of the market and social welfare. Critical Social Policy, 25(4), 464–482.
Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2004). Doing better at doing good: When, why, and how consumers respond to corporate social initiatives. California Management Review, 47(1), 9–24.
Bies, R. J., Bartunek, J. M., Fort, T. L., & Zald, M. N. (2007). Corporations as social change agents: Individual, interpersonal, institutional, and environmental dynamics. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 788–793.
Box, G. E. P. (1976). Science and statistics. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 71, 791–799.
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) (2013). A new CSR frontier: Business and population health. Retrieved from https://www.bsr.org/reports/BSR_A_New_CSR_Frontier_Business_and_Population_Health.pdf. Accessed 16 Aug 2019.
Business Roundtable (2019). Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation. Retrieved from https://www.businessroundtable.org/business-roundtable-redefines-the-purpose-of-a-corporation-to-promote-an-economy-that-serves-all-americans. Accessed 20 Mar 2020.
Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39–48.
Carroll, A. B. (2018). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Social Performance (CSP). In R. W. Kolb (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of business ethics and society (pp. 746–754). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Carroll, A. B., & Shabana, K. M. (2010). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 85–105.
Chaudary, S., Zahid, Z., Shahid, S., Khan, S. N., & Azar, S. (2016). Customer perception of CSR initiatives: Its antecedents and consequences. Social Responsibility Journal, 12(2), 263–279.
Chia, A. (2018) National happiness: A neo-utilitarian corporate objective or a social responsibility? In K. Ura, & S. Chophel (Eds.), Seventh International Conference on Gross National Happiness, Thimphu, Bhutan, 2017 (pp. 300–328): The Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH.
Chia, A., & Singh, P. (2019). A breath of fresh air: Creating shared value in the Philippines. In C. Prange & R. Kattenbach (Eds.), Management Practices in Asia (pp. 167–185). Cham: Springer.
Chia, A., Kern, M. L., & Neville, B. A. (2020). CSR for happiness: Corporate determinants of societal happiness as social responsibility. Business Ethics: A European Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12274.
Costa, M., & Torrecchia, P. (2018). Social, environmental and financial information. In S. O. Idowu, C. Sitnikov, D. Simion, & C. G. Bocean (Eds.), Current issues in corporate social responsibility: An international consideration (pp. 25–44). Cham: Springer.
Crawford, J. R., & Henry, J. D. (2004). The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS): Construct validity, measurement properties and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43(3), 245–265.
Delle Fave, A., Brdar, I., Freire, T., Vella-Brodrick, D., & Wissing, M. P. (2011). The eudaimonic and hedonic components of happiness: Qualitative and quantitative findings. Social Indicators Research, 100(2), 185–207.
Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Beyond money toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5(1), 1–31.
Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2018). Beyond money: Progress on an economy of well-being. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 171–175.
Diener, E., & Tay, L. (2017). A scientific review of the remarkable benefits of happiness for successful and healthy living. In K. Ura (Ed.), Happiness: Transforming the Development Landscape (pp. 90–117). Thimphu: Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH.
Diener, E., Sapyta, J. J., & Suh, E. M. (1998). Subjective well-being is essential to wellbeing. Psychological Inquiry, 9(1), 33–37.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2015). National accounts of subjective well-being. American Psychologist, 70(3), 234–242.
Dodd, M. (2018). Globalization, Pluralization, and Erosion: The Impact of Shifting Societal Expectations for Advocacy and Public Good. The Journal of Public Interest Communications, 2(2), 221–238.
Driscoll, C., & Starik, M. (2004). The primordial stakeholder: Advancing the conceptual consideration of stakeholder status for the natural environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 49(1), 55–73.
Dunn, E. W., Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2003). Location, location, location: The misprediction of satisfaction in housing lotteries. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(11), 1421–1432.
Edgeworth, F. Y. (1885). Methods of statistics. Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Jubilee Volume, 181–217.
Enderle, G. (2004). Global competition and corporate responsibilities of small and medium-sized enterprises. Business Ethics: A European Review, 13(1), 50–63.
Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), 1–4.
Flammer, C. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and shareholder reaction: The environmental awareness of investors. Academy of Management Journal, 56(3), 758–781.
Forgeard, M. J. C., Jayawickreme, E., Kern, M. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Doing the right thing: Measuring well-being for public policy. International Journal of Well-being, 1, 79–106.
Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. (1970, 13 Sept). New York Times Magazine, pp. 1–6.
Hall, T. J. (2011). The triple bottom line: What is it and how does it work? Indiana Business Review, 86(1), 4–8.
Huppert, F., & So, T. (2013). Flourishing across Europe: Application of a new conceptual framework for defining well-being. Social Indicators Research, 110(3), 837–861.
Judge, T. A., & Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D. (2011). Happiness as a societal value. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 25(1), 30–41.
Kennedy, R. F. (1968). Remarks at the University of Kansas, march, 1969. Retrieved from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Website: https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/RFK-Speeches/Remarks-of-Robert-F-Kennedy-at-the-University-of-Kansas-March-18-1968.aspx. August 27, 2019.
Kennedy-Shaffer, L. (2019). Before p<.05 to beyond p<.05: Using history to contextualize p-values and significance testing. The American Statitician, 73, 82–90.
Kern, M. L., Park, G., Eichstaedt, J. C., Schwartz, H. A., Sap, M., Smith, L. K., & Ungar, L. H. (2016). Gaining insights from social media language: Methodologies and challenges. Psychological Methods, 21, 507–525.
Keyes, C. L. M., & Annas, J. (2009). Feeling good and functioning well: Distinctive concepts in ancient philosophy and contemporary science. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(3), 197–201.
Klimkiewicz, K., & Oltra, V. (2017). Does CSR enhance employer attractiveness? The role of millennial job seekers' attitudes. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 24(5), 449–463.
Krueger, J. I., & Heck, P. R. (2019). Putting the p-value in its place. The American Statitician, 73(supp 1), 122–128.
Kubiszewski, I., Zakariyya, N., & Costanza, R. (2018). Objective and subjective indicators of life satisfaction in Australia: How well do people perceive what supports a good life? Ecological Economics, 154, 361–372.
Lu, L., Gilmour, R., Kao, S.-F., Weng, T.-H., Hu, C.-H., Chern, J.-G., Huang, S. W., & Shih, J. B. (2001). Two ways to achieve happiness: When the east meets the west. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(7), 1161–1174.
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803–855.
Ma, C. M. S., Shek, D. T. L., & Li, P. P. K. (2019). Service leadership through serving socially deprived students: Experience gained from corporate–community– university partnership (project WeCan). In D. T. L. Shek, G. Ngai, & S. C. F. Chan (Eds.), Service-learning for youth leadership (pp. 83–112). Singapore: Springer.
Maignan, I., & Ralston, D. A. (2002). Corporate social responsibility in Europe and the US: Insights from businesses’ self-presentations. Journal of International Business Studies, 33(3), 497–514.
McShane, B., Gal, D., Gelman, A., Robert, C., & Tackett, J. L. (2019). Abandon statistical significance. The American Statistician, 73(sup1), 235–245.
Oishi, S., & Gilbert, E. A. (2016). Current and future directions in culture and happiness research. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, 54–58.
Oishi, S., Graham, J., Kesebir, S., & Galinha, I. C. (2013). Concepts of happiness across time and cultures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(5), 559–577.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2013). OECD guidelines on measuring subjective well-being. Paris: OECD.
Oswald, A. J., Proto, E., & Sgroi, D. (2015). Happiness and productivity. Journal of Labor Economics, 33(4), 789–822.
Palazzo, G., & Scherer, A. G. (2008). Corporate social responsibility, democracy, and the politicization of the corporation. Academy of Management Review, 33(3), 773–775.
Pedersen, E. R. (2010). Modelling CSR: How managers understand the responsibilities of business towards society. Journal of Business Ethics, 91(2), 155–166.
Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006). Strategy and society, the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review, 85(12), 78–92.
PwC. (2016). Redefining business success in a changing world: CEO survey. Retrieved from United Kingdom: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/2016/landing-page/pwc-19th-annual-global-ceo-survey.pdf. July 21, 2019.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141–166.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081.
Ryff, C. D. (1995). Psychological well-being in adult life. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4(4), 99–104.
Ryff, C. D. (2014). Psychological well-being revisited: Advances in the science and practice of eudaimonia. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 83(1), 10–28.
Schons, L., & Steinmeier, M. (2016). Walk the talk? How symbolic and substantive CSR actions affect firm performance depending on stakeholder proximity. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 23(6), 358–372.
Sen, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Korschun, D. (2006). The role of corporate social responsibility in strengthening multiple stakeholder relationships: A field experiment. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34(2), 158–166.
Sikkel, D., Steenbergen, R., & Gras, S. (2014). Clicking vs. dragging: Different uses of the mouse and their implications for online surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly, 78(1), 177–190.
Shek, D. T. L., Cheng, M. N. S., & Ma, C. M. S. (2019a). Nurturing service leadership qualities in university students through corporate-Community-University partnership. In D. T. L. Shek, M. N. S. Cheng, & C. M. S. Ma (Eds.), Service-learning for youth leadership (pp. 113–131). Singapore: Springer.
Shek, D. T. L., Ma, C. M. S., & Yang, Z. (2019b). Transformation and development of university students through service-learning: A corporate-community-university partnership initiative in Hong Kong (Project WeCan). Applied Research in Quality of Life, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-019-09738-9.
Sheldon, K. M., Gunz, A., Nichols, C. P., & Ferguson, Y. (2010). Extrinsic value orientation and affective forecasting: Overestimating the rewards, underestimating the costs. Journal of Personality, 78(1), 149–178.
Shirokova, G., Osiyevskyy, O., & Bogatyreva, K. (2016). Exploring the intention–behavior link in student entrepreneurship: Moderating effects of individual and environmental characteristics. European Management Journal, 34(4), 386–399.
Steptoe, A. (2019). Happiness and health. Annual Review of Public Health, 40, 339–359.
Suh, E. M., & Koo, J. (2008). Comparing subjective well-being across cultures and nations: The "what" and "why" questions. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 414–427). New York: The Guildford Press.
United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) (2019). The decade to deliver: A call to business action. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/library/5715. Accessed 15 June 2019.
Veenhoven, R. (1994). Tests of the theory that a better society does not make people any happier. Social Indicators Research, 32, 101–160.
Waddock, S. (2010). The social contract of business in society. In G. Aras & D. Crowther (Eds.), A handbook of corporate governance and social responsibility (pp. 69–82). Surrey: Gower Publishing.
Waddock, S. (2014). The changing social role of business in a world of collapsing boundaries. In M. Pirson, U. Steinvorth, C. Largacha-Martinez, & C. Dierksmeier (Eds.), From capitalistic to humanistic business (pp. 48–70). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wartick, S. L., & Cochran, P. L. (1985). The evolution of the corporate social performance model. Academy of Management Review, 10(4), 758–769.
Wasserstein, R. L., Schirm, A. L., & Lazar, N. A. (2019). Moving to a world beyond “p<0.05”. The American Statitician, 73(supp 1), 1–19.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070.
Western, M., & Tomaszewski, W. (2016). Subjective wellbeing, objective wellbeing and inequality in Australia. PLoS One, 11(10), e0163345.
Wiist, W. H. (2010). The corporation: An overview of what it is, its tactics, and what public health can do. In W. H. Wiist (Ed.), The bottom line or public health : Tactics corporations use to influence health and health policy and what we can do to counter them (pp. 3–72). New York: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
This research project was approved the Human Ethics Advisory Group on of the researchers’ home institution. The ethics ID of this project will be provided upon request for verification.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Informed Consent
All research participants were provided with a Plain Language Statement. Data was only included in the study if the participant provided their informed consent.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendices
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chia, A., Kern, M.L. Subjective Wellbeing and the Social Responsibilities of Business: an Exploratory Investigation of Australian Perspectives. Applied Research Quality Life 16, 1881–1908 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-020-09846-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-020-09846-x