On the Value of Considering Specific Facets of Interactional Justice Perceptions

Abstract

This research seeks to verify the value of considering specific perceptions of informational and interpersonal justice over and above employees' global perceptions of interactional justice. In Study 1 (Sample 1: n = 592; Sample 2: n = 384), we examined the underlying structure of workers' perceptions of interactional justice by contrasting first-order and bifactor representations of their ratings. To investigate the true added value of specific informational and interpersonal justice perceptions once global interactional justice perceptions are taken into account, we also considered the relations between these global and specific perceptions and various outcomes. Our findings revealed that workers' perceptions of interactional justice simultaneously reflected a global interactional justice factor and two specific facets (interpersonal and informational justice). In Study 2, we identified employees' latent justice profiles based on their global (interactional justice) and specific (interpersonal and informational justice) levels of interactional justice. Five different interactional justice profiles were identified: low interpersonal, high interpersonal/average informational, high informational, normative, and high interpersonal/low informational. Employees' perceptions of transformational leadership are a significant predictor of profile membership. Finally, the five profiles were significantly associated with anxiety and emotional exhaustion.

Keywords: bifactor; burnout; confirmatory factor analyses; latent profiles; organizational justice; transformational leadership; well-being.

FIGURE 1

Final five-profile solution (bifactor CFA factor scores). Profile 1: high interpersonal/average informational; Profile 2: low interpersonal; Profile 3: high interpersonal/low informational; Profile 4: normative; Profile 5: high informational.