The Interactive Effect of Outcome Favorability and Procedural Justice in Work Resource Allocation on Work Performance1

Abstract

Prior research has indicated that people have particularly negative reactions to a situation where they receive an unfavorable distribution of resources that was established by means of an unfair allocation procedure. Studies that have examined this interaction between resource allocation outcomes and procedures with respect to its effect on individual work performance have produced equivocal results, however. The present study extends this work by testing the proposed interactive effect on performance in a work resource allocation context. As hypothesized, laboratory subjects had particularly low task performance when both of the following conditions were present: (a) They received an unfavorable distribution of a helpful work resource, and (b) the work resource was allocated through an unfair procedure. The results are discussed in the context of 5 alternative theoretical frameworks that have been proposed to explain the focal interaction.