Date of Award

1-1-2023

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Psychology

Content Description

1 online resource (iii, 125 pages) : illustrations.

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Sylvia G. Roch

Committee Members

Anna Reiman, Dev K. Dalal

Keywords

Psychology, Industrial, Organizational justice, Perception, Group identity

Subject Categories

Organizational Behavior and Theory

Abstract

Entitativity is a perception concerning groups that distinguishes between perceiving groups as merely a collection of individuals and viewing them as a unified whole. The extent that groups are perceived to be entitative has been demonstrated to be related to greater attention to the moral conduct of the group as a whole. Drawing on both social identity perspectives and social exchange theory, I proposed a model arguing that organizational justice can result in employees viewing their organization as more entitative. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized model, along with two theory-based alternative models (all random-intercepts cross-lagged panel models; RI-CLPMs). These models were fit to longitudinal data gathered in three waves from 488 full-time employees within the U.S. Results were mixed regarding the hypothesized model as a whole, however, evidence was observed for a causal relationship between prior reports of being treated fairly by the organization and subsequent increases in perceived organizational entitativity. Further, in line with a theory-based alternative model, it appears that entitativity likely moderates, rather than mediates, the relationship between justice and a high-quality social exchange relationship with the organization.

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