Effect of Moods on Perception of Organizational Justice

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed to identify the effect of mood on perceptions of organizational justice (distributional, procedural, interpersonal, and informational), expecting that those with pleasant moods tend to perceive a work situation as more fair, and those with unpleasant moods are more likely to see work events as less fair. Methods The sample consisted of 180 Kuwaiti employees divided evenly among the three experimental groups (pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral groups). Each group watched either positive, negative, or neutral film. The study used the Organizational Justice Measure and the Brief Mood Introspection Survey. Results The repeated measures ANCOVA for the effects of mood on the justice measure, after controlling for pre-mood and the pre-justice scores, showed a significant difference among the three mood groups. The pleasant group had a higher justice mean than the unpleasant and neutral groups. However, no significant difference was found between the unpleasant and neutral groups. Also, there was no significant interaction between the justice type (distributional, procedural, interpersonal, and informational) and mood group (pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral). Conclusions A pleasant mood may have a stronger effect on justice perception than an unpleasant mood. Suggesting that mood affects justice in a consistent way regardless of justice type. Justice perceptions are inherently subjective and are receptive to the effects of internal states. And that mood states that have no logical relationship with the justice of the situation may serve as inputs in the justice judgment process, highlighting the subjective quality of justice perception.