Misery Loves Company: Team Dissonance and the Influence of Supervisor-Focused Interpersonal Justice Climate on Team Cohesiveness

Abstract

The organizational justice literature has examined the effects of supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate, or a team’s shared perception of the dignity and respect it receives from its supervisor, on a number of important outcomes directed at organizational authorities. Considerably less is known about the potential influence of these shared perceptions on coworker-directed outcomes. In 2 experiments, we predict that a low (unfair) supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate generates greater team cohesiveness than a high (fair) supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate. We further examine the process through which this effect occurs. Drawing from cognitive dissonance theory, we predict that low (vs. high) supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate generates greater team dissonance, or shared psychological discomfort, for team members and that this dissonance serves as an underlying mechanism through which supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate influences a team’s cohesiveness. Our results demonstrate support for these predictions in that low supervisor-focused interpersonal justice climate led to higher levels of both team dissonance and team cohesiveness than did high supervisor focused interpersonal justice climate, and team dissonance mediated this relationship. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.

Keywords: Supervisor-Focused Interpersonal Justice Climate, Dissonance, Team Cohesiveness, Interpersonal Justice