A Study of Workplace Justice Differences During Times of Change: It's Not All About Me

The authors used social comparison theory in conjunction with fairness theory to investigate the impact of differences between personal and third-party perceptions of change justice on commitment to the change and turnover intentions. Results involving data from manufacturing employees, who had recently undergone a sweeping organizational change, indicated that differences in perceived fairness for oneself versus others were negatively related to change commitment but positively related to emotional exhaustion. In addition, results indicated that emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between justice differences and the important outcomes of change commitment and turnover intentions. Implications for organizations and future research are discussed.