Can Authentic CEO Activism Motivate Employee Issue Advocacy? Investigating the Mediating Role of Elevation

This study investigates how CEO activism on controversial sociopolitical issues, when perceived as authentic, is associated with employee issue advocacy intentions. Grounded in the literature of authentic leadership communication, social identity theory, and broaden-and-build theory, we conducted an online survey of 442 U.S. full-time employees exposed to CEO activism communication. The findings reveal that authentic CEO activism communication, demonstrating self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral values, and balanced processing, elicits the self-transcendent emotion of elevation among employees, regardless of their stance alignment with CEO’s. Elevation, in turn, strengthens employees’ identification with the company and enhances their intention to participate in issue advocacy. These findings contribute to understanding the role of authentic CEO activism, communication, and self-transcendent emotion in building company identity and driving employee engagement in issue advocacy, offering valuable theoretical and practical insights.