Organizational Justice, Willingness to Work, and Psychological Distress: Results from a Private Japanese Company

Objectives: This study assessed the risk of low organizational justice (OJ) on psychological distress as well as on low willingness to work, and also investigated the underlying factors between OJ and these outcomes. Methods: Cross-sectional questionnaire data of 1804 employees (93.6% of subjects) of a Japanese company were collected. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the objectives. Results: Subjects with low overall OJ had a higher risk of psychological distress compared with their counterparts (odds ratio: 4.93; 95% confidence interval: 3.17 to 7.68). The corresponding odds ratio for low willingness to work was 2.87 (95% confidence interval: 2.06 to 4.00). Job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior play a role of mediation between OJ and these outcomes. Conclusion: Low OJ was a notable risk factor for psychological distress as well as for low willingness to work. High OJ might prevent psychological distress and promote willingness to work.