The Impact of Justice Climate and Justice Orientation on Work Outcomes: A Cross-Level Multifoci Framework.

In this article, which takes a person-situation approach, the authors propose and test a cross-level multifoci model of workplace justice. They crossed 3 types of justice (procedural, informational, and interpersonal) with 2 foci (organization and supervisor) and aggregated to the group level to create 6 distinct justice climate variables. They then tested for the effects of these variables on either organization-directed or supervisor-directed commitment, satisfaction, and citizenship behavior. The authors also tested justice orientation as a moderator of these relationships. The results, based on 231 employees constituting 44 work groups representing multiple organizations and occupations, revealed that 4 forms of justice climate (organization-focused procedural and informational justice climate and supervisor-focused procedural and interpersonal justice climate) were significantly related to various work outcomes after controlling for corresponding individual-level justice perceptions. In addition, some moderation effects were found. Implications for organizations and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Speaking up in groups: A cross-level study of group voice climate and voice.

Despite a growing body of research on employee voice—defined as the discretionary communication of ideas, suggestions, or opinions intended to improve organizational or unit functioning—the effects of shared or collective-level cognitions have received scant attention. There has also been relatively little research on voice within work groups. Our goal in this study was to address these important gaps by focusing on the effects of group-level beliefs about voice (i.e., group voice climate) on individual voice behavior within work groups. We conducted a cross-level investigation of voice behavior within 42 groups of engineers from a large chemical company. Consistent with our hypotheses, group voice climate was highly predictive of voice and explained variance beyond the effects of individual-level identification and satisfaction, and procedural justice climate. Also consistent with predictions, the effect of identification on voice was stronger in groups with favorable voice climates. These findings provide evidence that voice is shaped not just by individual attitudes and perceptions of the work context, as past research has shown, but also by group-level beliefs. The results also highlight the importance of broadening our conceptual models of voice to include shared cognitions and of conducting additional cross-level research on voice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Servant leadership, procedural justice climate, service climate, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior: A cross-level investigation.

This study tests the influence of servant leadership on 2 group climates, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior. Results from a sample of 815 employees and 123 immediate supervisors revealed that commitment to the supervisor, self-efficacy, procedural justice climate, and service climate partially mediated the relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior. Cross-level interaction results revealed that procedural justice climate and positive service climate amplified the influence of commitment to the supervisor on organizational citizenship behavior. Implications of these results for theory and practice and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Multilevel Model of Safety Climate: Cross-Level Relationships Between Organization and Group-Level Climates.

Organizational climates have been investigated separately at organization and subunit levels. This article tests a multilevel model of safety climate, covering both levels of analysis. Results indicate that organization-level and group-level climates are globally aligned, and the effect of organization climate on safety behavior is fully mediated by group climate level. However, the data also revealed meaningful group-level variation in a single organization, attributable to supervisory discretion in implementing formal procedures associated with competing demands like safety versus productivity. Variables that limit supervisory discretion (i.e., organization climate strength and procedural formalization) reduce both between-groups climate variation and within-group variability (i.e., increased group climate strength), although effect sizes were smaller than those associated with cross-level climate relationships. Implications for climate theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Getting even or moving on? Power, procedural justice, and types of offense as predictors of revenge, forgiveness, reconciliation, and avoidance in organizations.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 92(1) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2006-23339-006). The first sentence in the first paragraph on page 660 is incorrect. The corrected sentence should read as follows: "The patterns of all three interactions support our theoretical explanation that (a) a victim of lower status than the offender pursues revenge as the only means of achieving justice when procedural justice climate is low and (b) victims with high absolute status refrain from revenge by attempting forgiveness and reconciliation when procedural justice climate is high because the organization can be counted on to mete out justice."] A field study and an experimental study examined relationships among organizational variables and various responses of victims to perceived wrongdoing. Both studies showed that procedural justice climate moderates the effect of organizational variables on the victim's revenge, forgiveness, reconciliation, or avoidance behaviors. In Study 1, a field study, absolute hierarchical status enhanced forgiveness and reconciliation, but only when perceptions of procedural justice climate were high; relative hierarchical status increased revenge, but only when perceptions of procedural justice climate were low. In Study 2, a laboratory experiment, victims were less likely to endorse vengeance or avoidance depending on the type of wrongdoing, but only when perceptions of procedural justice climate were high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Aquino, Tripp, and Bies (2006).

Reports an error in "Getting Even or Moving On? Power, Procedural Justice, and Types of Offense as Predictors of Revenge, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Avoidance in Organizations" by Karl Aquino, Thomas M. Tripp and Robert J. Bies (Journal of Applied Psychology, 2006[May], Vol 91[3], 653-668). The first sentence in the first paragraph on page 660 is incorrect. The corrected sentence should read as follows: "The patterns of all three interactions support our theoretical explanation that (a) a victim of lower status than the offender pursues revenge as the only means of achieving justice when procedural justice climate is low and (b) victims with high absolute status refrain from revenge by attempting forgiveness and reconciliation when procedural justice climate is high because the organization can be counted on to mete out justice." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2006-07101-011.) A field study and an experimental study examined relationships among organizational variables and various responses of victims to perceived wrongdoing. Both studies showed that procedural justice climate moderates the effect of organizational variables on the victim's revenge, forgiveness, reconciliation, or avoidance behaviors. In Study 1, a field study, absolute hierarchical status enhanced forgiveness and reconciliation, but only when perceptions of procedural justice climate were high; relative hierarchical status increased revenge, but only when perceptions of procedural justice climate were low. In Study 2, a laboratory experiment, victims were less likely to endorse vengeance or avoidance depending on the type of wrongdoing, but only when perceptions of procedural justice climate were high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of proactive personality in job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior: A relational perspective.

Drawing from a relational approach, the authors conceptualize the quality of leader–member exchange as a mediator and procedural justice climate as a contextual moderator for understanding the role of proactive personality in job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior. Data from a sample of 200 Chinese employees within 54 work groups were used to examine the hypothesized models. Results show that having a proactive personality was associated with employees establishing a high-quality exchange relationship with their supervisors; in turn, the quality of leader–member exchange was associated with greater job satisfaction and more organizational citizenship behaviors. Additionally, the relationship between proactive personality and organizational citizenship behavior was positively moderated by procedural justice climate within the group. Implications for management theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differentiated leader–member exchanges: The buffering role of justice climate.

The leader–member exchange (LMX) literature has established that leaders differentiate among their followers. Yet little is known about the effects of LMX differentiation (within-group variation in LMX quality). In this study, we contend that the effects of LMX differentiation on the employee outcomes of work attitudes, coworker relations, and employee withdrawal behaviors will be contingent upon the level of procedural and distributive justice climate. Data from 276 employees working in 25 stores of a retail chain in Turkey supported our hypotheses such that LMX differentiation was related to more negative work attitudes and coworker relations, and higher levels of withdrawal behaviors only when justice climate was low. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational leadership and group interaction as climate antecedents: A social network analysis.

In order to test the social mechanisms through which organizational climate emerges, this article introduces a model that combines transformational leadership and social interaction as antecedents of climate strength (i.e., the degree of within-unit agreement about climate perceptions). Despite their longstanding status as primary variables, both antecedents have received limited empirical research. The sample consisted of 45 platoons of infantry soldiers from 5 different brigades, using safety climate as the exemplar. Results indicate a partially mediated model between transformational leadership and climate strength, with density of group communication network as the mediating variable. In addition, the results showed independent effects for group centralization of the communication and friendship networks, which exerted incremental effects on climate strength over transformational leadership. Whereas centralization of the communication network was found to be negatively related to climate strength, centralization of the friendship network was positively related to it. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Realpolitik versus fair process: Moderating effects of group identification on acceptance of political decisions.

Three studies examined the effects of perceived procedural justice and the favorability of a group-level outcome on the endorsement of a group-level decision and the evaluation of the authority responsible for the decision. Results showed that, contrary to findings usually seen with individual-level decisions, collective outcome favorability was more important than procedural justice in influencing the endorsement of the decision. Furthermore, increased identification with the group reduced the importance of procedural justice but accentuated the importance of collective outcome favorability. With regard to the evaluation of the authority, the results were similar to those obtained in individual-level decisions: Procedural fairness mattered more than collective outcome favorability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships Between Organizational Justice and Burnout at the Work-Unit Level.

Relationships between organizational justice and well-being are traditionally investigated at the individual level. This article extends previous efforts by testing such relationships at the work-unit level. Three corridors of influence were examined. First, the level (work units' average scores) of justice is related to the level of burnout. Second, justice climate strength (level of agreement among work-unit members) moderates the predictability of the level of burnout. Third, justice strength is related to burnout strength. The authors interviewed 324 contact employees from 108 work units in 59 service organizations. Findings showed the predominance of interactional justice over distributive and procedural justice in all 3 corridors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of computer surveillance on perceptions of privacy and procedural justice.

Electronic workplace surveillance is raising concerns about privacy and fairness. Integrating research on electronic performance monitoring, procedural justice, and organizational privacy, the author proposes a framework for understanding reactions to technologies used to monitor and control employees. To test the framework's plausibility, temporary workers performed computer/Web-based tasks under varying levels of computer surveillance. Results indicated that monitoring job-relevant activities (relevance) and affording those who were monitored input into the process (participation) reduced invasion of privacy and enhanced procedural justice. Moreover, invasion of privacy fully mediated the effect of relevance and partially mediated the effect of participation on procedural justice. The findings are encouraging for integrating theory and research on procedural justice and organizational privacy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multilevel model of the effects of equal opportunity climate on job satisfaction in the military.

To date, minimal work has explored associations between equal opportunity (EO) climate and employee work attitudes, and no known research has investigated the effects of EO climate beyond the individual level. We address these gaps in the literature by testing a multilevel structural equation model in which effects of EO climate are considered at both the individual and unit levels. At the individual level, we predicted that psychological EO climate would be directly associated with job stress and job satisfaction, as well as indirectly related to job satisfaction via stress. In addition, cross-level associations between unit EO climate and job stress and job satisfaction were hypothesized to be mediated by cohesion. Findings supported the proposed model; hypothesized relations were supported at both levels of analysis. We conclude with a discussion of the findings, study limitations, and directions for future EO climate research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group Belongingness and Procedural Justice: Social Inclusion and Exclusion by Peers Affects the Psychology of Voice.

The authors focus on the relation between group membership and procedural justice. They argue that whether people are socially included or excluded by their peers influences their reactions to unrelated experiences of procedural justice. Findings from 2 experiments corroborate the prediction that reactions to voice as opposed to no-voice procedures are affected more strongly when people are included in a group than when they are excluded from a group. These findings are extended with a 3rd experiment that shows that people who generally experience higher levels of inclusion in their lives respond more strongly to voice as opposed to no-voice procedures. It is concluded that people's reactions to procedural justice are moderated by people's level of inclusion in social groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does group climate mediate the group leadership–group member outcome relationship?: A test of Yalom's hypotheses about leadership priorities.

I. D. Yalom's (1995) hypothesis that group climate mediates the relationship between leadership and outcome was tested. Group leaders (N?=?43) recorded intentions, and adolescent group members (N?=?233) rated climate after 8 semistructured group sessions. Members also rated satisfaction at termination. Leader intentions comprised 4 dimensions: therapeutic work, safe environment, interpersonal, and group structure. Changing group climates did mediate between these intentions and member outcome. Therapeutic work was negatively related and safe environment was positively related to an increasingly active and engaged climate, which was related to treatment benefit. Group structure and possibly interpersonal intentions were related to a climate decreasing in conflict and distance, which was related to a positive leader relationship. The importance of leaders focusing on group process rather than individual change is highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empowering employees: The moderating role of perceived organisational climate and justice.

Previous research suggests that empowering managerial practises have small and variable effects on employees' behaviours. The objective of this study is to assess whether organisational climate and justice perceptions moderate the relationship between supervisor empowering managerial practises (SEMPs) and employees' behavioural empowerment. Self-report data were gathered from a sample of 358 employees from three service-sector organisations in a cross-sectional study. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both perceptions of organisational climate and justice interact with SEMPs in the prediction of employees' behavioural empowerment. As expected, SEMPs were more positively related to behavioural empowerment when perceptions of organisational supportive climate and justice were higher. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Procedural justice in the context of civil commitment: A critique of Tyler's analysis.

This article is a critique of T. R. Tyler's 1992 review of procedural justice and its effect on therapeutic outcome in patients involved in civil commitment hearings. The article clarifies critical elements of Tyler's analysis by drawing on the social cognition construct of information control and elements in the consumerism literature that may mirror and facilitate procedural justice effects. The importance of the committing psychiatrist's role during the commitment hearing is emphasized and issues unique to civil commitment respondents that might affect their susceptibility to procedural justice effects are highlighted. Further research examining the effects of judges', attorneys', and psychiatrists' behavior on the patient's perception of procedural justice and subsequent therapeutic outcome is suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

"All in a Day's Work": How Follower Individual Differences and Justice Perceptions Predict OCB Role Definitions and Behavior.

The authors draw on theories of social exchange and prosocial behavior to explain how employee perceptions of procedural justice and individual differences in reciprocation wariness, empathic concern, and perspective taking function jointly as determinants of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) role definitions and behavior. As hypothesized, empirical findings from a field study show both direct and interactive effects of procedural justice perceptions and individual differences on OCB role definition. In turn, OCB role definitions not only predict OCB directly but also moderate the effects of procedural justice perceptions on OCB. The authors explore the implications of these findings for practice as well as research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding why the justice of group procedures matters: A test of the psychological dynamics of the group-value model.

Procedural justice research has documented many positive consequences of fair decision-making procedures and treatment by authorities. However, it is unclear why these effects of procedural justice occur. The group-value model proposes that fair procedures matter because they communicate two symbolic messages about group membership: (1) whether individuals are respected members of a group and (2) whether they should feel pride in the group as a whole. These messages are conveyed by 3 relational aspects of the actions of authorities: actions that indicate neutrality, trustworthiness, and status recognition. Results from 4 different studies provide evidence that (1) relational aspects of fair procedures communicate group-relevant information and (2) this information mediates the influence of procedural judgments on group-oriented behaviors and feelings of self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Substantive and operational issues of response bias across levels of analysis: An example of climate-satisfaction relationships.

Two studies tested whether method variance is present at multiple levels of analysis and whether methodological procedures can minimize its impact. In Study 1, 8,052 employees from 71 hotels completed measures of climate, work environment characteristics, and satisfaction. A comparison of correlations at the individual level, cross-level, cross-level split, aggregate level, and aggregate-split level of analysis revealed that response bias was present across multiple levels. Results suggest that samples should be split in half when cross-level and aggregate correlations are computed to ameliorate response bias problems that arise from individual-level method variance. In Study 2, results indicated that the temporal spacing of measures of climate and satisfaction influenced response bias. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)