The shape of justice repair: Asymmetric nonlinear retributive and restorative justice effects to unfair supervisor treatment
International Journal of Conflict Management
ISSN: 1044-4068
Article publication date: 29 November 2019
Issue publication date: 31 March 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of supervisor’s unfair treatment on follower’s retributive and restorative justice perceptions. The main goal is to find asymmetric nonlinear trajectories in the relationship between the severity of unfair treatment and employees’ orientation toward retributive/restorative justice.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an experimental policy-capturing design that varied five levels of transgression severity (none to very high) within supervisor–subordinate relationship injustice situations, 168 employees rated their retributive/restorative justice preferences. Latent growth curve modeling was used to fit the overall patterns of change.
Findings
As hypothesized, the trajectory of restorative justice was convex and progressed in a negative exponential shape, whereas the retributive justice trajectory was concave but followed a less steep positive exponential shape.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation is a threat to the external validity of the results. Scenario-based surveys may not fully generalize to actual organizational situations.
Practical implications
These findings help managers to understand how unjust treatment can shape employees’ expectations and, thus, address it adequately. This is important to retain qualified personnel and to minimize workplace disengagement in the aftermath of poor treatment.
Social implications
Restorative justice is of great importance for minor and moderate violations of justice.
Originality/value
By illustrating different trajectories, this study extends research on restorative and retributive justice in organizations. The results help to understand when people expect restoration and are motivated to punish wrongdoers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Compliance with ethical standards
We declare that we received no funding for this research and have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Citation
Konradt, U., Okimoto, T., Garbers, Y. and Otte, K.-P. (2020), "The shape of justice repair: Asymmetric nonlinear retributive and restorative justice effects to unfair supervisor treatment", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 149-173. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-06-2019-0096
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited