Perceptions Of Distributive Justice Research Articles

Cross‐level effects of high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and employee well‐being: the mediating effect of organisational justice

In this cross‐level study, we examine the mediating influence of employee perceptions of the fairness of human resource practices associated with the high‐performance work systems model. Data were collected from 187 employees in three companies in Ireland. Using cross‐level analyses, employee perceptions of distributive, procedural and interactional justice were found to mediate the relationship between high‐performance work systems and job satisfaction, affective commitment and work pressure. The findings also point to a ‘management by stress’ HPWS relationship, suggesting diminished employee well‐being, less satisfaction and lower commitment. The research adds to our understanding of the mechanisms through which human resource practices influence employee outcomes and contributes to debates that move beyond the polemic high versus low employee well‐being debates of HRM. The discussion reviews the theoretical and practical implications of these results.

A Study on the Psychological Effect of Organizational Justice Perceptions on Job Satisfaction

Employees’ psychological capital has significant influences on his/her behavior in professional and personal life. Employees’ perception about fairness in the organization tends to give rise to various favorable and unfavorable work outcomes. Job satisfaction is an example of such attitudinal variables which have is deeply affected by Organizational Justice Perceptions. Current literature of organizational Justice does not fully explain the mechanism governing the influence of organizational justice on job. This study tries to explain the relationship between organizational justice perceptions, job satisfaction, and Psychological Capital. The main objective of this study was to test the influence of organizational justice on job satisfaction, Psychological Capital. A survey-based methodology, with standardized scales was used. A sample of 218 employees from the Indian Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) was drawn The result obtained from Pearson correlation and stepwise multiple regressions suggest that Distributive Justice is found out to be the strongest predictor of organizational justice perceptions, job satisfaction, and Psychological Capital. It means that if people have favorable distributive justice perceptions, they are also likely to have positive organizational justice perceptions, job satisfaction, and Psychological Capital that has provided the favorable outcomes. Stepwise multiple regressions clearly indicate that various dimensions of Organizational Justice (Distributive, Procedural and Interactional Justice) can significantly predict the dimensions of Job Satisfaction (42.6%), and Psychological Capital (19.7%). The theoretical framework proposed in the paper on job satisfaction, and Psychological Capital; would help the researchers and management people to understand the impact of Perceptions about Organizational Justice in better efficiency of the organization.

Analisando a relação entre justiça percebida e satisfação declarada pelos clientes após falhas de serviço: estudo de caso em uma empresa de telecomunicações

O defeito zero é algo praticamente inalcançável em operações de serviços, o que torna a capacidade das empresas de gerenciar eficazmente as reclamações dos clientes oriundas das falhas de serviços uma condição sine-qua-non para o seu sucesso no longo prazo. Este artigo tem como objetivo central avaliar a influência das percepções de justiça na satisfação dos clientes após a condução de um processo de gerenciamento de reclamações. Para tanto, foi analisado o caso de uma empresa de telefonia celular a partir da condução de uma survey com 496 clientes que reclamaram no seu call center. Foram avaliadas as percepções individuais de justiça declaradas pelos clientes e a sua relação com a satisfação após o processo. Os resultados obtidos por meio da aplicação de Regressão Logística demonstram que as percepções de justiça processual e distributiva influenciaram de forma significativa a satisfação, enquanto que a justiça interpessoal, apesar de ter obtido a melhor avaliação individual, não demonstrou ter relação significativa com este construto. São feitas reflexões relevantes baseadas nestes resultados, considerando que diversos elementos de justiça mal avaliados individualmente apresentaram grande influência na satisfação final e indicando a necessidade da empresa em rever suas prioridades em termos de revisão de processos e treinamento de funcionários.

Longitudinal Relationships Between Organizational Justice, Productivity Loss, and Sickness Absence Among Older Employees.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to assess whether organizational justice lowers productivity loss and sickness absence, and whether there are reverse effects of productivity loss and sickness absence on organizational justice.MethodA longitudinal study with 2 years of follow-up was conducted among employed persons aged 45–64 years from the Study on Transitions in Employment, Ability and Motivation (STREAM). Participants (N = 7011) yearly filled out an online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling in LISREL was conducted to assess the longitudinal relationships between distributive justice of salary, distributive justice of appreciation, procedural justice, productivity loss, and sickness absence.ResultsBoth distributive justice of appreciation and procedural justice contributed to lower productivity loss and lower sickness absence at 1-year follow-up. Productivity loss increased perceptions of distributive justice of appreciation at 1-year follow-up, whereas sickness absence lowered both perceptions of distributive justice of appreciation and procedural justice at follow-up.ConclusionImproving organizational justice lowers the risk of productivity loss and sickness absence and may be a useful tool to improve the productivity of organizations.

Servant leadership, distributive justice and commitment to customer value in the salesforce

Purpose– The purpose of this research is to further understand salesperson distributive justice judgments by examining two controllable factors that may influence these perceptions: sales leadership (i.e. servant leadership) and salesforce control (i.e. quota).Design/methodology/approach– The sample included 279 business-to-business salespeople from across the USA. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.Findings– Servant leadership and salesperson participation in quota setting both positively impact distributive justice perceptions (i.e. fairness in reward allocation), which subsequently affect salespeople’s commitment to providing superior customer value.Originality/value– First study to empirically examine connections between servant leadership, distributive justice and commitment to customer value in the salesforce.

The mediating role of distributive justice perceptions in the relationship between emotion regulation and emotional exhaustion in healthcare workers

ABSTRACTThis research proposes that the use of emotion regulation strategies by employees in the service professions determines their perceptions of fairness in interactions with clients, which in turn influences their emotional exhaustion. Based on social exchange theory and models of self-control, the investigation tested whether: (1) the type of emotion regulation strategy that employees use to meet the emotional demands of their job role partially influences their perceptions of distributive justice (i.e. that clients respond to their efforts), and (2) these perceptions mediate the relationship between emotion regulation and emotional exhaustion. To test this, a longitudinal field survey study of a sample of primary care workers in Spain (general practitioners and nurses; N = 233) was conducted. Findings showed that the relationship between emotion regulation and emotional exhaustion was mediated by perceptions of distributive justice. A bootstrapping mediational analysis showed a significant indirect effect of surface acting on emotional exhaustion through distributive justice when inter-individual differences at T1 and when intra-individual changes between T1 and T2 were considered. Deep acting indirect effects were not significant for intra-individual changes. The findings indicate that employees’ perception of distributive justice has implications for understanding the impact of emotion regulation on well-being.

平均还是平等？不同工作情境下的分配公平感知

分配公平是人类社会生活的重要追求，主要包括两个理论：平均理论与平等理论。平均理论的拥护者认为只要收入不均便为不公平，而平等理论的支持者则认为如果不均的收入可以反映工作量、努力程度等方面的差异，那么收入也可视为公平。基于这两个理论，国内外大量的研究者进行了讨论和研究，但是还存在一些争议，并且不同工作情境下的分配公平感知也尚不清楚。因此，该研究通过双方合作任务，进一步考察了人们的分配公平感知。该任务包括两个角色：翻译员(高工作量者)与校对员(低工作量者)。二者的工作量之比是固定的，具体来说，翻译员的工作量是校对员的三倍。并且二者均没有决定如何分配报酬的权力。在熟悉了工作情境后，二者需要对三种分配方案(3:1，1:1和1:3)进行公平评级(−3到+3)。同时设计了工作类型相同的任务为基线。结果发现，工作类型相同的情境下，二者均认为与工作量匹配的分配方案更公平；工作类型不同的情境下，二者则倾向于平均分配。并且，当工作类型由相同变为不同时，二者对3:1分配方案的公平评级明显降低，对其他两种方案的评级明显增加。这表明工作情境会影响人们的分配公平感知。已有研究表明人们厌恶偏离自我贡献的分配方案，因此实验二考察了人们对于收入的自我贡献和其分配公平感知的关系。实验二让二者同时评定了不同工作情境下的分配方案的公平性和自我贡献的程度(0%~100%)，结果重复了实验1的结果。除此之外，还发现工作类型相同时，人们的自我贡献评级与工作量之比无显著差异，工作类型不同时人们的自我贡献评级则与50%无显著差异。这表明人们的自我贡献认知与分配公平感知一致，进一步支持了平等理论。 Distributive justice is considered as an important pursuit in human social life, including two main theories: equity theory and equality theory. Proponents of the equity theory argue that it is not fair to distribute the income unequally, whereas supporters of the equality theory claim that income inequalities can be fair if they reflect relevant differences, such as workload and work effort. Based on these two theories, the domestic and foreign scholars have carried on a long-term discussion and the researches. However, those studies still have some disputes and the distributive justice perceptions in different work contexts remains unclear. Therefore, a two-person co-opera- tive task was designed to further investigate humans’ distributive justice perceptions. In our adopted task, there are two work roles. One is the translator (the people with high workload), and another is the checker (the people with low workload). The ratio of their workload was fixed. To be more specifically, the translator’s workload was triple than the checker’s. And they both have no power to decide how to divide the earned money. And after they are familiar with the whole situation, they both are required to rate three allocations (3:1, 1:1, and 1:3) on a scale that ranged from very unfair (−3) to very fair (+3). At the same time, the same work-type situation was designed as a baseline. It displayed that they tend to judge the distribution which matches the workload fairer in same work-type situation, while they tend to judge the equal allocation fairer in different work-type situation. Moreover, when the work context transitioned from same work-type situation to different work-type situation, their subjective ratings for 3:1 dropped significantly, and the ratings for the other offers increased significantly. These findings suggest that work context can influence individuals’ distributive justice perceptions. In fact, some researches pointed out that people are averse to deviations from an income distribution in proportion to their contribution. Therefore, experiment 2 was conducted to test the relationship between participants’ self-contribution to the income and their distributive justice perceptions. In experiment 2, participants not only need to evaluate the fairness of the three allocations in each of two situations, but also need to rate their self-contribution from 0% to 100%. The results replicated our findings in experiment 1. In addition, their self-contribution had no significant differences with the proportion of their workload when their work types were the same. But when their work types were different from each other, they judged the equal allocation fairer. And their contributions had no significant difference with 50%. These results demonstrate that peoples’ self-contribution perceptions are consistent with their distributive perceptions. The present findings, to our knowledge, provide further behavioral evidence for equity theory.

Can Informal Water Vendors Deliver on the Promise of A Human Right to Water? Results From Cochabamba, Bolivia

We examine the role of informal water vendors in the urban poor’s efforts to secure safe and affordable water in the squatter settlements of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Using an economic justice framework, we evaluate (1) how informal water markets operate, (2) differences in client and vendor perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional (in)justice, and (3) how cooperation among water vendors impedes or assists in achieving justice in water delivery. The research includes a comparative institutional analysis of three key data sets: long-term participant-observation in water-scarce squatter settlements; interviews with 12 water vendors; and interviews with 41 clients from 23 squatter settlements. We find that informal water vendors organize themselves to safeguard distributive justice (e.g., fair pricing, good water quality), but clients are distressed by procedural and interactional injustices (e.g., unreliable and inequitable service). Our research also shows that unionized vendors are more effective than non-unionized vendors in creating and enforcing rules that advance distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. We make concrete recommendations for improving justice in informal water markets, including a larger role for unions and community consultation. We conclude that, despite challenges, the informal economy may play an important role in advancing the human right to water.

Understanding why consumers engage in electronic word-of-mouth communication: Perspectives from theory of planned behavior and justice theory

Word-of-mouth has been recognized as a dominant factor in shaping consumer behavior. However, what drives consumers to post their positive and negative purchasing experiences in the online environment remains an important but largely neglected issue. Building on the theory of planned behavior, the justice theory and the social psychology literature, this study aims to investigate the antecedents of consumers’ intention to engage in eWOM communication. Specifically, we separate negative and positive eWOM into two distinct concepts since the motivations underlying consumers’ decisions to post positive and negative eWOM are likely to be different. Through an experience survey, respondents were required to reflect on recent positive or negative shopping experiences. The findings reveal that intentions to engage in positive and negative eWOM communication are associated with different antecedents. Consumers who intend to post positive eWOM appear to be more driven by underlying attitudinal factors, whereas those who consider posting negative eWOM are more driven by social pressure. In addition, consumers’ feelings of satisfaction are largely driven by their perception of distributive justice for negative shopping experiences. In contrast, satisfaction is significantly influenced by the perceptions of interactional and procedural justice for positive shopping experiences. Our results provide insights and implications for scholars and managers.

Perceived justice and recovery satisfaction: the moderating role of customer-perceived quality

Abstract Recovery strategies are critical to service providers in their efforts to maintain satisfied and loyal customers. While the existing research shows that recovery satisfaction is a function of customer perception of distributive, procedural and interactional justice, the present study considers an important contextual factor - customer-perceived quality of the service provider in the evaluation of justice dimensions and satisfaction. To test the hypotheses proposed, a survey was carried out in the mobile services context. The findings reveal that customer-perceived quality affects the evaluation of justice dimensions and its outcomes. The findings reveal that while distributive justice enhances recovery satisfaction for low perceived quality services, the procedural justice resulted in greater satisfaction in high perceived quality services. Thus, by understanding the role of customer-perceived quality, service managers can deliver effective recovery strategies thereby enhancing satisfaction and loyalty.

The Subjective Court Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence Victims: Does Motherhood Matter?

Many women with children experience intimate partner violence (IPV). These survivors are particularly important to assist, because countless have complex safety concerns related to their children. Mothers' concerns about their children have been shown to impact their decision making related to abuse, but researchers have not closely explored what happens during mothers' interactions with help sources. This study examined whether women with (n = 98) and without (n = 44) children differ in a) their court experiences through their perceptions of procedural and distributive justice, and b) the context of their lives surrounding the court experience. We also explored the relationship between contextual factors and procedural and distributive justice. Results indicate participants were relatively satisfied with their court experiences, despite experiencing reabuse, danger, and fear throughout court processes. Mothers reported significantly higher levels of distributive justice and contact with the abusive partner than non-mothers. However, mothers did not differ significantly from non-mothers with regard to procedural justice, fear, danger, reabuse or reliance on the abusive partner. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated the interaction between fear and motherhood significantly predicted participants' perceptions of distributive justice, as did the interaction between danger and motherhood. In these interactions, mothers' fear and perceptions of danger were not related to their perception of distributive justice. However, non-mothers who reported higher levels of fear and danger perceived less distributive justice. Results suggest mothers and non-mothers enter the system with similar life contexts, and that these contextual factors impact their perceptions of court outcomes differently.

Effects of Employees' Social Comparison Behaviors on Distributive Justice Perception and Job Satisfaction

We explored the effects of direction and frequency of social comparison on employees' work attitudes. Full-time employees (N = 403) of 23 different organizations from various industries completed a paper-and-pencil survey. We found that people with a low core self-evaluation and a high performance approach tended to engage in social comparison frequently in both work-related and work-unrelated dimensions, and that these people generally reported lower levels of job satisfaction being mediated by distributive justice than other people did. Further, the relationship between comparison frequency and work attitude was moderated by comparison direction. Our study contributes to the social comparison literature by revealing the interplay between comparison frequency and direction, which influences employees' work attitudes.

The relationship between human capital, value creation and employee reward

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between human capital (HC) and value creation and employee reward. HC is an important component of intellectual capital (IC). There is growing interest in how IC can be used to create organizational value. This paper addresses the need for critical analysis of IC practices in action. Based on data gathered from three annual surveys at Australia’s second largest public sector organization, the paper introduces psychological contract (PC) as new HC factors, and develops a method to measure HC in terms of value creation (work activity) and employee reward (pay). The findings have practical implications for managers in using the paper’s HC measurement to achieve strategic alignment (SA) of the workforce. Design/methodology/approach – The research was based on data gathered from three annual surveys (2009-2011) of staff at Australia’s second largest public sector organization. A total of 248 questionnaires were completed. Three independent variables conceptualized HC: first, employee capability (HC1); second, employee satisfaction (HC2); and third, employee commitment (HC3). Two dependent variables were tested: work activity and pay. The data collected in this study was analyzed through the use of bivariate correlation and linear regression using SPSS software. Findings – The paper’s major finding is that HC1 (employee capability) and HC2 (employee satisfaction), had a direct positive relationship with the importance of work activity. The paper’s second finding was that only HC1 has a direct positive relationship with the pay. However, HC3 (employee commitment) had a direct negative relationship with the importance of work activity. Further, HC2 and HC3 had no relationship with pay. The research project organization (RPO) achieved SA with employees’ capability and motivation; as well as employee capability and pay. However, inequities emerge in terms of employee commitment and value creation (work activity) and in the PC factors and pay. Research limitations/implications – While the research findings are limited by them being based on a single RPO, this is offset to some degree by the longitudinal nature of the study and the size of the RPO. It also presents opportunities for further research, particularly in terms of further testing of the new conceptualization of HC in other organizations and industry settings, and investigation of the failed hypotheses: PC and pay; and employee commitment and work activity. Practical implications – While strong PC employees are being asked to do important work, they are not always being paid at the rate of colleagues doing similar work. This will create perceptions of distributive justice, which will make those with strong PC unhappy, thereby decreasing their PC, disrupting the SA of the value creation, and lead to employee turnover. Managers can address this problem by using the HC method outlined in this paper to introduce methods such as merit increases and variable pay. While this is problematic for public sector organizations often constrained by having to fit salary awards, innovative organizations are increasingly considering more flexible pay systems. Originality/value – The paper introduces a new conceptualization of HC, and two proxies for organizational performance: pay and work activity. The paper addresses calls for IC in practice research to make the field more relevant for practitioners. The HC model introduced will allow managers to act on IC measurement by linking HC value with adequate pay, increasing motivation, commitment, and productivity, leading to increased innovation and reduced employee turnover.

Mythical Measures

The Gini coefficient, one of the most widely used inequality measures in economics, is thought to report income disparity with a reliable degree of objectivity. However, a critical assessment of the Gini’s implicit normative assumptions reveals that this objectivity is overstated. Moreover, this critique can be extended to other indices as well, uncovering a more general worry that the perception of distributive justice, which determines the ideal level of inequality underlying such indices, is necessarily subjective. As a result, the prospect of a mutually intelligible and transparent discussion on inequality suffers – both at the scientific and policy level. The implication of this finding is that more work needs to be done in specifying the normative foundations of inequality measures.

Testing the “slippery slope framework” among self-employed taxpayers

The “slippery slope framework” suggests voluntary and enforced compliance as the two motivations underlying tax compliance behavior. Using questionnaire data based on a sample of 476 self-employed taxpayers we show that perceptions of procedural and distributive justice predict voluntary compliance, and trust in authorities mediates this observed relation. In addition, the relation between retributive justice, i.e. the perceived fairness with regard to the sanctioning of tax evaders, and enforced compliance was mediated by power, just as the relation between perceived deterrence of authorities’ enforcement strategies and enforced compliance. With regard to both retributive justice and deterrence also a mediational effect of trust on the relation to voluntary compliance was identified. Furthermore, voluntary and enforced compliance were related to perceived social norms, but these relations were neither mediated by trust nor power. Our findings are of particular relevance since the literature identifies self-employed taxpayers as evading considerably more taxes than employees and therefore they are an important audience for interventions to raise tax compliance.

PSIHOMETRIJSKA PROVJERA I VALIDACIJA SKALE ORGANIZACIJSKE PRAVDE NA SRPSKOM UZORKU

Ovo istraživanje imalo je za cilj da provjeri psihometrijske karakteristike i validira prevod Skale organizacijske pravde (Organizational Justice Scale: Colquitt, 2001) na srpskom jeziku putem sprovođenja dvije nezavisne studije. Prva je imala za cilj provjeru dimenzionalnosti, interne konzistentnosti i diskriminativnosti ajtema instrumenta. Uzorak je činilo 332 zaposlenih u Banja Luci. Rezultati su potvrdili originalnu četverokomponentnu strukturu instrumenta, odnosno dimenzije Distributivna pravda (percepcija pravednosti u raspodjeli organizacijskih resursa), Proceduralna pravda (percepcija pravednosti organizacijskih politika i procedura za donošenje odluka o raspodjeli resursa), Interpersonalna pravda (percepcija učtivosti i poštovanja u ophođenju nadređenih), te Informacijska pravda (percepcija adekvatnosti dobijenih informacija o pravilima i procedurama koje se primjenjuju u organizaciji). Dobijeni su visoki i prihvatljivi koeficijenti interne konzistentnosti za sve četiri subskale. Interna koherentnost skale je dobra, ajtemi imaju jedinstven predmet merenja. Druga studija je imala za cilj provjeriti kriterijumsku valjanost Skale organizacijske pravde u predviđanju ponašanja i stavova prema radu: odgovorno organizacijsko ponašanje, odanost organizaciji i zadovoljstvo poslom. Uzorak je činilo 474 zaposlene osobe u Banja Luci. Dobijeni rezultati su u skladu sa teorijskim očekivanjama i pokazuju da se na osnovu rezultata na Skali organizacijske pravde može predvidjeti odgovorno organizacijsko ponašanje, odanost organizaciji i zadovoljstvo poslom. Dobijeni rezultati su potvrdili primjenjivost instrumenta na domaćoj populaciji.

Exploring the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and organizational justice in the Islamic Saudi Arabian context

Purpose– Cross-cultural studies suggest that while organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and organizational justice have received considerable attention in Anglo-Saxon contexts, the same cannot be claimed in non-Western, Arab Middle Eastern contexts. The purpose of this paper is to attend to this knowledge gap by exploring OCB in the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its relationship with organizational justice.Design/methodology/approach– In cognizance of the extant literature, the study explores the perceptions of Saudi Arabian managers of the five conceptually different dimensions of citizenship behaviour – conscientiousness, sportsmanship, civic virtue, courtesy, and altruism. It also explores their perceptions of distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactional justice. In addition, the current study investigates the relationship between organizational justice and OCB. Using the survey questionnaire method, data was collected from more than 250 Saudi managers at different levels of the managerial hierarchy and working in a wide range of organizations and industries.Findings– The results indicate that Saudi Arabian managers reported exhibiting OCB at work. They also suggest the salience of various forms of organizational justice in Saudi Arabian organizations as motivated by Arab cultural values and Islamic teachings. In regards to the relationship between the two constructs, our results indicate that interactional justice is most frequently associated with various dimensions of OCB for various reasons, including the emphasis that Islam and Islamic teachings give to demonstrating respect and courtesy in dealings with others.Originality/value– The literature on OCB and organizational justice is thin in the Arab world. With that in mind, the current study is the first to explore OCB in Saudi Arabia. It is also the first to investigate the relationship between citizenship behavior and justice in Saudi organizations. The findings of this study highlight the need for academics and human resource experts to account for the role of socio-cultural factors and Islam when examining these constructs in the Arab world. The implications of the findings for academics and practitioners are discussed.

Effects of Teachers’ Organizational Justice Perceptions on Intention to Quit: Mediation Role of Organizational Identification

This research aims to discover the effects of teachers’ organizational justice perceptions on intention to quit as well as the mediation role of teachers’ organizational identification in this process. Interactions between research variables were measured using structural equation models. The sample used comprised teachers working at primary and secondary public schools in the Çankaya district of Ankara, Turkey. Data were collected through questionnaires completed by 292 teachers who participated voluntarily. Participants were selected according to a random sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed using linear regression and multiple correlation analyses. The findings indicate significant relationships between all research variables. Teachers’ procedural, distributive, interpersonal, and informational justice perceptions have a positive predictive effect on organizational identification. Distributive and interpersonal justice perceptions coupled with organizational identification have a negative predictive effect on teachers’ intention to quit. Organizational identification fully mediates the predictive effect of distributive justice perception on intention to quit; however, it partially mediates the predictive effect of interpersonal justice perception on intention to quit.

When A Perceived Glass Ceiling Impacts Organizational Commitment And Turnover Intent: The Mediating Role Of Distributive Justice

This study investigated the relationship between a perceived glass ceiling in an organization and commitment to that organization, with the expectation that the effect would be indirect and mediated by distributive justice perceptions. The same hypothesis was put forward with turnover intent as an outcome. The study uses VIE, Equity, Social Exchange, and Social Identity Theories to frame these arguments, and in both cases, partial mediation was present. Specifically, the effect of a perceived glass ceiling on each of the dependent variables was greater alone than when considered together with perceptions of distributive justice. The analyses and findings are outlined, and implications for theory and for practice are discussed.

Citizens' perceptions of justice in international climate policy: an empirical analysis

Relying on a recent survey of more than 3400 participants from China, Germany, and the US, this article empirically analyses citizens' perceptions of key guiding principles for sharing mitigation costs across countries, justification of climate policy and trust in climate policy. Our findings suggest that the ranking of the main principles for burden-sharing is identical in China, Germany, and the US: accountability followed by capability, egalitarianism, and sovereignty. Thus, on a general level, citizens across these countries seem to have a common (normative) understanding of fairness. We therefore find no evidence that citizens' (stated) fairness preferences are detrimental to future burden-sharing agreements. In all three countries a majority of citizens considers international climate policy to be justified, but citizens' perceptions differ across specific items and countries. Finally, a substantial portion of citizens in all countries exhibit a lack of trust in international climate agreements.Policy relevanceDisagreement over the distribution of mitigation costs across countries is blocking current negotiations about a new international climate change agreement to be adopted in 2015. At the heart of this disagreement are different perceptions of distributive justice among those involved in climate policy making. Our findings show that there is no difference in the ranking of fairness principles across citizens in China, Germany, and the US, suggesting that the common ground for crafting a future agreement is larger than expected. In particular, the accountability principle should weigh heavily when deciding on the burden-sharing. In addition, our findings suggest that in order to gain support among citizens, international climate policy may need to take measures to improve trust.