DIFFERENT WRONGS,DIFFERENT REMEDIES? REACTIONS TO ORGANIZATIONAL REMEDIES AFTER PROCEDURAL AND INTERACTIONAL INJUSTICE

To alleviate the negative effects of workplace unfairness and resulting conflict, organizations can take remedial action to atone for a perceived injustice. We argue that the effectiveness of organizational remedies may depend on the match between type of injustice perceived and type of remedy offered. Specifically, based on the multiple needs model of justice ( Cropanzano, Byrne, Bobocel, & Rupp, 2001 ), we expect procedural injustice to be particularly associated with preference for instrumental remedies that address the need for control. On the other hand, interactional injustice should be particularly associated with preference for punitive remedies that address the need for meaning. Confirming this hypothesis, a field study involving recently terminated employees found that procedural injustice was positively associated with preference for an instrumental remedy (monetary compensation) and interactional injustice was positively associated with preference for a punitive remedy (disciplinary action against those involved in the termination). Further supporting the hypothesis, a laboratory experiment manipulating the unfairness of performance feedback found greater preference for an instrumental remedy relative to a punitive remedy following a procedural injustice than following an interactional injustice. In discussing these results, we present a taxonomy of organizational remedies as they relate to the multiple needs model of justice. Practical implications are discussed.     

Effective social support: Antecedents and consequences of partner support during pregnancy

This longitudinal study investigated a new conceptualization of the effectiveness of social support attempts called social support effectiveness (SSE) that takes into account the quantity and quality of support attempts and the extent to which they meet the needs of recipients. SSE was assessed in a sample of 176 pregnant women with regard to their partners’ social support behaviors. Potential antecedents of SSE were investigated, including individual and relationship variables. In addition, it was hypothesized that women who appraised their partner’s support as more effective would have lower prenatal anxiety, both concurrently (in mid‐pregnancy) and prospectively (in late pregnancy). Factor analyses confirmed that all hypothesized aspects of SSE contributed to a unitary factor of SSE. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed antecedents and consequences of SSE. Results revealed that women’s ratings of the effectiveness of partner support were predicted by their interpersonal orientation (adult attachment, network orientation, kin individualism–collectivism, and social skills) and by characteristics of their relationships with their partners (relationship quality, emotional closeness and intimacy, and equity). Furthermore, women who perceived themselves to have more effective partner support reported less anxiety in mid‐pregnancy and showed a reduction in anxiety from mid‐ to late pregnancy. Findings are discussed with regard to implications for advancing research on social support processes, especially within relationship contexts.     

Words as Weapons—When Do They Wound? Investigations of Harmful Speech

The following investigations juxtapose jurisprudence and communication literatures to examine under what conditions racist speech is perceived as harmful. Specifically, one theory of legal liability, the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress, and one intergroup approach, social identity theory, guided three empirical studies investigating verbally disturbing communication targeted at Asian Americans. The studies examined how the attribution of harm was influenced by variables such as group membership, message severity, message explicitness and the medium ofpresentation. One finding in particular, an interaction between group membership and message explicitness (direct vs. indirect), emerged across the three studies. Results revealed that as “objective” evaluators of deprecating speech, out-group members attributed the direct messages of racism to be more harmful than in-group members did, but, conversely, in-group members evaluated the indirect messages of racism to be more harmful than the out-group members did. Theoretical explanations for this finding and its resulting legal implications are discussed.     

Effects of relationship education on emerging adults' relationship beliefs and behaviors

In this multisite study, we used a randomized controlled trial to examine how a relationship education intervention affected emerging adults' maladaptive relationship beliefs, mutuality, relationship decision making, relationship quality, and psychological distress. In addition, we explored whether one intervention modality (i.e., facilitated group discussion) was more/less effective than another (i.e., self‐facilitated online) and whether there were differential effects for participants in a relationship. We found that the facilitated group evidenced a decline in maladaptive relationship beliefs and an improvement in deliberate decision making. Moreover, facilitated group participants in a relationship reported higher levels of mutuality. Contrary to our hypothesis, there were no changes in relationship quality or psychological distress. Implications for the content and delivery of relationship education for emerging adults are discussed.     

Interactive Frameworks for Investigation of Goal Programming Models: Theory and Practice

This paper discusses means of introducing decision maker input into the goal programming model in order to produce more satisfactory solutions. Both formal interactive methods and informal trial-and-error approaches are discussed. The design criteria for the choice of the initial test solution and the stopping criteria for the final solution are detailed. The area of presentation of results to, and elicitation of preferences from, the decision maker is dealt with. Practical suggestions for means of parameter alteration to produce alternative solutions are given. Finally, the integration of the above issues into an integrated framework is discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distress and aggression during dating conflict: A test of the coercion hypothesis

Research with clinically depressed and maritally discordant couples suggests that women's distressed behaviors function to suppress their partners' subsequent aggressive responses. We applied this coercion hypothesis to a nonclinical sample of dating couples (N = 288). We further examined whether these effects were gender‐specific, and whether distressed and aggressive behaviors differ within physically violent versus nonviolent relationships. Women but not men reported engaging in elevated rates of distress in response to partner aggression during past dating conflicts. However, both women and men expected distressed behavior to suppress partner aggression during future conflicts. Expectations about the functional effects of distressed behavior did not differ for participants with physically violent partners versus nonviolent partners. However, participants in violent relationships reported enacting more distressed behaviors and had greater expectations for partner verbal aggression during future conflicts than did participants in nonviolent relationships. Future research may identify the early onset of dysfunctional interaction patterns in couples and concomitant psychological distress.