Relationships between organizational justice, identification with organization and work unit, and group-related outcomes

This research examined the differential antecedents and consequences of organizational identification and work-unit identification. Specifically, we hypothesized that organization-focused procedural justice and distributive justice would be positively related to organizational identification, whereas supervisor-focused interactional justice would be positively related to work-unit identification. A further hypothesis was that organizational identification would relate to organization-focused outcomes (turnover intentions and extra-role behavior toward the organization), and work-unit identification to work-unit-focused outcomes (extra-role behavior toward the work unit). Our results from a sample of 160 employees of a research institution supported these hypotheses. In addition, we found some evidence that organizational identification and work-unit identification differentially mediated the relationships between organization-focused and supervisor-focused justice, and organization-focused and work-unit-focused outcomes. We discuss our findings in terms of their implications for social-identity research on organizational identification, and for research on organizational justice.     

Explaining the justice-performance relationship: trust as exchange deepener or trust as uncertainty reducer?

Past research has revealed significant relationships between organizational justice dimensions and job performance, and trust is thought to be one mediator of those relationships. However, trust has been positioned in justice theorizing in 2 different ways, either as an indicator of the depth of an exchange relationship or as a variable that reflects levels of work-related uncertainty. Moreover, trust scholars distinguish between multiple forms of trust, including affect- and cognition-based trust, and it remains unclear which form is most relevant to justice effects. To explore these issues, we built and tested a more comprehensive model of trust mediation in which procedural, interpersonal, and distributive justice predicted affect- and cognition-based trust, with those trust forms predicting both exchange- and uncertainty-based mechanisms. The results of a field study in a hospital system revealed that the trust variables did indeed mediate the relationships between the organizational justice dimensions and job performance, with affect-based trust driving exchange-based mediation and cognition-based trust driving uncertainty-based mediation.     

Contemporary justice research: A new look at familiar questions

Research on organizational justice has flourished in the last 30 years. During that time, researchers have generally sought to answer three questions: (1) Why do people care about justice? (2) What affects justice judgments? and (3) What outcomes are associated with justice judgments? The papers in this special issue of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes on organizational justice reflect how these three questions are explored in contemporary justice research. This introduction to the special issue considers how the papers represent trends and developments in current justice research. Several themes are identified: the role of justice in a broader model of group engagement, the empirical examination of justice as a moral virtue, the effect of social context on justice judgments, and the darker reactions to injustice. Thus, the special issue provides insight not only to familiar justice questions but also to the evolution of the field and its future direction.     

How to Promote Innovative Behavior at Work? The Role of Justice and Support Within Organizations

To provide a more developed research model of innovation in organizations, we reconsidered current thinking about the effects of organizational justice on innovative behavior at work. We investigated the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) between the two constructs. As hypothesized, empirical results showed that justice dimensions were related to innovative behavior of employees, whereas all of their relationships became no longer significant when POS intervened (full mediation). This indicates that organizational justice promotes innovative behavior through the psychological mechanism of POS rather than directly. We discussed implications and limitations of this study, and proposed future research avenues.     

Procedural justice climate and group power distance: an examination of cross-level interaction effects

In this article, the authors extend research on the cross-level effects of procedural justice climate by theorizing and testing its interaction with group power distance. The results indicated that group power distance moderated the relationships between procedural justice climate and individual-level outcomes (organizational commitment and organization-directed citizenship behavior). More specifically, a larger group power distance was found to attenuate the positive cross-level effects of procedural justice climate. Implications for procedural justice climate research are discussed.     

The moderating effect of perceived organizational support on the relationships between organizational justice and objective measures of cardiovascular health

This paper builds on a recent meta-analytic review on the relationships between organizational justice and health. Specifically, we examine the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS) on the relationships between organizational justice and three objective cardiovascular health measures, namely, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure, among a population of 290 public construction workers. The interaction between justice and POS was statistically significant using procedural justice, demonstrating that procedural justice is associated with improvements in the three health outcomes only when POS is relatively high. In other words, higher levels of both procedural justice and POS were needed for reduced heart rate and reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure. However, the interaction between distributive justice and POS did not significantly relate to the health outcomes. This study makes a contribution to the field by focusing the effects of psychosocial workplace variables on measures of cardiovascular health, and demonstrating an important boundary condition of the relationships between procedural justice and cardiovascular risk factors.     

The Moderating Effects of Justice on the Relationship Between Organizational Politics and Workplace Attitudes

Research suggests that perceptions of organizational politics consistently result in negative outcomes for individuals. In the current study, distributive and procedural justice are explored for their effects on the relationships between perceptions of organizational politics and turnover intentions and job satisfaction. We tested these relationships in a sample of 311 employees of a water management district. Results indicated the politics––turnover intentions and politics––job satisfaction relationships were weaker when perceptions of both forms of justice are high. Further, and potentially more interestingly, politics mattered the most when the distribution of outcomes was unfair (distributive justice) as opposed to when procedures were unfair (procedural justice). Implications for future research and management practice are discussed.     

组织公正感研究进展

章先介绍了公正及公正感的概念,进而分析了组织公正感的概念。国外组织公正感的研究可分成3个阶段,首先由Adams提出分配公平,之后Thibaut、Leventhal等提出程序公正,最后Bies等提出相互作用公正。尽管国外对组织公正感研究比较广泛,但对公正感的结构及测量方法还存在分歧,有单因素理论、双因素理论、三因素理论和四因素理论。     

Applying organizational justice theory to admission into higher education: Admission from a student perspective

Applicant perceptions of methods used in admission procedures to higher education were investigated using organizational justice theory. Applicants to a psychology study program completed a questionnaire about several admission methods. General favorability, ratings on justice dimensions, relationships between general favorability and these dimensions, and differences in perceptions based on gender and on the aim of the admission procedure (selection or matching) were studied. In addition, the relationship between favorability and test performance, and the relationship between favorability and behavioral outcomes were investigated. Applicants rated interviews and trial‐studying tests most favorably. Contrary to expectations based on the existing literature, high school grades were perceived least favorably and there was no relationship between applicant perceptions and enrollment decisions. In line with previous research in the employment literature, general favorability was most strongly related to face validity, study‐relatedness, applicant differentiation, the chance to show skills, perceived scientific evidence, and perceived wide‐spread use. We found no differences in applicant perceptions based on gender and small differences based on the aim of admission procedures. These results extend the applicant perceptions literature to educational admission and the results are useful for administrators when choosing methods to admit students.     

Crossnational deviance in the workplace: Diverging impact of organizational commitment in Canada and Belgium

Using a self-report questionnaire from the aggressor's point of view, this study contrasted employees' frustration, perception of procedural justice, organizational commitment, and their relationships to interpersonal deviance in Canada and Belgium. Significant main effects were found in both countries for frustration and procedural justice on psychological and physical violence. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses revealed significant interactions of country by normative and continuance commitment in interpersonal deviance, indicating the unique patterns relationships in Canada and Belgium. Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions was used to discuss the results.     

It's different to give than to receive: predictors of givers' and receivers' reactions to favor exchange

The present research examines episodes of favor exchange among peer employees. We posit that favor receivers' and favor givers' commitment to their exchange relationships with one another will be accounted for by different factors. As predicted, in 2 different organizational contexts, receivers' commitment to their relationships with givers was found to be more related to their judgments of the givers' interactional justice when performing the favor, whereas givers' commitment to their relationships with receivers was shown to be more associated with their judgments of the favorability of the outcomes associated with the favor that they performed. The implications of these findings for how givers and receivers can better manage favor exchange, and hence their relationships with each other, are discussed.     

Perceptions of the organizational context and psychological contract breach: Assessing competing perspectives

This study examines how employees’ perceptions of specific features of the organizational context—organizational politics and procedural justice—are related to their evaluations of psychological contract breach and subsequent attitudes and behaviors. Across three studies, we examined the appropriateness of four models for describing relationships among the focal constructs. Results of these studies support (a) an environmental responsiveness model in which psychological contract breach mediates the effects of politics and justice on employee outcomes, and (b) a general fairness evaluation model where politics, justice, and psychological contract breach serve as indicators of a higher order factor that predicts employee attitudes and behavior. Implications and directions for future research are presented.     

Psychometric properties of a four-component Norwegian Organizational Justice Scale

Organizational justice has attracted attention as a predictor of employees' mental and physical health as well as commitment and work outcomes. The lack of a Norwegian translation of an organizational justice scale has precluded its use in Norway. Four dimensions of the organizational justice construct were examined in a Norwegian military context, including facet measures of distributional, interpersonal, and informational justice developed by Colquitt in 2001, in addition to procedural justice developed by Moorman in 1991. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-dimensional structure with good internal consistency. Follow-up analyses have suggested that the four dimensions were nested beneath a general, latent organizational justice factor. A positive relationship between organizational justice and self-sacrificial behavior was found, indicating satisfactory construct validity. The results demonstrate that the Norwegian Organizational Justice Scale is a reliable and construct-valid measure of organizational justice in a Norwegian setting.     

Work gets unfair for the depressed: cross-lagged relations between organizational justice perceptions and depressive symptoms

The organizational justice literature has consistently documented substantial correlations between organizational justice and employee depression. Existing theoretical literature suggests this relationship occurs because perceptions of organizational (in)justice lead to subsequent psychological health problems. Building on recent research on the affective nature of justice perceptions, in the present research we broaden this perspective by arguing there are also theoretical arguments for a reverse effect whereby psychological health problems influence perceptions of organizational justice. To contrast both theoretical perspectives, we test longitudinal lagged effects between organizational justice perceptions (i.e., distributive justice, interactional justice, interpersonal justice, informational justice, and procedural justice) and employee depressive symptoms using structural equation modeling. Analyses of 3 samples from different military contexts (N? = 625, N? = 134, N? = 550) revealed evidence of depressive symptoms leading to subsequent organizational justice perceptions. In contrast, the opposite effects of organizational justice perceptions on depressive symptoms were not significant for any of the justice dimensions. The findings have broad implications for theoretical perspectives on psychological health and organizational justice perceptions.     

分配不公正下的退缩行为：程序公正和互动公正的影响

以160名中学教师为被试,采用2×2的完全随机设计,以模拟故事（scenarios）的方法呈现刺激,研究了在职称评定中分配不公正的前提下,程序公正/不公正,互动公正/不公正对教师的退缩行为（消极怠工、拒绝帮助、离职、对校长的消极态度）的影响。结果表明,在分配不公正条件下：（1）程序公正、互动公正均影响教师的消极怠工程度;（2）程序公正、互动公正均影响教师的拒绝帮助行为程度,而且交互作用显著;（3）互动公正影响教师对上司的消极态度,程序公正无显著影响;（4）程序公正和互动公正对离职意愿影响均不显著     

When organizational justice and the self-concept meet: Consequences for the organization and its members

In two studies, we examined the joint effects of employed participants’ self-concept levels and perceptions of fairness on organizational attitudes and citizenship behavior intentions. We examined the effects of chronic self-concept activation in Study 1, whereas we primed the working self-concept in Study 2. Combining the results of both studies, we found support for our hypotheses that particular self-concept levels and organizational justice dimensions interact to predict various work-related outcomes. Specifically, we observed interactions between the relational self-concept and interactional justice, and between the collective self-concept and procedural justice, such that the justice–outcome relationships were stronger for those experiencing higher activation on the relevant self-concept level. Thus, as hypothesized, justice information is weighted differently depending on the particular level of self-concept that is active. In addition, interesting direct effects of employees’ self-concepts were also observed. We discuss the implications of these findings and the importance of considering the self-concept in conjunction with organizational justice.     

时间视角下的组织公正研究

组织公正的动态研究是在时间视角下分析组织公正的变化及其影响。根据研究中不同的时间跨度,可将该领域研究分为短期公正变化与长期公正变化研究。短期公正变化研究主要分析公正事件在日层次上的变化对组织内个体的影响。长期公正变化则分析组织内个体过往的公正经历如何影响他们当前的心理与行为。研究主要从自我调节资源的变化、长时社会交换、不确定管理及社会认知角度解释公正的动态影响。未来可从公正动态变化的特征、前因机制及其差异化影响机制开展研究。     

Organizational Justice Dimensions: Validation of an Arabic Measure

There is a continued debate regarding the dimensions of organizational justice. The present project investigated the dimensionality of organizational justice and the validity of an Arabic measure of organizational justice for a Kuwaiti samples. The first study sample consisted of 1,184 Kuwaitis (619 males and 565 females) from two groups: 728 employees and 456 teachers working in the public sector. The second study sample consisted of 373 participants (190 employees and 183 teachers). The instrument items were based on a careful review of the organizational justice literature to ensure relevance to the sample culture. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) using WLSMV estimator is used. WLSMV method is more appropriate for our data because variables are measured on an ordinal scale. WLSMV is considered a less bias estimator compared with the standard maximum likelihood in case of ordinal data. CFA analyses identified the four distinctive factors of distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational organizational justice. The four‐factor model fit the data significantly better than one‐, two‐ or three‐factor models. Moreover, the study revealed that these four dimensions of organizational justice were significantly correlated with the four relevant outcomes of instrumentality, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and collective esteem. Using the Arabic version of Colquitt's ( 2001 ) instrument (Fischer et al., 2011 ), the second study presented an evidence of concurrent validity of the new Arabic scale. The present study confirmed the four‐factor dimensionality of organizational justice. Results of the current study may raise the issue of development of scales versus translation of well‐ developed ones. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Warning Against Faking on a Personality Test: Effects on Applicant Reactions and Personality Test Scores

To reduce faking on personality tests, applicants may be warned that a social desirability scale is embedded in the test. Although this procedure has been shown to substantially reduce faking, there is no data that addresses how such a warning may influence applicant reactions toward the selection procedure or the relationships among personality constructs. Using an organizational justice framework, this study examines the effect of warning on procedural justice perceptions. Additionally, the extent to which warning changes the relationships among personality variables, socially desirable responding, and organizational justice variables, was explored. The results suggest that warning did not negatively affect test‐taker reactions. However, the relationships among the justice measures and the personality variables and socially desirable responding differed across the warned and unwarned groups. The organizational justice model fit best and there was less multicollinearity among the personality variables in the warned condition, compared to the unwarned condition. Thus, providing a warning appears to have positive consequences when using personality measures.     

Personality and Perceived Justice as Predictors of Survivors’ Reactions Following Downsizing1

Downsizing, when deemed unfair, can result in negative outcomes in terras of survivors’ job attitudes and behaviors. Little research to date has examined whether a survivor's personality moderates these reactions. The present study examines the roles of personality and organizational justice in survivors’ reactions to downsizing. Results show that angry hostility moderates the relationships between survivors’ perceived interactional justice and (a) their organizational commitment, and (b) their intention to quit following downsizing. Specifically, the relationship between interactional justice and both criterion variables was significant only when angry hostility was low. Self‐discipline was found to moderate the relationship between survivors’ interactional justice and their organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) such that there was a significant positive correlation between interactional justice and OCB only for those employees who were low on self‐discipline. These findings are discussed in light of how supervisors could best manage downsizing.