Emotional Effects of Distributive Justice as a Function of Autocratic Leader Behavior1

The present research examined the effect of distributive justice and autocratic leadership style on followers' negative emotions. It was predicted that distributive justice would influence followers' negative emotions if the leader did not adopt an autocratic leadership style (i.e., not being pushy in the process leading to the decision). Results from a scenario experiment and an organizational survey indeed showed that distributive justice and autocratic leadership style interacted to influence followers' negative emotions such that the relationship between distributive justice and negative emotions was significant when the leadership style was low in autocratic behavior. Implications in terms of integrating the leadership and justice literature are discussed.