Date of Award

7-1-1999

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Wayne harrison

Second Advisor

Dr. Jim Thomas

Third Advisor

Dr. John Newton

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Lynn Harland

Abstract

The present study examines the relationship between perceptions of procedural justice and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) intentions. Specifically, it adds to the current literature by studying positive violations of procedural justice. Positive procedural justice violations are defined as violations that give the recipient an undue advantage. Negative procedural justice violations are defined as violations that disadvantage the individual. The study first reviews the existing literature regarding distributive justice, procedural justice, the reciprocity norm, and OCB. Connections between these constructs are identified to explain the relationship between positive violations of procedural justice and OCB intentions, situational satisfaction, and supervisor approval. It was hypothesized that participants’ perceptions of fairness would be greater in situations involving no violations of procedural justice than in neutral violation, positive violation, and negative violation situations. It was also hypothesized that, consistent with the self-interest model (Tyler, 1994), participants’ ratings of situational satisfaction, supervisor approval, and OCB intentions would be highest in the positive violation condition and lowest in the negative violation condition. A research design was proposed to investigate these hypotheses. Undergraduate students of an introductory psychology course were presented one of four vignettes, each representing a treatment condition. The four conditions presented were: a control condition where no violation was involved and no advantage was given, a neutral violation condition in which procedural justice was violated but no advantage or disadvantage resulted, a positive violation condition, and a negative violation condition. Participants’ responses were measured in terms of their perceptions of procedural justice, situational satisfaction, supervisor approval, and their intentions to engage in organizational citizenship behavior. Hypothesis 1 was fully supported. Hypothesis 2 was partially supported, in that those in the positive violation condition reported significantly greater situational satisfaction and supervisor approval than those in the neutral and negative violation conditions, and significantly greater OCB intentions than those in the negative condition. Similarly, Hypothesis 2ait was partially supported in that the no violation condition evoked significantly greater mean responses on the situational satisfaction and supervisor approval variables than the neutral and negative violation conditions. Overall, it was found that positive violations of procedural justice evoked responses that were just as favorable as those following situations involving no violation, and that were more favorable than those evoked by negative or neutral violations.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Department of Psychology and to the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright 1999, Eric Rowlee

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