How Leader Gender Moderates the Serial Mediation Chain Linking SRHRM to Proactive Work Behaviors?

Drawing from sensemaking theory, this study investigates how socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) influences employee proactive work behavior (EPWB) through underlying psychological processes and contextual factors. While prior research suggests SRHRM enhances positive employee outcomes, limited attention has been paid to the mechanisms through which employees interpret and internalize SRHRM practices, and how these interpretations drive proactive behaviors. Using a time-lagged survey of 756 employees in multinational companies in Southeast Vietnam, the study tests a serial mediation model where work meaningfulness and organizational pride sequentially transmit the effects of SRHRM to EPWB. Structural equation modeling results reveal that SRHRM does not directly predict EPWB but operates entirely through this psychological chain. Furthermore, multi-group analysis shows leadership gender moderates the indirect pathway: female leaders amplify the positive effects of SRHRM on employees’ sensemaking and subsequent behaviors, while male leaders weaken them. These findings contribute to HRM and organizational behavior literature by advancing sensemaking theory in explaining how socially responsible practices translate into discretionary employee actions and identifying leadership gender as a critical contextual variable. Practical implications suggest organizations should design SRHRM interventions that foster meaningful work experiences and strategically leverage leadership characteristics to enhance employee proactivity.本研究依托意义建构理论（sensemaking theory），探讨社会责任人力资源管理（socially responsible human resource management, SRHRM）如何通过潜在心理过程与情境因素，影响员工主动工作行为（employee proactive work behavior, EPWB）。尽管既往研究表明SRHRM可提升员工积极产出，但现有研究对员工解读与内化SRHRM实践的机制，以及此类解读如何驱动主动行为的关注仍较为有限。本研究针对越南东南部跨国企业的756名员工开展了时滞调查，检验了一个序列中介模型：工作意义感与组织自豪感依次将SRHRM的影响传递至EPWB。结构方程模型分析结果显示，SRHRM并未直接预测EPWB，而是完全通过该心理链条发挥作用。进一步的多群组分析表明，领导性别对该间接路径具有调节作用：女性领导者会强化SRHRM对员工意义建构及后续行为的积极影响，而男性领导者则会削弱此类影响。本研究推进了意义建构理论在解释社会责任实践如何转化为员工自主行为方面的应用，并明确了领导性别作为关键情境变量的作用，从而为人力资源管理与组织行为学领域的文献贡献了新的见解。研究的实践启示表明，企业应设计可培育员工有意义工作体验的SRHRM干预方案，并战略性地利用领导特征以提升员工的主动工作表现。