The organizations. Justice, trust and retaliatory attitude: a study in a company in the metal-mechanic sector

Abstract

The working relationship between individuals and organizations has been based on the perspective of organizational justice due to the need for approaches that go beyond the formal-legal dimension that regulates such relationship. This study aimed to describe the role of employees’ trust in the organization according to the relationship between organizational justice and predisposition to retaliatory attitudes. To accomplish that, a survey was carried out, with 188 employees, chosen by convenience. Data analysis was performed using a confirmatory factor, regression, mediation and moderation in order to test the relationship between organizational justice with the other theoretical model constructs. The hypothesis of the negative effect of justice on the retaliation was confirmed (H1). The indirect mediating effect of organizational trust on justice and predisposition to employees’ retaliatory attitude (H2) and the moderating effect of trust on the relationship between justice and employees’ retaliatory attitude (H3) were also confirmed. The results suggested that employees’ trust in the organization has a mediating and moderator effect on the relationship between justice and employees’ retaliatory attitude. These findings contribute to a better understanding about the effects of justice on the relationship between employees and organizations, indicating objective managerial implications to mitigate the effects of retaliation in these organizations.