Distinction between Supervisor and Leader in The Notion of Procedural Justice

This paper proposes the importance of the distinction between relational and collective evaluation to the procedural justice research. The review of theories and empirical studies in the procedural justice domain suggests a predominant focus on interpersonal fairness between a target, such as a supervisor, and a fairness evaluator, such as a subordinate, despite the centrality of collectives and groups to the notion of justice. In support of this assumption, this paper empirically shows that people take on different cognitive and psychological frames and standards when they evaluate their manager as a supervisor at an interpersonal, relational level vs. as a leader at a collective/group level. Also, as expected, the relational evaluation-procedural justice link is mediated by benevolence trustworthiness of the manager, while the collective evaluation-procedural justice link is mediated by integrity trustworthiness of the manager. Implications to literature in procedural justice, trust, and leadership are discussed.