Justice in Teams: The Effects of Interdependence and Identification on Referent Choice and Justice Climate Strength

Abstract

Using theories of social comparison and influence as a lens through which to view the operation of justice in teams, this study explores the effects of interdependence and group identification on referent choice and justice climate strength. 372 undergraduate students participated in a laboratory experiment with two levels each of team interdependence, procedural treatment, and outcome favorability. The results showed that members of highly interdependent teams were more likely to make intergroup justice comparisons and that group identification partially mediated this relationship. Interdependence was also related to variability in team climate perceptions, with group identification as a mediator between interdependence and procedural justice climate strength. Overall, the findings highlight interdependence and social identity as contextual variables that influence the emergence of team-level justice perceptions.

Convergence and emergence in organizations: An integrative framework and review

“…All four categories of emergent factors were addressed. The structural factor of task interdependence has been proposed to facilitate shared perceptions of leader charisma (Klein & House, 1995) and was related to unit procedural justice climate (Roberson, 2006a). Multiple factors related to practices have been examined.…”

“…In addition to networks, cohesion and group identification were found to relate to convergence of a unit climate for justice (Naumann & Bennett, 2000;Roberson, 2006a) and for safety (Luria, 2008). Ashforth (1985) suggested that both group informational and normative social influences were critical to emergence of workgroup climate.…”

“…It has been argued that structure can influence who interacts with whom (Kozlowski & Chao, 2012;Morgeson & Hofmann, 1999), homogeneity can influence with whom individuals desire to interact (McPherson et al, 2001), and leaders can impact interactions through work structure and rewards (Prusak & Cohen, 2001). Empirical research has begun to address this, indicating that work interdependence, leader behaviors, and member homogeneity influence cohesion and communication, which in turn influence convergence (Luria, 2008;Roberson, 2006a;Zohar & Tenne-Gazit, 2008). Given that much of the theory of emergent processes rests on the assumption of interactions and interdependencies, we propose that target-matched factors that facilitate social processes and communication are likely to be more proximal for within-group convergence and emergence.…”

The Effect Of Team Cohesion On Peer Justice: A Team-Level Analysis

“…It is crucial for the organizations to manage perceptions of justice for the team success. Recently, teams have been started to be considered as a social context where perceptions of justice are built (Roberson, 2006).Research indicate that justice perceptions of team members can affect important team behaviors and outcomes such as team task performance, intention to stay in the team, as well as attitudes and feelings of members (Colquitt, Noe, & Jackson, 2002;Cropanzano, Li, & Benson, 2011). Peers are an important part of work environment and they shape how the environment feels and behaves.…”

A Structured Virtual Space to Support Articulating and Sharing Rationales in Virtual Group Activities

“…The same study also showed that one's rationale awareness contributes to his/her awareness of the other group members' intellectual contribution. Knowledge awareness is a critical aspect in CSCL activities (Engelmann et al, 2009) and being aware of each other's contribution is crucial to group performance (Roberson, 2006).…”