Investigating the impact of ethical leadership on employee thriving: effects of employee CSR attributions and environmental uncertainty

Purpose Grounded in social cognitive theory (SCT), this study examines how and when ethical leadership (EL) influences employee thriving by investigating the mediating and moderating effects of employees’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) attributions and environmental uncertainty (EU), respectively. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected in three waves from a sample of 278 employees working in Taiwan’s service sectors, including airlines, hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and logistics firms. Findings The findings indicate that EL significantly enhances employee thriving. Both employee substantive and symbolic CSR attributions positively mediate this relationship, with symbolic attribution exerting a stronger mediating effect. Moreover, EU weakens the positive impact of EL on substantive CSR attribution but does not significantly moderate the relationship between EL and symbolic CSR attribution. Originality/value This study contributes to the leadership and thriving literature by introducing substantive and symbolic CSR attributions as key cognitive processes that link EL to employee thriving. By identifying EU as a boundary condition, it also advances EL research and enriches SCT, highlighting how an external environmental factor (EU) interacts with organizational influences (EL) to shape employee CSR attributions.