Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Integrating Organizational Justice and Affect: New Insights, Challenges, and Opportunities

  • Published:
Social Justice Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Building on the foundation offered by Cropanzano et al. in their recent book titled Social Justice and the Experience of Emotion (Cropanzano et al. in Social justice and the experience of emotions, Routledge, New York, 2011), we argue that further integrating the literatures on organizational justice and affect has the potential to create important insights that can further our understanding of both literatures. In order to capitalize on these opportunities, however, we argue that justice scholars must increase the clarity of our constructs, address critical gaps in the literature, and question underlying assumptions in the field as well as within the paradigms that have traditionally been adopted to explore justice issues. We propose a number of research avenues that can not only facilitate our understanding of organizational justice by addressing challenges and gaps in the literature, but can also help further integrate the organizational justice and affect literatures. We conclude by discussing methodologies and approaches that can help organizational justice researchers to explore these new research opportunities.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

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

References

  • Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 267–299). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambrose, M. L., & Arnaud, A. (2005). Distributive and procedural justice: Construct distinctiveness, construct interdependence, and overall justice. In J. Greenberg & J. Colquitt (Eds.), Handbook of organizational justice (pp. 59–84). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambrose, M. L., & Cropanzano, R. (2003). A longitudinal analysis of organizational fairness: An examination of reactions to tenure and promotion decisions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 266–275.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ambrose, M. L., & Schminke, M. (2009). The role of overall justice judgments in organizational justice research: A test of mediation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 491–500.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ashkanasy, N. M. (2003). Emotions in organizations: A multi-level perspective. In F. Dansereau & F. J. Yammarino (Eds.), Multilevel issues in organizational behavior and strategy (pp. 9–54). Amsterdam: JAI.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Barclay, L. J., & Kiefer, T. (in press). Approach or avoid? Exploring overall justice and the differential effects of positive and negative emotions. Journal of Management. doi:10.1177/0149306312441833

  • Barclay, L. J., & Skarlicki, D. P. (2008). Shifting perspectives: Helping victims recover from organizational justice violations. In S. W. Gilliland, D. D. Steiner, & D. P. Skarlicki (Eds.), Research in social issues in management, Volume 6: Justice, morality, and social responsibility (pp. 155–199). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

  • Barclay, L. J., & Whiteside, D. B. (2011). Moving beyond justice perceptions: The role of experience and intensity. In S. W. Gilliland, D. D. Steiner, & D. P. Skarlicki (Eds.), Research in social issues in management (Vol. 7, pp. 49–74). Emerging perspectives on organizational justice and ethics. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

  • Barsade, S. G., Brief, A. P., & Spataro, S. E. (2003). The affective revolution in organizational behavior: The emergence of a paradigm. In J. Greenberg (Ed.), Organizational behavior: The state of the science (Vol. 2, pp. 3–52). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bies, R. J. (1987). The predicament of injustice: The management of moral outrage. Research in Organizational Behavior, 9, 289–319.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Bies, R. J., & Tripp, T. M. (2002). “Hot flashes and open wounds”: Injustice and the tyranny of its emotions. In S. W. Gilliland, D. D. Steiner, & D. P. Skarlicki (Eds.), Emerging perspectives on managing organizational justice (pp. 203–221). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brockner, J., Wiesenfeld, B., Stephan, J., & Hurley, R. (1997). The effects on layoff survivors of their fellow survivors’ reactions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 835–863.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J. T., Gardner, W. L., & Berntson, G. G. (1999). The affect system has parallel and integrative processing components: Form follows function. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 839–855.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahn, E. (1949). The sense of injustice. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, M., Charlin, V., & Miller, N. (1988). Positive mood and helping behavior: A test of six hypotheses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 211–229.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carnevale, P. J., & Isen, A. M. (1986). The influence of positive affect and visual access on the discovery of integrative solutions in bilateral negotiation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 37, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cialdini, R. B., Darby, B. L., & Vincent, J. E. (1973). Transgression and altruism: A case for hedonism. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 9, 502–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, M. S., & Isen, A. M. (1982). Towards understanding the relationship between feeling states and social behavior. In A. H. Hastorf & A. M. Isen (Eds.), Cognitive social psychology (pp. 73–108). New York: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen-Charash, Y., & Byrne, Z. S. (2008). Affect and justice: Current knowledge and future directions. In N. M. Ashkanasy & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), Research companion to emotion in organizations (pp. 360–391). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers.

    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.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colquitt, J. A., Conlon, D. E., Wesson, M. J., Porter, C., & Ng, K. Y. (2001). Justice at the millennium: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 425–445.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colquitt, J. A., Scott, B. A., Rodell, J. B., Long, D. M., Zapata, C. P., Conlon, D. E., & Wesson, M. J. (2013). Justice at the millennium, a decade later: A meta-analytic test of social exchange and affect-based perspectives. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98, 199–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cropanzano, R., Byrne, Z. S., Bobocel, D. R., & Rupp, D. E. (2001). Moral virtues, fairness heuristics, social entities, and other denizens of organizational justice. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58, 164–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cropanzano, R., Stein, J. H., & Nadisic, T. (2011). Social justice and the experience of emotions. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Cremer, D., Wubben, M. J. J., & Brebels, L. (2008). When unfair treatment leads to anger: The effects of other people’s emotions and ambiguous unfair procedures. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38, 2518–2549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Degoey, P. (2000). Contagious justice: Exploring the social construction of justice in organizations. In B. M. Staw & R. I. Sutton (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 22, pp. 51–102). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fassina, N. E., Jones, D. A., & Uggerslev, K. L. (2008). Meta-analytic tests of relationships between organizational justice and citizenship behavior: Testing agent-system and shared variance models. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29, 805–828.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folger, R. (1986). Rethinking equity theory: A referent cognitions model. In H. W. Beirhoff, R. L. Cohen, & J. Greenberg (Eds.), Justice in social relations (pp. 145–162). New York: Plenum Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Folger, R. (1998). Fairness as a moral virtue. In M. Schminke (Ed.), Managerial ethics: Moral management of people and processes (pp. 13–34). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folger, R. (2001). Fairness as deonance. In S. W. Gilliland, D. D. Steiner, & D. P. Skarlicki (Eds.), Research in social issues in management: Theoretical and cultural perspectives on organizational justice (Vol. 1, pp. 3–33). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folger, R., Cropanzano, R., & Goldman, B. (2005). What is the relationship between justice and morality? In J. Greenberg & J. A. Colquitt (Eds.), Handbook of organizational justice (pp. 215–245). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folger, R., & Skarlicki, D. P. (2001). Fairness as a dependent variable: Why tough times can lead to bad management. In R. Cropanzano (Ed.), Justice in the workplace (Vol. II, pp. 97–118). From theory to practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

  • Forgas, J. P. (1995). Mood and judgment: The affect infusion model (AIM). Psychological Bulletin, 117, 39–66.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Review of General Psychology, 2, 300–319.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Branigan, C. (2005). Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. Cognition and Emotion, 19, 313–332.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frijda, N. H. (1993). Moods, emotion episodes, and emotions. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 381–403). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frijda, N. H. (1994). Varieties of affect: Emotions and episodes, moods, and sentiments. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions (pp. 59–67). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilliland, S. (2008). The tails of justice: A critical examination of the dimensionality of organizational justice constructs. Human Resource Management Review, 18, 271–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J. (1990). Looking fair vs. being fair: Managing impressions of organizational justice. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 12, pp. 111–157). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

  • Greenberg, J. (2001). Setting the justice agenda: Seven unanswered questions about “what, why, and how”. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58, 210–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo, J., Rupp, D. E., Weiss, H. W., & Trougakos, J. P. (2011). Justice in organizations: A person-centric perspective. In S. W. Gilliland, D. D. Steiner, & D. P. Skarlicki (Eds.), Research in social issues in management (Vol. 7, pp. 3–32)., Emerging perspectives on organizational justice and ethics Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawk, S. T., Van Kleef, G. A., Fischer, A. H., & Van der Schalk, J. (2009). Worth a thousand words: Absolute and relative decodability of nonlinguistic affect vocalizations. Emotion, 9, 293–305.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holtz, B. C., & Harold, C. M. (2009). Fair today, fair tomorrow? A longitudinal investigation of overall justice perceptions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1185–1199.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, D. A., & Martens, M. L. (2009). The mediating role of overall fairness and the moderating role of trust certainty in justice-criteria relationships: The formation and use of fairness heuristics in the workplace. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30, 1025–1051.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, D. A., & Skarlicki, D. P. (2005). The effects of overhearing peers discuss an authority’s fairness reputation on reactions to subsequent treatment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 363–372.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keltner, D., & Haidt, J. (1999). Social functions of emotions at four levels of analysis. Cognition and Emotion, 13, 505–521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, T.-Y., & Leung, K. (2007). Forming and reacting to overall fairness: A cross-cultural comparison. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 104, 83–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewicki, R. J., McAllister, D. J., & Bies, R. J. (1998). Trust and distrust: New relationships and realities. Academy of Management Review, 23, 438–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lind, E. A. (2001a). Fairness heuristic theory: Justice judgments as pivotal cognitions in organizational relations. In J. Greenberg & R. Cropanzano (Eds.), Advances in organizational justice (pp. 56–88). San Francisco: New Lexington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lind, E. A. (2001b). Thinking critically about justice judgments. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58, 220–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lind, E. A., & Tyler, T. R. (1988). The social psychology of procedural justice. New York: Plenum Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mikula, G. (1986). The experience of injustice: Towards a better understanding of its phenomenology. In H. W. Bierhoff, R. L. Cohen, & J. Greenberg (Eds.), Justice in social relations (pp. 103–123). New York: Plenum Press.

    Chapter  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). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikula, G., Scherer, K. R., & Athenstaedt, U. (1998). The role of injustice in the elicitation of differential emotional reactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 769–783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, M. W., & Keltner, D. (2000). How emotions work: An analysis of the social functions of emotional expression in negotiation. In B. M. Staw & R. I. Sutton (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 22, pp. 1–50). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rupp, D. E., & Paddock, E. L. (2010). From justice events to justice climate: A multi-level temporal model of information aggregation and judgment. In B. Mannix, M. Neale, & E. Mullen (Eds.), Fairness and groups: Research on Managing Groups and Teams (Vol. 13, pp. 245–273). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rupp, D. E., & Spencer, S. (2006). When customers lash out: The effects of customer interactional injustice on emotional labor and the mediating role of discrete emotions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 971–978.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schaller, M., & Cialdini, R. B. (1988). The economics of empathic helping: Support for a mood management motive. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 24, 163–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, D. L. (2001). The death of justice theory is likely if theorists neglect the “wheels” already invented and the voices of the injustice victims. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58, 235–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, D. L. (2010). Assessing fairness in the 21st century: Are we doing justice to “justice”? Keynote speech at the International Roundtable for Innovations in Organizational Justice, Orlando, Florida.

  • Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 467–487.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skarlicki, D. P., Hoegg, J., Aquino, K., & Nadisic, T. (2013). Does injustice affect your sense of taste and smell? The mediating role of moral disgust. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2013.03.011.

  • Skarlicki, D. P., & Kulik, C. T. (2005). Third-party reactions to employee (mis)treatment: A justice perspective. Research in Organizational Behavior, 26, 183–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Törnblom, K. Y., & Vermunt, R. (1999). An integrative perspective on social justice: Distributive and procedural fairness evaluations of positive and negative outcome allocations. Social Justice Research, 12, 39–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, T. R., & Smith, H. J. (1998). Social justice and social movements. In D. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 595–629). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Bos, K. (2001). Uncertainty management: The influence of uncertainty salience on reactions to perceived procedural fairness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 931–941.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Bos, K. (2003). On the subjective quality of social justice: The role of affect as information in the psychology of justice judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 482–498.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Bos, K. (2007). Hot cognitions and social justice judgments: The combined influence of cognitive and affective factors on the justice judgments process. In D. De Cremer (Ed.), Advances in the psychology of justice and affect (pp. 61–84). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Bos, K., & Lind, E. A. (2002). Uncertainty management by means of fairness judgments. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 34, pp. 1–60). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Kleef, G. A. (2009). How emotions regulate social life. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 184–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Kleef, G. A., De Dreu, C. K. W., & Manstead, A. S. R. (2006). Supplication and appeasement in conflict and negotiation: The interpersonal effects of disappointment, worry, guilt, and regret. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 124–142.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Kleef, G. A., De Dreu, C. K. W., & Manstead, A. S. R. (2010). An interpersonal approach to emotion in social decision making: The emotions as social information model. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 45–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., Wiese, D., Vaidya, J., & Tellegen, A. (1999). The two general activation systems of affect: Structural findings, evolutionary considerations, and psychobiological evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 820–838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wegener, D. T., & Petty, R. E. (1994). Mood management across affective states: The hedonic contingency hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 1034–1048.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, H. M., & Rupp, D. E. (2011). Experiencing work: An essay on a person-centric work psychology. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 4, 83–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, H. W., Suckow, K., & Cropanzano, R. (1999). Effects of justice conditions on discrete emotions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 786–794.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiteside, D. B., & Barclay, L. J. (in press). The justice tug-of-war: A dyadic approach to conflicting perceptions of fairness. In S. W. Gilliland, D. D. Steiner, & D. P. Skarlicki (Eds.), Research in social issues in management (Vol. 8). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research was supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to the first and second authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada

    Annika Hillebrandt & Laurie J. Barclay

Authors
  1. Annika Hillebrandt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laurie J. Barclay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Annika Hillebrandt.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hillebrandt, A., Barclay, L.J. Integrating Organizational Justice and Affect: New Insights, Challenges, and Opportunities. Soc Just Res 26, 513–531 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-013-0193-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-013-0193-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation