CURRENT RESEARCH IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 8,
Number 12
Submitted: January 7, 2002
First Revision: October 9, 2002
Second Revision: January 6, 2003
Third Revision: January 7,
2003
Accepted: January 7, 2003
Publication Date: January 7, 2003
THE EFFECTS
OF GROUP AFFILIATION ON THIRD PARTIES' JUSTICE PERCEPTIONS
University of the Pacific
ABSTRACT
We investigated the justice perceptions of third parties,
individuals who are not directly involved in a justice situation, either as
the decision maker or the recipient of the justice outcome. Specifically, we examined the effects
of two forms of in-group affiliation on third parties' justice perceptions:
1) affiliation of decision maker and guilty group of students, and 2) affiliation
of third parties reading about the scenario with the decision maker and guilty
group of students. In a scenario
study, university students evaluated the fairness of a disciplinary situation
used to punish a group of students for plagiarizing. Different results were found for fraternity vs. non-fraternity
subjects, depending on whether the decision maker was affiliated with a fraternity
or not and whether the decision maker was a group or individual.
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INTRODUCTION
According to social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979),
people derive part of their self-image from the groups to which they belong.
Further, the theory suggests that individuals will favor members of
their group over non-group members in allocating resources or rewards (e.g.,
Campbell, 1965; Sherif & Sherif, 1969).
Research has found that people categorize others in terms of the groups
to which they belong; further, this categorization is thought to occur whether
those doing the categorizing are active group member participants or are watching
from the outside (Wegner, 1982). When
third parties are made aware of group membership (i.e., "focal group
awareness"), they develop stereotypes about members of the group (Wegner,
1982).
To our knowledge, no existing research has explicitly examined
third parties' evaluations of justice situations when group affiliation is
made salient. The purpose of
the present study is to examine the effects of group affiliation on third
parties' fairness evaluations of a punishment scenario. Whereas a considerable amount of justice
research has examined the justice perceptions of those actively participating
in various procedures and outcomes, little research has examined the justice
perceptions of those not directly involved in these justice judgment situations.
In the legal discipline, there are terms for those directly involved
in a justice situation (e.g., first and second parties; prosecution and defense). There is literature examining the role
of mediators and arbitrators in dispute resolution (e.g., Ross & Conlon,
2000). However, little research
has explicitly examined those not directly involved in the justice situation,
either as a decision maker (e.g., arbitrator) or recipient of a justice outcome.
In the current study we define third parties as individuals
who are not directly involved in a justice situation, either as the decision
maker or the recipient of the justice procedure or outcome. Although third parties are not directly
involved in a justice situation, we expect them to have some interest in the
process or outcome (e.g., James & Cropanzano, 1990; Lind, Kray & Thompson,
1998; Naumann & Bennett, 2000). In the workplace third party perceptions are often just as
important as those of the individuals directly involved in the justice situation.
For instance, James and Cropanzano (1990) argued that individuals observe
others in their focal groups and arrive at judgments concerning how procedures
experienced by others affect them. Lind,
Kray, and Thompson (1998) have presented a parallel argument:
Much of the information any individual person has about the
fairness of an organization or a supervisor comes not from personal experiences
but instead from the broader collective experience of other people. Collective experience provides a far larger
pool of instances of fair or unfair actions than does the experience of any
one individual, and it would be logical for people seeking to form a complete
assessment of justice to make use of these actions as they generate an impression
(p. 2).
We examined two forms of in-group affiliation: 1) affiliation
of decision maker and guilty group of students in a hypothetical scenario,
and 2) affiliation of third party subjects reading about the scenario.
We also explored the effects of whether the decision maker was a group
or individual. Three components of fairness evaluations
were considered: distributive justice, trust, and neutrality. Distributive justice concerns the perceived
fairness of outcomes received (e.g., Greenberg, 1987). Trust (e.g., Tyler, 1989) may be defined
as the degree to which individuals believe the decision maker intends to act
in a fair manner and that they can count on the decision maker to make a fair
decision. Neutrality (e.g., Tyler,
1989) involves the extent to which the decision maker is perceived as free
from bias (i.e., uses openness and honesty instead of hidden agendas or opinions
to make decisions).
Existing organizational justice research (e.g., Leventhal,
1976; Lind & Tyler, 1988) suggests that in order for individuals to perceive
a justice situation as fair, they must perceive the decision maker as being
unbiased, impartial, and trustworthy. Thus, we would expect that in a situation where a decision
maker is a member of the same in-group as a guilty party, third parties would
perceive the situation less fairly than one where the decision maker is a
neutral third party.
Hypotheses 1a, b, and, c: Subjects' distributive justice, trust, and neutrality perceptions
will be lower when there is a common fraternity affiliation between decision
maker and guilty party compared to when there is no affiliation.
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A second question we addressed concerns third parties' group
affiliation: What happens when the scenarios third parties read about involve
the negative actions of their own group members: Will their fairness evaluations
be the same as those of third parties not in their group? The social psychology literature offers
a basis from which to make predictions.
When unfavorable characteristics of one's group are made salient (e.g.,
the group has done something objectionable), it is thought that members of
one's group perceive this as threatening to their social identity, even if
they had not personally behaved in an objectionable way (Doosje, Branscombe,
Spears, & Manstead, 1998). As
a result, they are motivated to maintain a positive group image (e.g., Kuhl,
1997).
Although the scenarios are hypothetical and, thus, the subjects
were not personally acquainted with the individuals in the scenarios, there
is some evidence that even when group members do not have an interpersonal
relationship with other group members, they are motivated to maintain a positive
image of the group (Marques, Abrams, Paez, & Martinez-Taboada, 1998).
Thus, we expected in-group subjects (i.e., fraternity members) to identify
with the people in the scenario since they were presented as being in the
same fraternity.
Fraternity members may be less likely to view the affiliation
scenario as unfair because they identify strongly with the group members in
the scenario. They may
have higher levels of trust than non-fraternity members that a fraternity
member decision maker will make a fair decision. Researchers have suggested that threats
(e.g., punishments) aimed at members of one's group are viewed as shared threats
and engender the view that one must help to protect the group's "common
fate" (Lee & Ottati, 1995). Further, shared threats facilitate the likelihood that group
members will perceive themselves as similar to other group members (Lee &
Ottati, 1995).
Social identity theory posits that, in order to increase their
social identity, group members tend to give more favorable allocations to
fellow group members than to out-group members. However, it should be noted that the theory does not require
the individual to actually make the allocation in order to yield the subsequent
increase in social identity. Group
members observing another member making favorable allocations to a third group
member should experience the same increase in social identity as if they made
the allocations themselves (Platow, O'Connell, Shave, & Hanning, 1995).
From the preceding discussion we hypothesize the following:
Hypotheses 2a, b, and c: Subjects who are not members of the fraternity will have lower
distributive justice, trust, and neutrality perceptions than will those subjects
who are members of the fraternity.
Miles and Palmer (2001) found that students reading a scenario
about a group of students being punished had higher distributive justice perceptions
when the decision maker was a group compared to when the decision maker was
an individual. In that study,
there was no affiliation among the guilty students or the decision maker(s)
of any kind. We expect that subjects'
justice perceptions in the current study will be influenced by whether the
decision maker is a group or an individual. As noted earlier, social identity theory
suggests that, in order to enhance their social identity, group members are
likely to give more favorable allocations to fellow group members than to
out-group members.
Much of our legal system is based on the belief that juries
of one's peers are better suited to make fair judgments than one individual
(Few, 1993; Forbes, 1995). If
the decision maker is a group, we expect fraternity subjects to view the scenario
more fairly than non-fraternity subjects when the decision maker is a group
affiliated with the subjects' fraternity as opposed to an individual not affiliated
with the fraternity. Non-fraternity
subjects are less likely to identify with the decision-making group as their
peers and, thus, are expected to view such a scenario as unfair; instead,
they would likely view a non-affiliated individual as better able to make
an unbiased decision.
Hypotheses 3a, b, and c: A significant three-way interaction
is expected among affiliation of decision maker (in fraternity of not), type
of decision maker (group or individual), and type of subject (in fraternity
or not) in influencing the distributive justice, trust, and neutrality perceptions
of subjects. That is, the
highest levels of distributive justice, trust, and neutrality perceptions
should be found for fraternity subjects in the condition where the decision
maker is a group affiliated with a fraternity as opposed to every other condition
that lacks all or part of these conditions.
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METHOD
Subjects
Participants were 579 undergraduate business students from
six universities. Approximately
half of the students were members of a co-educational, professional, business
fraternity (n = 281), and half of the students were not members of
the fraternity (n = 298). It
should be noted that the level of identification of group members in a fraternity
was expected to be higher than in most groups. Implications of our choice of a fraternity
to operationalize group affiliation will be addressed in the discussion section.
57.4% of the participants were female, and the average age of the sample
was 20.5 years. For race, participants reported themselves:
2.5% as "Black/African American," 11.8% as "Asian/Pacific Islander,"
77.7% as "White/Caucasian," 3.6% as
"Hispanic/Latino," 4.3% as "Other," and 4.6% did
not respond to this question. There were no statistically significant
differences in any of the demographic variables between the students who were
fraternity members and those who were not, or across the universities.
Design
A 2 X 2 X 2 full factorial design was used. The independent variables and their levels
were as follows: affiliation of decision maker (in a fraternity or not), type
of decision maker (individual or group), and fraternity membership of subject
(in a fraternity or not). Each
subject was randomly assigned to complete one of eight versions of a survey
containing hypothetical scenarios derived from an actual plagiarism situation
at a university. The most valid
scenario studies involve situations the respondents have experienced and understand
(Lind & Tyler, 1988). In
each of the scenarios a group of students was punished for plagiarizing another
group's work. This situation
was seen as an ideal one for examining the perceptions of students reading
about a justice incident. Plagiarism is a key aspect of college life and a behavior familiar
to many college students. The
subjects could personally identify with the situation and might have plagiarized
themselves. It has been estimated
that between 36 and 55% of students have plagiarized (Hale, 1987; Roig, 1997).
Procedure
Non-fraternity participants completed the survey during their
regular class sessions in a business school classroom; fraternity participants
completed the survey during their regular chapter meetings held in a business
school classroom. Individual
subjects received no rewards for their participation in the survey.
However, each of the fraternity chapters received a check for $50 for
the chapter participating in the research project.
All survey versions contained the following introductory text:
A professor was grading students' 20-page group term papers
for Zoology 101. The professor
noticed that one group's paper was particularly well-written, especially considering
their prior poor work in the class.
The professor also thought the paper seemed familiar to a paper turned
in last year. The professor checked
the files and found that an identical paper had been turned in last year by
another group.
Manipulations of the Independent Variables
Affiliation of decision maker. Next, students in the fraternity
affiliation condition read the following text:
The professor turned over the case to the Decision maker,
who handles all such cases at that university. The Decision maker carefully
examined the evidence. Next,
the Decision maker called in the group of students to get their side of the
story, too. It turned out that the Decision maker and the group of students
under investigation were all Brothers in Delta Sigma Pi. All wore their fraternity pins to the meeting. After weighing
all the evidence, the Decision maker made a decision. The decision of the Decision maker was
to have the group redo the entire paper.
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Students in the non-affiliation condition read the following
text:
The professor turned over the case to the Decision maker,
who handles all such cases at that university. The Decision maker carefully examined the evidence. Next, the Decision maker called in the
group of students to get their side of the story, too. After weighing all the evidence, the Decision
maker made a decision. The decision
of The Decision maker was to have the group of students redo the entire paper.
Type of decision maker. Half of the subjects read about an individual
decision maker (Dean of Students) and the other half read about a group of
decision makers in the scenario (Faculty Judiciary Committee).
Manipulation checks. Two questions were included as manipulation
checks. Given the importance
of establishing that role-playing subjects fully understood the situations
to which they were asked to respond (Greenberg & Eskew, 1990; Greenberg
& Folger, 1988), subjects were asked whether the students in the scenario
were members of a fraternity or not and whether the decision maker was the
Dean of Students or a Faculty Judiciary Committee.
Subjects' demographic information. Subjects
reported their age, gender, and race.
Measurement of the Dependent Variables
After reading one of the scenarios, subjects responded to items
with 7-point scales ranging from "None/Not
at all" (1) to "Extremely/To a great extent" (7).
Organizational justice. To assess how fair participants viewed the different scenario
conditions, three justice scales were developed using items consistent with
previous justice research (e.g., Bies & Shapiro, 1987; Greenberg, 1987;
Tyler, 1989; 1994). Two items
(Cronbach's alpha = .70) assessed trust (e.g., "To what extent would
the Dean of Students act the same way toward you if you were involved in a
similar situation?") and four items (Cronbach's alpha = .71) assessed
neutrality (e.g., "To what extent did the Dean of Students make the decision
without being biased in any way?"). Five items (Cronbach's alpha = .83) assessed distributive justice
(e.g., "How fair was the outcome that the student received").
RESULTS
Manipulation Checks
A separate group of 40 fraternity members and 40 non-fraternity
members were asked to read the scenario in which the decision maker and the
group of students were both affiliated with the fraternity. The students in the two groups used in
this part of the study did not differ significantly from those in the main
study, or from each other on any of the demographic variables, F(610)
= .571 or less in all cases, ns.
These 80 students were asked to read the scenario and to answer
two questions about it. The first
question read, "To what extent do you believe that this situation could
have occurred at this University?" The mean response for this question on a 7-point scale (ranging
from "1" none/not at all to "7" extremely/to a great extent)
was 5.2. The second question
read, "To what extent do you believe this to be a plausible situation?"
The mean response for this question was 5.5.
Thus, based on these responses, the students found the scenario to
be both a plausible and possible one for them at their institution. This result provides support that
the scenario used in the current study was a good one for creating the conditions
that were desired to address the posited hypotheses.
For the main study, to ensure the success of the affiliation/non-affiliation
condition, participants were asked whether the students in the scenario were
members of a fraternity or not. None of the participants in the main study
failed to answer this question correctly. Subjects were also asked whether the decision maker was the
Dean or a Faculty Committee. Three
subjects failed to answer this question correctly. Results were run both with and without these three subjects,
but did not significantly change the results, so their scores were left in
the analyses.
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Hypothesis Tests
Descriptive statistics for the three dependent variables (distributive
justice, trust, and neutrality) appear in Table 1.
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics
|
|
Mean |
SD |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
1. Distributive justice |
4.21 |
1.46 |
(.83) |
|
|
|
2. Trust |
3.96 |
1.45 |
.50*** |
(.70) |
|
|
3. Neutrality |
4.25 |
1.23 |
.48*** |
.52*** |
(.71) |
Means, standard deviations, and planned comparisons for all experimental conditions are reported in Tables 2 through 4.
Table 2: Means, Standard Deviations, and Planned Comparisons
for Distributive Justice
|
Scenario Affiliation |
Decision Maker |
Subject in Fraternity |
Row simple main effects |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
|
Decision maker(s) |
Individual |
4.14 |
3.61 |
3.76* |
|
|
Group |
4.83 |
3.74 |
17.84*** |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Decision maker(s) not affiliated with fraternity |
Individual |
4.34 |
4.15 |
0.83 |
|
|
Group |
4.41 |
4.47 |
0.12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Column simple main effects F(3, 269-302) |
|
2.33 |
7.10*** |
|
* p < .05;
** p < .01; *** p < .001
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Table 3: Means, Standard Deviations, and Planned Comparisons
for Trust
|
Scenario Affiliation |
Decision Maker |
Subject in Fraternity |
Row simple main effects F(1, 135-154) |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
|
Decision maker(s) |
Individual |
4.44 (1.01) |
3.41 |
17.16*** |
|
|
Group |
4.41 |
3.57 |
11.95** |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Decision maker(s) not affiliated with fraternity |
Individual |
3.62 |
3.88 |
1.04 |
|
|
Group |
4.16 |
4.15 |
0.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Column simple main effects F(3, 269-302) |
|
4.56* |
3.74* |
|
Note: Standard deviations are in parentheses. In each cell,
n = 64-84.
* p < .05; ** p < .01;
*** p < .001
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Table 4: Means, Standard Deviations, and Planned Comparisons
for Neutrality
|
Scenario Affiliation |
Decision Maker |
Subject in Fraternity |
Row simple main effects F(1, 135-154) |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
|
Decision maker(s) |
Individual |
4.24 |
3.95 |
1.91 |
|
|
Group |
4.11 |
3.55 |
6.65* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Decision maker(s) not affiliated with fraternity |
Individual |
4.29 |
4.46 |
0.65 |
|
|
Group |
4.55 |
4.71 |
0.80 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Column simple main effects F(3, 269-302) |
|
2.03 |
19.00*** |
|
* p < .05;
** p < .01; *** p < .001
The results of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA)
for decision maker affiliation (in fraternity or not), type of decision maker
(individual or group), and subject (in fraternity or not) with distributive
justice, trust, and neutrality as dependent variables are reported in Table
5.
Table 5: Analysis of Variance of Dependent Variables
|
|
|
|
Analysis of variance |
|
|
|
|
|
MANOVA Pillais |
02 |
Distributive |
Neutrality |
Trust |
|
|
Affiliation (A) |
14.38*** |
.08 |
4.64* |
29.47*** |
5.11* |
|
|
Decision Maker (D) |
3.04* |
.02 |
14.28** |
0.06 |
3.20 |
|
|
Fraternity (F) |
4.59** |
.02 |
12.10** |
5.12* |
10.09** |
|
|
A X D |
4.10** |
.03 |
0.64 |
6.22* |
1.81 |
|
|
A X F |
5.71** |
.05 |
12.84** |
6.75* |
6.61* |
|
|
D X F |
0.32 |
.00 |
0.37 |
0.86 |
0.34 |
|
|
A X D X F |
2.76* |
.02 |
2.94 |
0.42 |
0.87 |
|
|
MSE |
|
|
1.64 |
1.23 |
1.65 |
|
Affiliation = decision maker in the scenario was a member of the fraternity
or not
Decision maker = decision maker was an individual or a group
Fraternity = subject reading the scenario was a member of the fraternity or
not
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Hypotheses 1a, 1b, and 1c predicted that subjects' perceptions
of distributive justice, trust, and neutrality would be lower when there was
a common fraternity affiliation between decision maker and guilty party compared
to when there was no affiliation. The MANOVA supported all three of these hypotheses (Please
see Table 5). Subsequent univariate
ANOVAs yielded the following results.
Specifically, for Hypothesis 1a, subjects' distributive justice
perceptions were lower when there was a decision maker affiliation (M
= 4.07) compared to when there was not an affiliation (M = 4.33), F(1,578)
= 4.64, p < .05. For
Hypothesis 1b, subjects' trust perceptions were lower when there was a decision
maker affiliation (M = 3.93) compared to when there was not an affiliation
(M = 4.19), F(1,561) = 5.11, p < .05. For Hypothesis 1c, subjects' neutrality
perceptions were lower when there was a decision maker affiliation (M
= 3.96) compared to when there was not an affiliation (M = 4.51), F(1,557)
= 29.47, p < .001.
Hypotheses 2a, 2b, and 2c predicted that subjects who were
not members of the fraternity would have lower distributive justice, trust,
and neutrality perceptions than would those subjects who were members of the
fraternity. Again, the MANOVA
supported all three of these hypotheses (Please see Table 5). Subsequent univariate ANOVAs yielded the
following results.
More specifically, for hypothesis 2a, subjects who were not
members of the fraternity had lower distributive justice perceptions (M =
4.01) compared to those who were members (M = 4.43), F(1,578) = 12.10, p <
.01. For hypothesis 2b, subjects
who were not members of the Fraternity had lower trust perceptions (M = 3.89)
compared those who were members (M = 4.26), F(1,561) = 10.10, p < .01. For hypothesis 2c, subjects who were not members of the Fraternity
had lower neutrality perceptions (M = 4.19) compared those who were members
(M = 4.40), F(1,557) = 5.12, p < .05.
Hypotheses 3a, 3b, and 3c predicted a significant three-way
interaction among affiliation of decision maker (in fraternity of not), type
of decision maker (group or individual), and type of subject (in fraternity
or not) in influencing the distributive justice, trust, and neutrality perceptions
of subjects. As shown in
Table 5, the three-way interaction was significant. Subsequent univariate ANOVAs yielded the following results.
Specifically, for the fraternity subjects, we found significant
interactions for type of decision maker (individual vs. group) and affiliation
of decision maker (in fraternity or not) in the distributive justice, F(1,
79) = 11.07**, p < .01, and neutrality perceptions, F(1,19) = 10.56**,
p < .01, of these subjects. However for the trust dependent variable,
only a main effect for the affiliation independent variable was detected F(1,79)
= 27.84**, p < .01. On the
other hand, for the non-fraternity subjects, we found no significant interactions.
Instead, we found main effects of type of decision maker and affiliation
on the distributive justice and neutrality perceptions of non-fraternity subjects.
We also found a main effect of type of decision maker on the trust
perceptions of non-fraternity subjects.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of the present study was to examine two forms of
in-group affiliation: 1) affiliation of decision maker and guilty group of
students in a hypothetical scenario, and 2) affiliation of third party subjects
reading about the scenario. We
also explored the effects of whether the decision maker was a group or individual.
Three components of fairness evaluations were considered: distributive
justice, trust, and neutrality. Our
findings are consistent with social identity theory.
Overall, non-fraternity member subjects had lower fairness
perceptions than fraternity member subjects when the students in the scenario
were fraternity members compared with when the students in the scenario were
not fraternity members. Non-fraternity
member subjects may have believed that the fraternity member scenario violated
justice rules that the procedure be unbiased. Further, they would be less likely to
identify with the fraternity members in the scenario. Thus, their fairness perceptions were lower.
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The significant interactions we found for the fraternity subjects
for the type of decision maker (individual vs. group) and the affiliation
of decision maker (in fraternity or not) are also consistent with social identity
theory. Some social identity
research suggests that when group members are exposed to a stereotypic threat
(e.g., the perception that fraternity members will soften the rules to help
out one another), they are motivated to maintain a positive sense of social
identity (e.g., Lee & Ottati, 1995). Thus, the fraternity members may have
been motivated to view the decision maker as fair and impartial (neutral).
Fraternity member subjects also had higher trust perceptions
when the people in the scenario were fraternity members. Social identity theory suggests that when
a negative outcome is directed at one's group, this leads to a "negative
social identity" that spurs attempts at enhancing the group's status.
Further, the theory suggests that one's own social standing depends
on the group's status (e.g., Tyler, Kramer, & John, 1999).
Thus, subjects may have been more trusting of a fraternity decision
maker to ensure that the group's status as a whole would not be downgraded
as a result of the actions of the students in the scenario.
We also examined whether subjects' justice perceptions would
be influenced by whether the decision maker in the scenario was an individual
or a group. The highest levels
of distributive justice, trust, and neutrality perceptions were found for
fraternity subjects in the condition where the decision maker was a group
affiliated with the fraternity. Non-fraternity
subjects appeared to be less likely to identify with the decision-making group
as their peers and, thus, considered such a scenario to be less fair.
Areas for Future Research
The present study introduces numerous avenues for future research.
The focal group examined in the present study was that of a fraternity. It may be argued that the level of identification of group
members in a fraternity is higher than in other groups. Given that recent research has distinguished
between high and low identification group members (e.g., Perreault & Bourhis,
1999; Simon & Pettigrew, 1990), future research should examine whether
the present results hold for other types of groups with varying levels of
group identity. For example,
some research has found that when participants voluntarily choose their group
membership, they identify more with their group than those who are randomly
assigned to groups (Perreault & Bourhis, 1999). Other research has found that group
members identify more strongly in minority groups than in majority groups
(e.g., Simon & Pettigrew, 1990).
Further, another study found that group members with low levels of
identification are more likely to acknowledge negative aspects of their group
than group members with high levels of identification (Doosje, Branscombe,
Spears, & Manstead, 1998). Thus,
examining varying levels of identity with the variables tested in the current
study would be an interesting avenue for subsequent research. In addition, future research might look
at different types of group affiliation, such as union membership or demographics
(e.g., Lau & Murnighan, 1998).
Other areas for future research include the addition of alternate
scenarios. The present study
investigated scenarios in which either both the decision maker and guilty
defendants were affiliated with a group or neither was affiliated with a group.
In reality, the decision maker might be affiliated or not, and the
guilty/innocent defendant might be affiliated or not. Also, the current study examined a group of defendants. Future research could determine if the
same results would hold if the defendant were a sole individual. Further, future research might examine
different types of outcomes with various types and sizes of decision-making
and defendant groups. It would
be interesting for future investigations to compare the justice perceptions
of those going through a justice process themselves versus third parties merely
observing the process.
The present study examined only a negative procedure, namely
a disciplinary one. Other organizational
procedures and processes should also be examined. Many organizational procedures are positive
in nature, such as giving rewards, bonuses, or promotions. It is not known whether the findings of
the current study will generalize to positive procedures. As such, future research should also address
the influences of affiliation on positive organizational procedures.
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The current study used fraternity membership for the affiliation
variable. Many other types of
in-group affiliation exist in organizations (e.g., age, sex, race, military
experience). It is not known
whether the findings of the present study will generalize to these other types
of affiliation. As the current
study demonstrated the potential influences of affiliation on fairness perceptions
of third parties, future research should make note of and examine other types
of affiliation influences on fairness perceptions.
Implications for Theory
The present study has implications for theory. Most organizational justice research has
focused on the justice evaluations of individuals directly involved in justice
situations. Yet, researchers
have begun to acknowledge the role of individuals as observers or third parties
in others' justice situations (e.g., Lind, Kray, & Thompson, 1998).
Further, most existing organizational justice research has emphasized
reactions to decisions about grievances and other processes, often ignoring
the people who deliver or administer the justice.
The present study builds on this research by examining the role that
the group affiliation of the decision maker plays in the justice perceptions
of third parties. Future justice
research designs should describe and possibly control for who the decision
maker, defendants, and third parties are.
In addition, the antecedents reported in the current study should be
included in future justice models.
Implications for Practice
The present study also has implications for practice. The workplace of the new millennium is
one of teamwork with ever-growing diversity among team members. Considerable organizational resources
are being devoted to the development of effective teams and identification
with one's team is generally viewed as being critical to effective teamwork. Yet, given the need for integration and
cooperation between and within teams, more attention should be given to group
dynamics and social identity theory.
The perceptions of third parties would be especially relevant in organizations
with work groups whose members have the opportunity to interact, perform similar
tasks, and share a supervisor:
To the extent that supervisors can be readily seen implementing
organizational procedures, enforcing organizational policies, and acting as
deliverers of justice in organizations, individuals sharing a supervisor should
hold uniform perceptions on how the group as a whole is treated (Naumann &
Bennett, 2000, p. 883).
When justice situations arise where employees perceive salient
affiliations (such as age, sex, race, etc.) supervisors should be extra vigilant
in their efforts on being fair (e.g., in terms of trust and neutrality) to
both in-group and out-group members. They should pay particular attention to acting as fairness
lenses to third parties in instances when it may be perceived that a decision
maker and employee defendant are affiliated in some way. In other words, they should focus on both being fair and looking
fair (Greenberg, 1988; Greenberg, Bies, & Eskew, 1991). The findings of the present study suggest
this appears to be especially important in cases where the decision maker
is a group of individuals affiliated with the defendant. In these cases, managers should make a
concentrated effort to both be fair and look fair to those in situations as
well as to those third parties merely observing situations.
Finally, perhaps one of the more important reasons why third
party perceptions are important in today's workplace involves the consequences
of unfair fair treatment to both those directly involved and to third parties. For instance, it has been suggested that
after a supervisor treats one group member unfairly, both the poorly treated
employee and unaffected others who witnessed or heard about the mistreatment
would be expected to exhibit lower levels of cooperation (Naumann & Bennett,
2000).
In sum, the current study suggests that how supervisors treat
employees affects not only those directly involved, but also those indirectly
involved. Decision makers should
make the effort to consider how their treatment of one subordinate might affect
the perceptions of the rest of the subordinates, especially when the subordinate
is affiliated with the decision maker. For example, someone who plays on the
company softball team with the boss might be perceived as being given a break.
As such, decision makers should demonstrate how all are treated fairly
regardless of affiliations.
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Limitations
The present study is not without limitations. A scenario research design was used, sacrificing
external validity for internal validity. It has been argued that in certain instances, scenario studies
are most appropriate precisely because of their hypothetical nature (Lind
& Tyler, 1988). For example,
in studies of topics such as cheating where social desirability bias may contaminate
results, scenario designs are useful. Scenario studies are thought to be most fitting for topics
related to subjective reactions to procedures (e.g., procedural preferences
and attitudes; Lind & Tyler, 1988). Clearly, the findings of scenario studies are most meaningful
when they are confirmed with subsequent studies employing other research methods.
In fact, some research has found that when the same phenomenon
has been subjected to multiple designs (e.g., correlational; scenario), stronger
effects occur most frequently in correlational studies (Lind & Tyler,
1988). Thus, the results of the
present study may be viewed as conservative estimates of the true relationships
examined. Given that effects
were found for third parties' affiliation, it would be interesting to determine
in future research if group affiliation effects are even stronger for individuals
going through the procedure themselves rather than reading about it.
In conclusion, despite these limitations, this study was successful
in demonstrating the influences of in-group affiliation on third-party justice
perceptions. Paying careful attention
to both being fair and looking fair in those situations in which affiliations
are salient may help improve organizational fairness perceptions.
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APPENDIX: NEUTRALITY, TRUST, AND DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE ITEMS
Neutrality
1. To what extent did the Dean of Students make the decision without being biased in any way?
2. To what extent do you believe the Dean of Students would make the same decision about the case regardless of who the student was?
3. To what extent did the Dean of Students get the information needed to make a fair decision?
4. To what extent
did the Dean of Students do anything that seemed improper or dishonest?
Trust
1. To what extent would the Dean of Students act the same way toward you if you were involved in a similar situation?
2. In your view,
how typical was the Dean of Students compared to the Dean of Students at other
universities?
Distributive Justice
1. How fair was the outcome that the student received?
2. To what extent do you believe that the punishment was UNFAIR to the student?
3. To what extent did the student receive what he/she deserved?
4. How much do you feel that the punishment fit the crime?
5. To what extent
do you agree that the Dean of Students made the correct decision regarding
the punishment for the student?
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AUTHORS' BIOGRAPHIES
Jeffrey A. Miles, Ph.D., received his doctorate from Ohio
State University. He is an associate
professor of management and organizational behavior at University of the Pacific.
E-mail: jmiles@uop.edu
Stefanie E. Naumann, Ph.D., received her doctorate from Louisiana State University. She is an assistant professor of management and organizational behavior at University of the Pacific. E-mail: snaumann@uop.edu
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