Perceived Support as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Justice and Trust

Abstract

Using a sample of 212 employees, the authors examined the relationships between employees’ perceptions of procedural and interactional justice and their subsequent trust in their organization and supervisor. Specifically, the authors predicted that the link between procedural justice and trust in organization would be mediated by perceived organizational support (POS), whereas the relationship between interactional justice and trust in supervisor would be mediated by perceived supervisor support (PSS). In line with predictions, the authors found that POS partially mediated the effect of procedural justice on trust in organization and PSS partially mediated the impact of interactional justice on trust in supervisor. These findings suggest that employees develop relationships with their supervisors that are distinct from those relationships they experience with their organization.