Perceived fairness of web-based applicant screening procedures: Weighing the rules of justice and the role of individual differences

Abstract

Four previously established characteristics of procedural justice (consistency, opportunity to perform, reconsideration opportunity, and feedback timeliness) and one additional characteristic (automated versus human decision agent) were manipulated in a policy-capturing design to examine their relative importance in predicting fairness perceptions in a Web-based applicant-screening context. Results showed that all five justice characteristics influenced fairness perceptions and that a hierarchy of importance among the characteristics existed, with consistency weighted most heavily, followed by opportunity to perform. Gender, conscientiousness, and job application experience moderated the effects of several of these characteristics in predicting fairness perceptions. Implications and future research directions are discussed.©2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.