Interactional, Formal, and Distributive Justice in the Workplace: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Researchers have suggested that procedural justice is a more important determinant of most organizational outcomes than distributive justice. Following recent theoretical developments on justice perceptions, we investigated the different effect on outcomes of two components of procedural justice, namely, interactional justice and formal procedures, as well as distributive justice. In a vignette manipulation, 213 full-time Canadian students perceived that interactional justice influenced trust in management, affective commitment, and withdrawal behaviors. Formal procedures influenced only trust in management, and distributive justice did not influence any of the three outcomes.