Perceptions of equity and justice and their implications on affective organizational commitment: A confirmatory study in a teaching and research institute

Abstract

Studies about individuals commitment to organizations acquire renewed interest in light of the changes imposed by new organizational structures and 'boundary-less' careers. The need to identify and retain individuals who add value to the organization constitutes an increasing challenge facing human resource professionals. In this context it is necessary to establish stronger links between the individuals and the organization they work for. In this paper the effects of the perceived equity and justice on the employees' affective commitment to the organization is evaluated, using a structural equation model. The main stream of the literature treats equity as part of distributive justice. The main contribution of this study was to treat both concepts separately. Based on data gathered from a teaching and research institute, this study confirmed the theoretical assumptions that the perception of justice is indeed antecedent to and determinant of affective organizational commitment. However, the same was not observed in relation to the perception of equity. This result justifies the new approach of removing the concept of equity from justice when measuring organizational commitment. © 2012 Brazilian Administration Review. All rights reserved.