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Psychometric properties of a German organizational justice questionnaire (G-OJQ) and its association with self-rated health: findings from the Mannheim Industrial Cohort Studies (MICS)

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Abstract

Purpose

The objective of the present study was to validate a German 11-item organizational justice questionnaire (G-OJQ) that consists of two subscales, referred to as “procedural justice” (PJ) and “interactional justice” (IJ) adapted from Moorman’s organizational justice (OJ) questionnaire. A second objective was to determine associations of the G-OJQ with self-rated health.

Methods

This study used cross-sectional data from an occupational cohort of 1518 factory workers from Germany (87.7 % male; mean age = 38.8 with SD = 11.9). After splitting the sample in two random subsamples, we assessed structural validity by exploratory factor analyses in one subsample and by confirmatory factor analysis in the other subsample. Internal validity was assessed by Cronbach’s α. Associations with self-reported poor health were estimated by logistic regression.

Results

The full scale and its subscales yielded Cronbach’s α’s of ≥0.9, and item-total correlations were ≥0.5. Factor analyses confirmed the expected 2-factor structure, labeled “interactional justice” (IJ, 4 items, λ 0.43–0.94) and “procedural justice” (PJ, 7 items, λ 0.46–0.83), respectively, and showed an acceptable fit to the data (χ 2 = 61; p = .001; CFI = 0.995; RMSEA = 0.037). The OJ total score as well as subscale scores in the lowest quartile, when compared to the highest quartile, was associated with an ≥2.3 increased odds of reporting poor health.

Conclusion

The G-OJQ seems to be a valid and useful tool for observational and intervention studies in occupational settings. Future studies may additionally explore longitudinal associations and test the generalizability of the present findings to other populations and health outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Ludolf-Krehl-Strasse 7-11, 68167, Mannheim, Germany

    Raphael M. Herr, Jian Li, Jos A. Bosch, Burkhard Schmidt, Joachim E. Fischer & Adrian Loerbroks

  2. Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Weesperplein 4, 1018 XA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Raphael M. Herr & Jos A. Bosch

  3. Workplace Health Group, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    David M. DeJoy

  4. Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Jian Li

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  1. Raphael M. Herr
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Correspondence to Raphael M. Herr.

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Herr, R.M., Li, J., Bosch, J.A. et al. Psychometric properties of a German organizational justice questionnaire (G-OJQ) and its association with self-rated health: findings from the Mannheim Industrial Cohort Studies (MICS). Int Arch Occup Environ Health 87, 85–93 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-012-0839-4

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