Organizational Justice as a Predictor of Job Satisfaction: An Examination of Head Basketball Coaches

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to measure head basketball coaches' attitudes of three dimensions of organizational justice and determine if these attitudes differed based on NCAA divisional membership or sex of the coach. Additionally, this study examined the relationship between distributive, procedural, and interactional justice and overall job satisfaction. A total of 213 head basketball coaches (137 men, 76 women; 110 from Division I, 103 from Division III) participated in this study. Male basketball coaches demonstrated significantly higher scores on measures of interactional and procedural justice while no difference was found for distributive justice. There was no significant difference on scores for the three dimensions of justice based on NCAA divisional membership (I or III). Collectively, the three dimensions of organizational justice explained 28.5% of variance associated with overall job satisfaction, with interactional and distributive justice each making unique contributions. Based on the results of this study, athletic departments should consider basketball coaches' perceptions of organizational justice when attempting to influence their attitudes of job satisfaction.