Is interpersonal justice related to group and organizational turnover? Results from a Swedish panel study

Abstract

Rational: Research on the relationship between organizational justice and turnover has mainly focused on turnover intentions rather than behavior, and the role of health in this relationship has been widely ignored.

Objective: In his study, we hypothesized that interpersonal justice perceptions and self-rated health impact on later group (changing work groups while staying in the organization) and organizational turnover (changing organizations). The main effect of self-rated health on group and organizational turnover, as well as its moderating influence on the relationship between interpersonal justice perceptions and turnover, was investigated. Finally, we investigated whether group and organizational turnover are related to changes in subsequent interpersonal justice perceptions.

Methods: Swedish panel data from permanent workers answering at up to five consecutive time points were used, and multilevel structural equation models were calculated.

Results: Results showed that low interpersonal justice perceptions increase the risk of subsequent organizational, but not group, turnover. Lower levels of self-rated health predicted group, but not organizational, turnover. The effect of interpersonal justice perceptions on organizational turnover differed depending on self-rated health. Among those with poorer self-rated health, the negative association between interpersonal justice perceptions and organizational turnover was less pronounced. We also found that organizational turnover associated positively and group turnover negatively with changes in interpersonal justice perceptions.

Conclusion: In conclusion, perceiving interpersonal justice decreases the risk of organizational turnover, but the association is less pronounced among employees with poor self-rated health.

Keywords: Fairness; Health; Interpersonal justice; Longitudinal; Organizational justice; Sweden; Turnover.