The Effect of Managerial Pessimism and Investment on Corporate Social Responsibility of Companies

In recent years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a key topic in management and accounting, reflecting firms’ efforts to reduce negative and enhance positive impacts on society, the environment, and stakeholders. In Iran’s capital market, especially the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), CSR has gained importance due to social expectations, regulatory pressures, and investor demands. However, the determinants of CSR, particularly managers’ psychological characteristics and corporate investment decisions, have been relatively underexplored . Managerial pessimism, as a psychological trait, reflects a negative view of the future, excessive caution, and risk aversion in strategic decisions. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of managerial pessimism and investment on corporate social responsibility. This study is applied in terms of purpose and is a descriptive research in terms of method. The statistical population of the study is the Tehran Stock Exchange and the research sample is 167 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange in the 9-year period between 2016 and 2024. In order to test the research hypotheses, multivariate regression with mixed data and Iviews software was used. The results of the research findings show that managerial pessimism reduces the disclosure of corporate social responsibility. Also, corporate investments have an impact on social responsibility.