The moderating effects of gender, emotion, and culture on the relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior

Abstract

Modern organizations are viewed as microcosms of bigger society; therefore, their implementation of justice reflects the realization of justice throughout larger society. The concepts of organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) have gained a lot of attention in the field of organizational behaviour. While organizational justice refers to employees' views of fairness in the workplace, OCB refers to discretionary behaviours that go beyond the official obligations of a job. Previous research has related perceptions of organizational justice to a variety of outcomes, including job satisfaction, counterproductive work behaviour, and organizational commitment. The current study, however, looks at the moderating effects of gender, emotion, and culture on the relationship between organizational justice and OCB. The study investigated the relationship between organizational justice and OCB at their dimensional levels (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice), as well as the behaviours people exhibit towards one another and the organization (OCBI and OCBO). An online survey was used to measure the variables among employed individuals (N = 310) from a variety of occupations. The findings supported a positive association between all dimensions of organizational justice and OCB, with interactional and procedural justice being the strongest predictors of OCBI and OCBO. The study found that the cultural orientation of collectivism and low-power distance considerably influenced the perception of justice, whereas the cultural orientation of individualism and high-power distance had a negative association with both OCBI and OCBO. This shows that employees from these cultural backgrounds may be less likely to participate in OCB, even when they perceive fairness. Gender and emotion were largely non-significant as moderating variables, implying that perceptions of justice transcend gender differences and emotional states. These findings emphasize the significance of conducting a comprehensive examination into the relationship between organizational justice and OCB, as well as the potential moderating effects of gender, emotion, and culture on this relationship. Additional implications for research and practice are discussed.