Making Sense of Procedural Fairness: How High Procedural Fairness Can Reduce or Heighten the Influence of Outcome Favorability

Abstract

I consider the interactive effects of procedural fairness and outcome favorability on people's reactions to organizational decisions. When the dependent variable consists of employees' support for decisions, for decision makers, or for organizations, outcome favorability has less influence when procedural fairness is high rather than low. When the dependent variable consists of employees' self-evaluations, however, outcome favorability has more influence when procedural fairness is high rather than low. Explanations, implications, and future research directions are discussed.