Reactions to injustice: Factors affecting workers' resentment toward family-friendly policies

The introduction of work-family policies in the workplace is accompanied by a backlash over the inequities they create. Casting these potential inequities as a distributive justice issue, we examine how self-interest (defined by parenthood and gender) affects anticipated resentment arising from inequitable benefit plans and workloads and how the context (supportive workplace, procedural justice) and liberal gender-role attitudes mitigate feelings of resentment. We analyze data from the 1997 National Survey of the Changing Workforce. Results provide no evidence that parents are less resentful than nonparents; this finding casts doubt on the self-interest argument. A supportive workplace, however, consistently mitigates resentment. In contrast, procedural justice hardly affects resentment levels. Resentment regarding extra work depends in addition on a worker's gender and gender-role attitudes. We discuss why the type of inequity-stemming from a change in outcomes or a change in inputs-may affect differentially the factors that reduce negative reactions to injustice.