Organizational level as a moderator of the relationship between justice perceptions and work-related reactions

Abstract

In this study, we examined the role of organizational level as a moderator of the relationships of procedural and distributive justice with seven employee attitudes and behaviors. Based on social identity and resource allocation theories, we suggested an allocational model of authority in organizations. We posited that lower rank encourages a more process-oriented perspective that emphasizes procedural concerns while higher rank imbues a more result-oriented perspective that emphasizes distributive outcomes. We considered the cultural context that characterized work relationships in our sample of respondents from a Chinese state-owned enterprise. Significant sets of interactions supported the predicted relationships of procedural justice with three outcomes at lower levels and distributive justice with four outcomes at higher levels. Implications and extensions of these findings are considered. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.