The role of equity sensitivity in organizational justice perceptions

The primary purpose of this dissertation was three fold. First, this study integrated several recently developed and/or emerging areas of contemporary organizational behavior research (i.e., equity sensitivity with both procedural and interactional justice) as well as existing literature from two well-established fields (i.e., organizational justice and stress). Second, this study investigated the role of procedural and interactional justice perceptions relative to individual differences and the perception of stress. Third, this study examined the role of equity sensitivity as an individual difference variable in the perception of organizational justice and the stress process.;Thus, this study investigated several important research questions: First, is there a relationship between equity sensitivity and procedural and interactional justice perceptions? Second, does equity sensitivity cause some aspects of organizational justice to be more important or effective than others for different individuals? Finally, is equity sensitivity an individual difference variable that affects the stress process?;Surveys from a sample of 278 business communication students of a large southeastern university were analyzed using moderated hierarchical regression. Results indicated that there is a relationship between equity sensitivity and both procedural and interactional justice perceptions. That is to say, equity sensitivity moderated the relationship between both procedural and interactional justice perceptions and various important outcomes of interest (e.g., satisfaction, turnover, and outcome stress). Moreover, equity sensitivity caused some aspects of organizational justice to be more important and/or effective than others for different individuals. In addition, as moderated by equity sensitivity, procedural and interactional justice perceptions were shown to predict process and outcome related stress.;Hence, the results of the present study represented an attempt to parsimoniously satisfy the search for individual difference variables for both the fields of organizational justice and occupational stress. Furthermore, the overall findings of this study supported an expanded role for equity sensitivity as an individual difference variable in the perception of general organizational justice perceptions and the stress process. Additionally, study limitations, implications for managers, and suggestions for future research were offered.