Procedural Justice, Identity, Reciprocity and Behaviour:
The Importance of Fairness for Employee Behaviour in
Emergency Services

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between procedural justice and positive employee behaviour, and is comprised of two studies. Study 1 draws upon social identity theory and social exchange theory, and examines the two as competing routes for explaining the relationship between procedural justice and work engagement. Data from 347 employees suggests that organisational pride and perceived organisational support are found to be mediators of this relationship. Drawing upon self-concept theory, Study 2 investigates employee collective self-concept as an important mediator for the relationship between procedural justice and ethical voice behaviour. Data from 239 employees and their co-workers suggests that procedural justice is positively related to ethical voice behaviour, and that employee collective self-concept fully mediates this relationship. Individual self-concept and relational self-concept were controlled for in the mediation model, and the results show that individual self- and relational self-concept were not found to mediate the relationship between procedural justice or ethical voice behaviour.