The Moderating Effects of Justice on the Relationship Between Organizational Politics and Workplace Attitudes

Research suggests that perceptions of organizational politics consistently result in negative outcomes for individuals. In the current study, distributive and procedural justice are explored for their effects on the relationships between perceptions of organizational politics and turnover intentions and job satisfaction. We tested these relationships in a sample of 311 employees of a water management district. Results indicated the politics––turnover intentions and politics––job satisfaction relationships were weaker when perceptions of both forms of justice are high. Further, and potentially more interestingly, politics mattered the most when the distribution of outcomes was unfair (distributive justice) as opposed to when procedures were unfair (procedural justice). Implications for future research and management practice are discussed.