Not all justices are equal: the unique effects of organizational justice on the behaviour and attitude of government workers in Ghana

Abstract

Drawing on social exchange and positive emotions theories, we examined the differential effects of organizational justice on work engagement and organizational commitment among 347 Ghanaian public-sector workers. We hypothesized that three different components of organizational justice (distributive, procedural and interactional) would have different effects on work engagement and organizational commitment. We used regression test to investigate these effects. Despite subtle differences, the results show that distributive and procedural justice relate positively to vigour, dedication and absorption. However, interactional justice was unrelated to any of the work engagement components. We further observed that while distributive, procedural and interactional justice related positively to affective commitment, no other type of organizational justice related to continuance and normative commitment. Overall, not all justices create the same effect on workplace behaviour. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Points for practitioners

• Distributive justice and procedural justice (but not interactional justice) stimulate the levels of vigour, dedication and absorption among Ghanaian public-sector workers and produce an engaged workforce. Thus, management should channel investment into the creation and implementation of administrative practices that promote the perception of fairness in the distribution of resources within organizations.

• Organizational justice enhances affective commitment – the emotional connection to and identification with their organization – among public-sector workers in Ghana.