Multidimensionality in Organizational Justice-Trust Relationship for Newcomer Employees: a Moderated-Mediation Model

Justice-trust relationship has been well acknowledged in the organizational behavior research so far. However, the existing research on justice-trust paid little attention to the process-dynamics of trust formation in the newcomer employees (Colquitt and Rodell in Academy of Management Journal, 54(6), 1183–1206, Colquitt and Rodell 2011; Schoorman et al. in Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 344,354, Schoorman et al. 2007). The present study intends to unfold the trust formation phenomena of the newcomer employees where organizational justice perception leads to trust through organizational trustworthiness. Interactions between the dimensions of organizational justice perception and trustworthiness towards trust are the focal point of the study. We further propose that a moderated mediation model explains the trust formation phenomena comprehensively. Findings suggests that supervisor referent interpersonal justice moderates the indirect relationship between organizational justice and trust. Procedural and interactional justice also have significant relationships with trust through all the three dimensions of trustworthiness. The results indicated a full mediation for procedural justice and a partial mediation for interactional justice. The findings have important theoretical implications for uncertainty management, and psychological contract fulfillment theory.