Interpersonal Communication Tactics and Procedural Justice for Uncertainty Management of Japanese Workers

The objectives of the present study are (a) to explore the relationships among interpersonal communication tactics, perceived procedural justice, and the uncertainty of career stability of Japanese whitecollar workers; and (b) to reveal what kind of interpersonal communication tactics are effective for developing their perception of procedural justice and reducing their uncertainty of career stability. Three hundred and twenty-three Japanese white-collar workers participated in the research. The results of the data analysis with structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that interpersonal communication tactics were not related directly to workers' uncertainty of their career stability but to perceived procedural justice, and perceived procedural justice influenced their uncertainty. Then, multiple regression analysis was conducted to find what kind of interpersonal communication tactics were related to uncertainty of career stability and effective for developing perceived procedural justice. Based on the results of the research, several academic and practical implications are presented.

[1]  Thomas E. Lawrence Erlbaum.  Applied Organizational Communication: Principles and Pragmatics for Future Practice (2nd Ed.) , 2003 .

[2]  Thomas E. Harris.  Applied Organizational Communication: Principles and Pragmatics for Future Practice , 2002 .

[3]  H. Wilke,et al.  How do I judge my outcome when I do not know the outcome of others? The psychology of the fair process effect. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[4]  John T. Cacioppo,et al.  Source and message factors in persuasion: A reply to stiff's critique of the elaboration likelihood model , 1987 .

[5]  Hun-Joon Park,et al.  Effects of interactional goal on choice of allocation rule: A cross-national study , 1986 .

[6]  Constant D. Beugré,et al.  Managing fairness in organizations , 1998 .

[7]  Leanne K. Knobloch,et al.  Information Seeking Beyond Initial Interaction: Negotiating Relational Uncertainty within Close Relationships , 2002 .

[8]  Robert Folger,et al.  Managerial responsibilities and procedural justice , 1989 .

[9]  Cecilia M. Falbe,et al.  Antecedents of influence outcomes , 1996 .

[10]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[11]  R. Lewicki.  Research on Negotiation in Organizations , 1990 .

[12]  R. Wiseman,et al.  Intercultural communication theory , 1995 .

[13]  R. Bies,et al.  The predicament of injustice: The management of moral outrage. , 1987 .

[14]  H. Wilke,et al.  When do we need procedural fairness? The role of trust in authority. , 1998 .

[15]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind , 1991 .

[16]  K. van den Bos,et al.  Uncertainty management by means of fairness judgments. , 2002 .

[17]  H. Wilke,et al.  The psychology of procedural and distributive justice viewed from the perspective of fairness heuristic theory , 2001 .

[18]  Blair H. Sheppard,et al.  Business on a handshake , 1992 .

[19]  C. Berger,et al.  SOME EXPLORATIONS IN INITIAL INTERACTION AND BEYOND: TOWARD A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION , 1975 .

[20]  Jerald Greenberg,et al.  Advances in Organizational Justice , 2001 .

[21]  Debra L. Shapiro,et al.  Interactional fairness judgments: The influence of causal accounts , 1987 .

[22]  John T. Cacioppo,et al.  The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion , 1986, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology.

[23]  R. H. Willis,et al.  Social Exchange: Advances In Theory And Research , 1981 .

[24]  Cecilia M. Falbe,et al.  CONSEQUENCES FOR MANAGERS OF USING SINGLE INFLUENCE TACTICS AND COMBINATIONS OF TACTICS , 1992 .

[25]  Harry C. Hui,et al.  Deciding on equity or parity: a test of situational, cultural, and individual factors , 1998 .

[26]  G. Leventhal.  What Should Be Done with Equity Theory? New Approaches to the Study of Fairness in Social Relationships. , 1976 .

[27]  Joel Brockner,et al.  Interactive Effects of Procedural Justice and Outcome Negativity on Victims and Survivors of Job Loss , 1994 .

[28]  William B. Gudykunst.  Toward a theory of effective interpersonal and intergroup communication: An anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) perspective. , 1993 .

[29]  R. Bies,et al.  Beyond "voice": The influence of decision-maker justification and sincerity on procedural fairness judgments. , 1987 .

[30]  G. Yukl,et al.  Consequences of Influence Tactics Used With Subordinates, Peers, and the Boss , 1992 .

[31]  Robert Folger,et al.  Organizational Justice and Human Resource Management , 1998 .

[32]  D. Skarlicki,et al.  Emerging perspectives on managing organizational justice , 2002 .

[33]  K. Michele Kacmar,et al.  Organizational Politics, Justice, and Support: Managing the Social Climate of the Workplace , 1995 .

[34]  Tom R. Tyler,et al.  The “Litigation Mentality” in Organizations: A Test of Alternative Psychological Explanations , 1993 .

[35]  Larry L. Cummings,et al.  Causal Accounts and Managing Organizational Conflict , 1988 .

[36]  Jennings Bryant,et al.  Human Communication Theory and Research : Concepts, Contexts, and Challenges , 2000 .

[37]  Cecilia M. Falbe,et al.  Influence tactics and objectives in upward, downward, and lateral influence attempts. , 1990 .

[38]  D. Albarracín.  Cognition in persuasion: An analysis of information processing in response to persuasive communications , 2002 .

[39]  E. Blumenthal,et al.  A Deservingness Approach to Respect as a Relationally Based Fairness Judgment , 1999 .

[40]  Robert A. Baron,et al.  Criticism (informal negative feedback) as a source of perceived unfairness in organizations: Effects, mechanisms, and countermeasures. , 1993 .

[41]  Bradley L. Kirkman,et al.  Anticipatory injustice: The consequences of expecting injustice in the workplace. , 2001 .

[42]  S. Iwawaki,et al.  Cultural Collectivism and Distributive Behavior , 1988 .

[43]  J. Lea.  Justice in the workplace: Approaching fairness in human resource management. Russel Cropanzano (Ed.), Erlbaum, Hillsdale, N.J. , 1994 .

[44]  T. Tyler.  The psychology of procedural justice: A test of the group-value model. , 1989 .

[45]  M. Taylor,et al.  Due Process in Performance Appraisal: A Quasi-Experiment in Procedural Justice , 1995 .

[46]  E. Lind.  Fairness heuristic theory: Justice judgments as pivotal cognitions in organizational relations. , 2001 .

[47]  R. Folger,et al.  Effects of Procedural and Distributive Justice on Reactions to Pay Raise Decisions , 1989 .

[48]  William B. Gudykunst,et al.  Theories in Intercultural Communication. , 1988 .

[49]  Debra L. Shapiro,et al.  Voice and justification: Their influence on procedural fairness judgments. , 1988 .

[50]  Janet Taylor Spence,et al.  Contemporary topics in social psychology , 1976 .

[51]  J. Greenberg,et al.  Using socially fair treatment to promote acceptance of a work site smoking ban. , 1994, The Journal of applied psychology.

[52]  Cecilia M. Falbe,et al.  Patterns of Influence Behavior for Managers , 1993 .

[53]  Hun-Joon Park,et al.  REWARD ALLOCATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, JAPAN, AND KOREA: A COMPARISON OF INDIVIDUALISTIC AND COLLECTIVISTIC CULTURES , 1990 .