The present invention provides a method for producing water-absorbing resin particles having high equilibrium swelling capacity, a high water-absorption rate or high initial swelling capacity, and an appropriate particle size that achieves good handling performance; water-absorbing resin particles obtained by the method; and a water blocking material and an absorbent article which include the water-absorbing resin particles. The present invention is a method for producing water-absorbing resin particles, which comprises: preparing a hydrogel polymer by reversed-phase suspension polymerization of a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer in a hydrocarbon solvent in the absence of an internal crosslinking agent but in the presence of a surfactant with an HLB of 8 to 12; carrying out a post-crosslinking reaction of the hydrogel polymer whose moisture content is adjusted to 30 to 110 mass % based on a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer component that composes the hydrogel polymer.