Misery Loves Company: Team Dissonance and the Influence of Supervisor-Focused Interpersonal Justice Climate on Team Cohesiveness

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Stoverink, Adam C.; Umphress, Elizabeth E.; Gardner, Richard G.; Miner, Kathi N.
• 署名单位: Northern Illinois University; University of Washington; University of Washington Seattle; Brigham Young University; Texas A&M University System; Texas A&M University College Station; Texas A&M University System; Texas A&M University College Station
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/a0037915
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 1059-1073
• 关键词: supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate; dissonance; team cohesiveness; interpersonal justice

摘要

The organizational justice literature has examined the effects of supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate, or a team's shared perception of the dignity and respect it receives from its supervisor, on a number of important outcomes directed at organizational authorities. Considerably less is known about the potential influence of these shared perceptions on coworker-directed outcomes. In 2 experiments, we predict that a low (unfair) supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate generates greater team cohesiveness than a high (fair) supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate. We further examine the process through which this effect occurs. Drawing from cognitive dissonance theory, we predict that low (vs. high) supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate generates greater team dissonance, or shared psychological discomfort, for team members and that this dissonance serves as an underlying mechanism through which supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate influences a team's cohesiveness. Our results demonstrate support for these predictions in that low supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate led to higher levels of both team dissonance and team cohesiveness than did high supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate, and team dissonance mediated this relationship. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.