Internal Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Burnout: The Complementary Role of Responsible Leadership

ABSTRACT This study synthesizes the literature on how internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) is associated with employee burnout and examines responsible leadership as an emerging complementary condition. Using a Scopus‐based mixed review design, the study combines bibliometric mapping of 68 records with a PRISMA‐guided qualitative synthesis of 16 studies. The findings indicate that burnout and CSR constitute the conceptual core of the field, whereas responsible leadership remains less consolidated. Internal CSR practices, including organizational support, fairness, work‐life balance, wellbeing benefits, and psychologically safe climates, are consistently associated with lower burnout or emotional exhaustion. The review develops an evidence‐informed interpretive framework organized around three pathways—resources, relationships, and meaning—through which internal CSR and responsible leadership may shape burnout‐related outcomes. The article contributes by reframing burnout as an internal sustainability outcome and by identifying a focused research agenda for sustainable and psychologically healthy workplaces.