Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Differential Predictions of Organizational Justice and Injustice: Contribution of Injustice in Prevention-Laden Outcomes

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Trends in Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The distinction between justice and injustice has gained more interest recently. Voices have been raised to clarify the possible distinction between them. The main goal of the paper is to investigate the importance of injustice over the use of justice alone when predicting prevention-laden outcomes. After reviewing the organizational justice theories and literature, we propose that justice and injustice together will be better able to explain the prevention-laden outcomes such as distractions, hostility, and job stress. A quantitative, follow-up design was used to test our study’s hypotheses. The sample of the study consisted of 1582 Kuwaiti employees used to investigate the dimensionality of justice/injustice. To further investigate our hypotheses, we followed up a random sample of 404 participants. Measures of justice/injustice in addition to relevant outcomes have been administered. EFA and CFA analyses revealed that justice and injustice were loaded in separate factors. In addition, injustice was found to be more relevant to some prevention-laden outcomes. Assessing injustice alongside justice could provide more value in explaining counterproductive outcomes than using regular rule adherence measures of justice alone.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The data described in this article will be available upon request from the corresponding author.

Notes

  1. Note that the factor structure is tested first for all measures separately. Results of these analyses can be found in Appendix 2.

  2. We choose items that Alkhadher and Gadelrab (2016) translated into Arabic and reported their acceptable validity and reliability in the Arabic version.

References

  • Alkhadher, O., & Gadelrab, H. (2016). Test of the dimensionality of an Arabic Measure of Organizational Justice. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 24(4), 337–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alkhadher, O. (2007). [Arabic adaptation of the Job Stress Survey.] Egyptian Journal for Psychological Studies, 17(54), 151–173.

  • Allen, N. J., & Meyer, J. P. (1990). The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1990.tb00506.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakhshi, A., Kumar, K., & Rani, E. (2009). Organizational justice perceptions as predictor of job satisfaction and organization commitment. International Journal of Business and Management, 4(9), 145–154. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v4n9p145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barclay, L., Skarlicki, D. P., & Pugh, S. D. (2005). Exploring the role of emotions in injustice perceptions and retaliation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 629–643. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.4.629

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bies, R. J. (2001). Interactional (in)justice: The sacred and profane. In J. Greenberg & R. Cropanzano (Eds.), Advances in organizational justice (pp. 89–118). Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bies, R. J., & Tripp, T. M. (2002). Hot flashes, open wounds: Injustice and the tyranny of its emotions. In S. Gilliland, D. Steiner, & D. Skarlicki (Eds.), Emerging perspectives on managing organizational justice (pp. 203–223). Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozionelos, N., & Simmering, M. J. (2022). Methodological threat or myth? Evaluating the current state of evidence on common method variance in human resource management research. Human Resource Management Journal, 32(1), 194–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, A. H., & Perry, M. P. (1992). The aggression questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 452–459. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.63.3.452

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cammann, C., Fichman, M. G., Jenkins, D., & Klesh, J. R. (1983). Assessing the attitudes and perceptions of organizational members. In S. E. Seashore, E. E. Lawler, P. H. Mirvis, & C. Cammann (Eds.), Assessing organizational change (pp. 71–138). Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cojuharenco, I., & Patient, D. (2013). Workplace fairness versus unfairness: Examining the differential salience of facets of organizational justice. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 86(3), 371–393. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12023

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colquitt, J. A. (2001). On the dimensionality of organizational justice: A construct validation of a measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 386–400. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.386

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colquitt, J. A., & Shaw, J. C. (2005). How should organizational justice be measured? In J. Greenberg & J. A. Colquitt (Eds.), Handbook of organizational justice (pp. 113–152). Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colquitt, J. A., Long, D. M., Rodell, J. B., & Halvorsen-Ganepola, M. D. K. (2015). Adding the “in” to justice: A qualitative and quantitative investigation of the differential effects of justice rule adherence and violation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 278–297. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038131

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colquitt, J. A., & Rodell, J. B. (2015). Measuring justice and fairness. In R. Cropanzano & M. L. Ambrose (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of organizational justice (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press.

  • Cropanzano, R., Stein, J. H., & Nadisic, T. (2011). Social justice and the experience of emotion. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12006-3

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • De Cremer, D., & Van Hiel, A. (2006). Effects of another person’s fair treatment on one’s own emotions and behaviors: The moderating role of how much the other cares for you. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 100(2), 231–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.10.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeVellis, R. F. (1991). Scale development: Theory and applications. Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662169101500413

  • Dulebohn, J. H., Conlon, D. E., Sarinopoulos, I., Davison, R. B., & McNamara, G. (2009). The biological basis of unfairness: Neuroimaging evidence for the distinctiveness of procedural and distributive justice. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 110(2), 140–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.09.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, R. (2016). Justice and culture. In C. Sabbagh & M. Schmitt (Eds.), Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research (pp. 459–475). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, R., & Smith, P. B. (2003). Reward allocation and culture: A meta-analysis. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34, 251–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022103034003001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, R., Ferreira, M. C., Jiang, D. Y., Chen, B. S., Achoui, M., Wong, C. C., Baris, G., Mendoza, S., van Meurs, N., Achmadi, D., Hassan, A., Berberoglu, G., Harb, C., Darwish, D. D., & Assmar, E. M. L. (2011). Are perceptions of organizational justice universal? An exploration of measurement invariance across thirteen cultures. Social Justice Research, 24, 297–313. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-011-0142-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folger, R. (1987). Reformulating the preconditions of resentment: A referent cognitions model. In J. C. Masters & W. P. Smith (Eds.), Social comparison, Social justice, and relative deprivation: Theoretical, empirical, and policy perspectives (pp. 183–215). Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folger, R., & Cropanzano, R. (2001). Fairness theory: Justice as accountability. In J. Greenberg & R. Cropanzano (Eds.), Advances in organizational justice (pp. 1–55). Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1988). Ways of coping questionnaire. Psychological Press. https://doi.org/10.1037/t06501-000

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gadelrab, H., & Alkhadher, O. (2017). To translate or to develop a measure? The case of a new Arabic measure of organizational justice. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 25(1), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilliland, S. (2008). The tails of justice: A critical examination of the dimensionality of organizational justice constructs. Human Resource Management Review, 18(4), 271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2008.08.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilliland, S. W., Benson, L., III., & Schepers, D. H. (1998). A rejection threshold in justice evaluations: Effects on judgment and decision-making. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 76, 113–131. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.1998.2801

  • Gilliland, S. W., & Chan, D. (2001). Justice in organizations: Theory, methods, and applications. In N. Anderson, D. S. Ones, H. Sinangil, & C. Viswesvaran (Eds.), Handbook of Industrial, Work, and Organizational Psychology (Vol. 21) pp.143–165). Sage Publications.

  • Graham, J. W. (2012). Analysis of missing data. In J. W. Graham, Missing Data (pp. 47–69). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4018-5_2

  • Greenberg, J. (2011). Organizational justice: The dynamics of fairness in the workplace. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 271–327). American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlos, K. P., Pinder, C. C. (1999). Patterns of organizational justice: A taxonomy of what employees regard as unjust. Advances in Qualitative Organizational Research (pp. 97–125), Vol.2. JAI Press.

  • Herche, J., & Engelland, B. (1996). Reversed-polarity items and scale dimensionality. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 24(4), 366–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070396244007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 1280–1300. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.12.1280

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E. T. (1998). Promotion and prevention: Regulatory focus as a motivational principle. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 30, pp. 1–46). Academic Press.

  • Hillebrandt, A., & Barclay, L. J. (2013). Integrating organizational justice and affect: New insights, challenges, and opportunities. Social Justice Research, 26(4), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-013-0193-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1994). The business of international business is culture. International Business Review, 3(1), 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (2004). Personality and culture revisited: Linking traits and dimensions of culture. Cross-Cultural Research, 38(1), 52–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397103259443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.

  • Hofstede, G. H. (1980), Culture consequences: International differences in work-related values. Sage Publications.

  • Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Sage Publications.

  • Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modelling, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Idson, L. C., Liberman, N., & Higgins, E. T. (2000). Distinguishing gains from non-losses and losses from non-gains: A regulatory focus perspective on hedonic intensity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 36(3), 252–274. https://doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1999.1402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ito, T. A., Larsen, J. T., Smith, N. K., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1998). Negative information weighs more heavily on the brain: The negativity bias in evaluative categorizations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 887–900. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.4.887

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jaworski, B. J., & Kohli, A. K. (1991). Supervisory feedback: Alternative types and their impact on salesperson’s performance and satisfaction. Journal of Marketing Research, 28(2), 190–201. https://doi.org/10.2307/3172807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, D. A., & Skarlicki, D. P. (2013). How perceptions of fairness can change: A dynamic model of organizational justice. Organizational Psychology Review, 3(2), 138–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386612461665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., Scott, B. A., & Ilies, R. (2006). Hostility, job attitudes, and workplace deviance: Test of a multilevel model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 126–138. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.1.126

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kark, R., & Van-Dijk, D. (2007). Motivation to lead, motivation to follow: The role of the self-regulatory focus in leadership processes. Academy of Management Review, 32, 500–528. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.24351846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Labroo, A. A., & Patrick, V. (2009). Psychological distancing: Why happiness helps you see the big picture. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 800–809. https://doi.org/10.1086/593683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanaj, K., Chang, C., & Johnson, R. E. (2012). Regulatory focus and work-related outcomes: A review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138(5), 998–1034. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027723

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0141347300015019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C., Pillutla, M., & Law, K. (2000). Power-distance, gender and organizational justice. Journal of Management, 26(4), 685–704.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, M. J. (1996). Doing justice to the justice motive. In L. Montada & M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Current societal concerns about justice (pp. 1–8). Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacCallum, R. C., Widaman, K. F., Zhang, S., & Hong, S. (1999). Sample size in factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 4, 84–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markovits, Y., Ullrich, J., Dick, R. V., & Davis, A. J. (2008). Regulatory foci and organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73, 485–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2008.09.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matta, F., Scott, B., Colquitt, J., Koopman, J., & Passantino, L. (2017). Is consistently unfair better than sporadically fair? An investigation of justice variability and stress. Journal of Academic Management, 60(2), 743–770. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2014.0455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, R. C., & Gavin, M. B. (2005). Trust in management and performance: Who minds the shop while the employees watch the boss? Academy of Management Journal, 48, 874–888. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2005.18803928

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikula, G. (1987). Exploring the experience of injustice. In G. R. Semin & B. Krahe (Eds.), Issues in contemporary German social psychology: History, theories, and application (pp. 74–96). Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mutaz, A., & Abu-Abaa’, S. (1995). Hostility behavior dimensions: Comparative factorial study. Psychological Studies, 5(3), 521–580.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2012). Mplus user’s guide (seventh edition). Muthén & Muthén.

  • Muthén, B. O., du Toit, S. H. C., & Spisic, D. (1997). Robust inference using weighted least squares and quadratic estimating equations in latent variable modelling with categorical and continuous outcomes (Unpublished technical report). Retrieved from http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/muthen/articles/ Article_075.pdf.

  • Niehoff, B. P., & Moorman, R. H. (1993). Justice as a mediator of the relationship between methods of monitoring and organizational citizenship behavior. The Academy of Management Journal, 36(3), 527–556. https://doi.org/10.2307/256591

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994) Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill, Inc.

  • Organ, D. W., & Moorman, R. H. (1993). Fairness and organizational citizenship behavior: What are the connections? Social Justice Research, 6(1), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01048730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903.https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879

  • Rodell, J., Colquitt, J., & Baer, M. (2017). Is adhering to justice rules enough? The role of charismatic qualities in perceptions of supervisors’ overall fairness. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 140, 14–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.03.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Calcagno, M. (2005). Job stress among Hispanic professionals. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences., 27(4), 504–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rupp, D. E., & Spencer, S. (2006). When customers lash out: The effects of customer interactional injustice on emotional labour and the mediating role of discrete emotions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 971–978. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.4.971

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spielberger, C. D., & Vagg, P. R. (1999). Job stress survey: Professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources.

  • Steffy, B. D., & Jones, J. W. (1988). Workplace stress and indicators of coronary-disease risk. The Academy of Management Journal, 31, 686–698. https://doi.org/10.2307/256466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swain, S. D., Weathers, D., & Niedrich, R. W. (2008). Assessing three sources of misresponse to reversed Likert items. Journal of Marketing Research, 45(1), 116–131. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.45.1.116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velicer, W. F., & Fava, J. L. (1998). Effects of variable and subject sampling on factor pattern recovery. Psychological Methods, 3, 231–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989x.3.2.231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1994). Manual for the positive and negative affect schedule–expanded form. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City.

  • Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior: An annual series of analytical essays and critical reviews, (Vol. 18, pp. 1–74). JAI Press.

  • Williams, L. J., & Anderson, S. E. (1991). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment as predictors of organizational citizenship and in-role behavior. Journal of Management, 17, 601–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, S., Pitre, R., & Zainuba, M. (2002). Justice and organizational citizenship behavior intentions: Fair rewards versus fair treatment. Journal of Social Psychology, 142(1), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540209603883

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, E. J., Harrington, K. M., Clark, S. L., & Miller, M. W. (2013). Sample size requirements for structural equation models: An evaluation of power, bias, and solution propriety. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 73(6), 913–934. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164413495237

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kuwait University, Shuwaikh, Kuwait, P.O. Box 68168, Keifan, Kuwait

    Othman H. Alkhadher & Hesham F. Gadelrab

  2. Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt

    Hesham F. Gadelrab

Authors
  1. Othman H. Alkhadher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hesham F. Gadelrab
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

The authors have contributed equally to the design of this research, writing up the manuscript, data collection, data analysis, and discussion of the results.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hesham F. Gadelrab.

Ethics declarations

Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 23 KB)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Alkhadher, O.H., Gadelrab, H.F. Differential Predictions of Organizational Justice and Injustice: Contribution of Injustice in Prevention-Laden Outcomes. Trends in Psychol. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43076-022-00248-6

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43076-022-00248-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation