Testing the interactive effects of outcome favourability and procedural fairness on members' reactions towards a voluntary professional organization

Abstract

Questionnaire data from 213 members of a voluntary professional organization were used to examine the interactive effects of outcome favourability and structural procedural fairness in organizational decision making on members' commitment to and resentment towards the organization. The focal interaction emerged on resentment such that members had particularly high resentment when the outcome was unfavourable and procedures were unfair. However, contrary to prior results from field studies relating to employer organizations, the interaction did not emerge on commitment. This latter finding may be attributable to the nature of the material outcomes established by voluntary professional organizations and an emphasis by members on psychological outcomes such as selfesteem.

Organizational interventions: facing the limits of the natural science paradigm

“…People have fewer negative reactions to unfavorable outcomes when procedures are fair (25,26). Various theories have been proposed to account for the psychological phenomena which might underlie such results (27,28). This approach to the study of behavior at work may have much to offer research which attempts to understand the micoprocesses underlying the relation between control and health.…”

Worker participation in change processes in a Danish industrial setting

“…For more than two decades of psychosocial research, considerable attention has been paid to work control and social support [Elden and Taylor, 1983;Kompier et al, 1998;Ehlen et al, 1999]. However, these aspects of work design and management are likely to be influenced by many factors that are unique to each organization at any moment in time, that is, they are context specific [Mckinlay, 2002].…”

Transparency, Policy Outcomes, and Incumbent Support

“…As Ehlen et al () note, fair procedures indicate to individuals that authorities are likely to provide beneficial material and/or psychological outcomes in the future. “If procedures are unfair, however, members will (…) become more concerned with, and be more influenced by, the favourability of current outcomes.” (Ehlen et al : 150). Similarly, Dolan et al () argues that transparency “promotes the acceptance of decisions that might be less acceptable if evaluated solely in terms of consequences” (2007: 166), while Brockner explicitly addresses how process fairness leads people to make inferences about long‐term outcomes, providing greater reassurance about them and allowing a trade‐off with current outcomes (Brockner : 54).…”