Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to test a construct of perceived justice and its dimensions in negative service encounters across Mexican, Puerto Rican and Spanish hospitals. Also to compare similarities and differences of perceived justice in negative service encounters in these countries. Design/methodology/approach – Includes Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Spaniards who have experienced service failures at hospital settings. A descriptive research design was followed and a self-administered questionnaire was applied to gather the data from respondents. The researchers applied convenience sampling, and a pre-screening of respondents was included to verify that respondents were appropriate to participate in the study. A total number of 937 usable questionnaires were obtained from the hospital settings. Findings – The empirical findings across three Spanish-speaking countries indicate that the construct of perceived justice in negative service encounters consists of merely 15 items, divided into three dimensions, namely, distributional, interactional and procedural. Research limitations/implications – The empirical findings provide satisfactory validity and reliability across three countries, but there are acknowledged research limitations. These offer an opportunity for further research to verify or falsify the validity, reliability and generalization of the current findings. Practical implications – Service providers may use the three-dimensional construct of perceived justice as a guide when developing, implementing and managing processes and procedures of service failures in negative service encounters. Originality/value – The current international study in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain complements and fortifies previous research and existing theory of perceived justice in negative service encounters, and possible actions of complaint handling as well as service recovery.

Purpose -This paper aims to assess negative emotions in Mexican, Puerto Rican and Spanish service settings in the hospital industry. The paper also attempts to validate previous findings in existing theory and previous studies across three national samples and describes the similarities and differences in negative emotions between Mexican, Puerto Rican and Spanish service settings. Design/methodology/approach -The current study comprised Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Spaniards who experienced a service failure (i.e. critical incident) in hospital settings within the past year. A descriptive research design was followed, and a self-administered questionnaire was applied to gather the data from respondents. Findings -The three-dimensional construct of negative emotions commonly identified in existing theory and previous studies of negative emotions turned out to be four in the current multinational study.Research limitations/implications -The four-dimensional construct of negative emotions thus revealed is relevant and valuable to research. A number of research limitations are provided, all of which provide opportunities for further research in assessing negative emotions in service settings. Practical implications -Service providers need to manage and deal with the negative emotions in service failures in an appropriate manner. It is necessary that the front-line staff identify and understand the reasons behind service receiver's negative emotions in service failures, and that they act accordingly to reduce the intensity of critical incidents and the overall negative consequences.Originality/value -The negative emotions assessed provide a fruitful contribution and do not only complement additional facets to existing theory and previous studies of negative emotions in service settings but also fortify the notion that further research is required to gain an enhanced understanding and additional insights into them across countries and cultures, just as it is crucial to manage the occurrence of negative emotions in critical incidents accurately.