Perceptions of leader transformational justice and job satisfaction in public organizations

Abstract

PurposeTransformational leadership (TL) is one among the leadership behaviors that is important in a period of uncertainty and continuous change. The behavior affects employees’ job satisfaction (JS) and performance. Nevertheless, there is an inconclusive debate over how organizational justice (OJ) can help transformational leaders to influence employees’ (JS). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of OJ on the relationship between TL and employees’ JS.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a quantitative research design based on cross-sectional strategy. Structured questionnaires were distributed and data were collected from a sample of 418 middle managers of public organizations in Nigeria. Multiple regressions aided by structural equation modeling were employed to test four hypotheses.FindingsThe regression results support the mediating role of OJ, such as distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational justice between TL and JS. Equally, the relationship between TL and JS, TL and OJ, and OJ and JS are all positive and significant. Overall, the influence of TL and OJ has a strong explanatory effect on JS.Originality/valueThis study adds to the literature of human resource management and organizational behavior by empirically validating and integrating TL theory with the four dimensions of OJ theory. The study will be beneficial to the top management and middle-level employees in public organizations.