That's Not Fair!: The Social Construction of Organizational (In)Justice among Professionals

Building on the work of organizational justice researchers, this research is an attempt to come to a greater understanding of the social construction of perceived injustice among professionals employed in large, bureaucratic organizational structures. It suggests that professional employees experience a perceived injustice in an organizational workplace outcome, procedure, or interaction when a likely, positive, and valued expectation has been violated or unfulfilled. These expectations are socially constructed from various organizational “stocks of knowledge” available to professionals. These include: (1) organizational cultural norms; (2) professional occupational subcultural norms; and (3) employee prior work experiences. The research suggests that in instances of perceived injustices in organizational outcomes, professionals’expectations are primarily rooted in organizational cultural norms for the allocation of such outcomes. In instances of perceived injustices in organizational procedures, professionals’expectations are primarily rooted in prior work experiences surrounding such procedures and processes, while in instances of perceived injustices in organizational interactions, professionals’expectations are primarily rooted in professional occupational subcultural norms surrounding such interactions.