Organizational justice in intercollegiate athletics: Perceptions of coaches

Abstract

Research indicates sport industry employees encounter organizational justice, or fairness perceptions, during resource distributions on the basis of what was distributed (distributive justice), how the distribution decision was reached (procedural justice), and how the distribution decision was communicated to the employee (interaction justice). This study's purpose was to explore coaches’ perceptions of fairness regarding current resource distribution systems in intercollegiate athletics in terms of types of sport (high profile sports vs. low profile sports) and participant gender (male participant sports vs. female participant sports). A total of 260 coaches from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, II, and III institutions in the United States responded through online surveys assessing three dimensions of organizational justice: distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Subsequently, tests for discriminant validity prompted the consolidation of the procedural and interactional justice dimensions. MANOVA tests found: (a) no significant main effect nor interaction effect for distributive justice and (b) main effects of type of sport and participant gender, but no interaction effect for procedural justice. Practical and broader theoretical implications for these findings are discussed.

Keywords:

• Distributive justice
• Procedural justice
• Interactional justice
• Intercollegiate athletics