Peer Justice and the Individual

Abstract

AbstractPeer justice refers to the perceived fairness of the treatment an employee receives from coworkers. Although research has found peer justice to be an important predictor of work attitudes and behavior, prior work has only conceptualized the construct at the unit or group level. This limitation can be problematic because peer justice theories sometimes involve within-person effects. In response, we propose and test an individual level model of peer justice. We then test the model with 100 employees from a luxury tourist resort. Respondents answered a questionnaire on ten consecutive working days, resulting in 1000 daily diary recordings. Within-person variance was significant, not only for daily peer (70%) and supervisor (59%) justice but also for the outcomes (52–70%), thus justifying the study of intraindividual associations. Using growth models, the results showed significant links from daily peer justice to daily changes in overall job satisfaction, in-role performance, and helping coworkers. Each of these effects went beyond the daily treatment received from the supervisor.