Who Is Most Influenced by Justice Perceptions? Assessing the Role of Occupational Status

Abstract

A growth in organizational justice research is evident in the field of public administration. This present study asks whether the relationship between key justice perceptions and attitudinal and performance outcomes vary as a function of occupational status. Building on the extant literature on social status, this study hypothesizes that employees in a higher status occupation will respond more strongly to justice perceptions than those in a lower status occupation by exhibiting lower levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, task performance, and citizenship behaviors. Based on a sample of employees in a large public agency in Thailand, our findings indicate that although employees in the two occupational groups do not differ significantly in their perceived justice levels, those in a higher status occupation are more strongly affected by perceptions of procedural and interpersonal justice. This study underscores the importance of accounting for occupational differences when it comes to implementing justice-related policies and practices.

Keywords

organizational justice occupational status social status task performance citizenship behavior organizational commitment job satisfaction

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