Does interpersonal justice enhance organizational loyalty? A theory of justice, organizational citizenship behavior, and individualism: Testimony from Kyrgyzstan

Research suggests that organizational justice has important impacts on work-related attitudes and behaviors, such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). In this article, we explore the extent to which individualism moderates the relationship between organizational justice (procedural, distributive, and interactional justice) and OCB (organizational obedience, participation, and loyalty) among citizens in Kyrgyzstan. Specifically, we are interested to know: Which aspects of justice perceptions excite organizational loyalty? We make additional contributions to the literature because most global researchers know very little about how these Western management constructs prevail in this former Soviet Union country, Kyrgyzstan, an under-researched and under-represented region of the world. Results of our data collected from 402 managers and employees in Kyrgyzstan offer the following discoveries. All three justice constructs are related to OCB. Individualism moderates the relationships between (1) distributive justice and organizational participation, (2) distributive justice and organizational loyalty, and (3) interactional justice and organizational loyalty. We develop an intricate theory with provocative implications: Procedural justice produces obedience only and has no impact on organizational participation and loyalty. High distributive justice enhances high loyalty for people with low individualism. High interactional justice promotes high organizational loyalty for people with high individualism. For “individualists,” interactional justice inspires loyalty. Interestingly, distributive justice “can only buy” participation, but “can’t buy” loyalty. Therefore, for individualists, interactional justice outweighs distributive justice for enhancing organizational loyalty. Based on Kyrgyz citizens’ justice, OCB, and individualism, our theory reveals novel insights regarding culture, money attitude, and intrinsic motivation and provides critical and practical implications to the field of business ethics.