How public relations professionalism influences corporate social responsibility: a survey of practitioners

The purpose of this study is to explore how public relations practitioners professionalism is associated with their attitudes towards corporate social responsibility. The quantitative on-line survey was completed by 289 respondents drawn from the national sample of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). The result revealed that practitioners with high professionalism have more positive attitudes towards corporate social responsibility. Additionally, practitioners longer permanence of job and larger PR departments size affect their professionalism positively. Female practitioners have more positive attitudes towards corporate social responsibility than male practitioners, and older practitioners have more positive attitudes towards corporate social responsibility than younger practitioners. This study suggests ways for practitioners to improve their professionalism by focusing on their roles in giving an organization direction for being socially responsible.