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Asia Pacific Business Review

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Relationships of Organizational Justice and

Organizational Identification: The Mediating Effects of
Perceived Organizational Support in Hong Kong
a b
Millissa F. Y. Cheung & Monica C. C. Law
a
Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macao
b
Department of Business Administration, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong
Published online: 17 Mar 2008.

To cite this article: Millissa F. Y. Cheung & Monica C. C. Law (2008) Relationships of Organizational Justice and Organizational
Identification: The Mediating Effects of Perceived Organizational Support in Hong Kong, Asia Pacific Business Review, 14:2,
213-231, DOI: 10.1080/13602380701430879

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 Asia Pacific Business Review
Vol. 14, No. 2, 213–231, April 2008

Relationships of Organizational Justice

and Organizational Identification:
The Mediating Effects of Perceived
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Organizational Support in Hong Kong

MILLISSA F. Y. CHEUNG* & MONICA C. C. LAW**
*Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macao, **Department of Business Administration, Hong Kong Shue
Yan University, Hong Kong

ABSTRACT In this study a model was developed to examine through the mediator of perceived
organizational support (POS) how distributive, interpersonal and informational justice affects the
extent to which employees identify with an organization. This model was tested on 159 employees of
several service organizations. Results indicated that the positive effects of interpersonal justice and
informational justice on organizational identification were fully mediated by POS. Unexpectedly,
distributive justice was unrelated to POS, but directly linked to organizational identification. Results
were discussed in terms of their implications for research on organizational justice, POS and
organizational identification.

KEY WORDS : distributive justice, Hong Kong, informational justice, interpersonal justice,
organizational identification, perceived organizational support

Introduction
Organizational identification has increasingly gained attention from researchers
because this concept is necessary for employees to develop a psychological
relationship with the organization in order to enhance organizational performance
and motivate employees to work in the interests of the organization (Reade, 2001;
Edwards, 2005; Chan, 2006). By definition, organizational identification refers to
an individual’s psychological attachment to an organization. Previous studies have
indicated that individuals who identify with their organizations to some extent
may have a higher level of job satisfaction (Van Knippenberg & Van Schie, 2000;
Van Knippenberg & Sleebos, 2006), in-role and extra-role performance (Dukerich
et al., 2002; Tyler & Blader, 2000; 2001), effective inter-group relations (Richter
et al., 2006) and lower level of turnover intentions (Abrams et al., 1998).
With reference to past studies of organizational identification, there are two
lines of research. The first concerns the antecedents of organizational
identification. Researchers have highlighted that organizational justice is a

Correspondence Address: Millissa F. Y. Cheung, Associate Professor, Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macao, Rua
de Luı́s Gonzaga Gomes, Macao. Email: fycheung@ipm.edu.mo

1360-2381 Print/1743-792X Online/08/020213-19 q 2008 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/13602380701430879
 214 M. F. Y. Cheung & M. C. C. Law

significant predictor of organizational identification because perception of justice

shapes the thoughts, feelings, and actions of individuals and provides them with
ways of evaluating social situations (Tyler & Smith, 1997; Tyler et al., 1997;
Tyler, 2000). For example, procedural justice and distributive justice are found to
be positively related to organizational identification (Olkkonen & Lipponen,
2006), and procedural justice is reported to be positively related to post-merger
organizational identification (Lipponen et al., 2004).
The second line of research focuses on exploring the possible mediator between
the antecedents (for example, the adequacy of information about an individual’s
personal role) and organizational identification. Some researchers have
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highlighted this point. For example, Moorman et al. (1998) have pointed out
that perceptions of justice may affect employees’ intensity to perform
discretionary actions towards an organization, through a mediating role of
perceived organizational support (POS). Consistent with this view, several studies
have indicated that POS reflects a general perception of the extent to which an
organization values the contributions of its employees and cares about the well-
being of the organization. Therefore, POS may be a good mediator on the link
between organizational justice and work outcomes of employees (for example,
Moorman et al., 1998; Masterson et al., 2000; Liden et al., 2003; Tekleab et al.,
2005; Loi et al., 2006; Stinglhamber et al., 2006). Despite this notion, researchers
still do not thoroughly understand the mechanism through which organizational
justice affects organizational identification, and recent studies have been calling
for research on this issue (for example, Olkkonen & Lipponen, 2006).
The aim of the present study is therefore to extend the research on organizational
identification by examining the concurrent effects of multiple perceptions of
justice and the social exchange process. The following research question – which
is currently attracting attention – is addressed: Does POS facilitate a mediating
role on the link between multiple perceptions of justice and organizational
identification? Although a few studies have made attempts to answer part of this
research question, namely that distributive, procedural, and interactional justice
are directly related to organizational identification (for example, De Cremer, 2005;
Lipponen et al., 2004; Olkkonen & Lipponen, 2006), these studies have not
provided adequate evidence that organizational justice alone is good enough for
employees to generate a favourable feeling of psychological attachment to the
organization. Provided the fact that interactional justice can be further categorized
in informational and interpersonal justice (Greenberg, 1990; 1993), there is little
understanding of whether these two perceptions of organizational justice may
influence organizational identification indirectly through the mediating role
of POS.
Furthermore, numerous studies on organizational justice have been conducted
with western samples. With a few exceptions, for example, Ng (2001) and Loi et al.
(2006), the researchers have tested the justice model in an Asian context. Drawing
from the cultural differences, Chinese and North Americans may place different
emphasis on interpersonal harmony and authoritative power differently (Hofstede,
1980). Therefore, the present study specifically addresses whether POS is the
mediating link between organizational justice and organizational identification in a
non-western context. Some current literature addressing the relationship between
 The Mediating Effects of Perceived Organizational Support in Hong Kong 215

organizational justice and POS is discussed, and there is an examination of how

POS mediates the effects of distributive, interpersonal and informational justice on
organizational identification first. Then, the mediation model is tested and the
findings are presented with a sample of employees from three construction service
companies in Hong Kong. Finally, the conclusion of the article gives some
implications of the findings to organizations and for future research.

Theory and Hypotheses Development

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Organizational Identification
Organizational identification appears to be similar to the concept of organizational
commitment. In fact, organizational identification is conceptually different from
organizational commitment. One basic difference explained by Ashforth & Mael
(1989) is that organizational identification shows individuals’ self-definition,
whereas affective commitment does not. Another difference is that organizational
identification is a cognitive or perceptive construct indicating the level of
employee’s personal self-concept towards an organization while affective
commitment shows the extent of affective attitude towards the organization
(Pratt, 1998; Edwards, 2005; Riketta, 2005). Finally, some researchers have
indicated that perceived similarity and the tendency to share the fate of an
organization may be predictive of organizational identification whereas attitudinal
variables, such as job satisfaction, employee involvement and quality of exchange
relationships, may account for individuals’ positive attitudes towards the
organization (Mowday et al., 1982; Eisenberger et al., 1986; Rousseau & Parks,
1993; Meyer & Allen, 1997; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).
One of the key theoretical bases for understanding organizational identification
is social identity theory that ‘people use groups as sources of information about
themselves’ (Tyler et al., 1996: 914) and individuals may use their status or
social standing in their organizations to enhance their self-worth (Tyler, 1999).
Past studies have applied the social identity theory to explain the effects of
organizational identification on job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and
organizational citizenship behaviour (Van Dick et al., 2004; Van Dick et al., 2006).
Borrowing the lens of the social identity theory, Tyler & Blader (2003) have
further proposed a group engagement model that focuses on inter-group dynamics
to build intra-group dynamics. This model states that individuals make different
status evaluations with a group’s status in the eyes of those outside their group and
their status in the eyes of others within their group (Tyler & Blader, 2003). On the
basis of this group engagement model, the researchers have propositioned that
decision making is an important antecedent of prestige (inter-group status) and
respect (intra-group status) on individuals’ behaviour through their psychological
identification within the work group. Some researchers have extended this group
engagement model by demonstrating that prestige (inter-group status) and respect
(intra-group status), have a unique set of predictors and both of them are salient to
explain organizational supportive behaviour through individuals’ identification
with the organization (Fuller et al., 2006). Such a model is then helpful to
understand the process of organizational identification development and to
 216 M. F. Y. Cheung & M. C. C. Law

support the argument that a group benefits when individuals engage in the group,
and their extent of psychological involvement to the organization is based on the
provided resources, information, interpersonal politeness, and the amount of
organizational support.

Perceived Organizational Support

Perceived organizational support is explained by social exchange theory. The
concept of social exchange was put forward by Blau (1964) as a pattern of
mutually contingent exchanges of favours between two partners and that the
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recipient of the favour is obligated to discharge a favour in return of an unspecified

nature to the donor at an unspecified time. Eisenberger et al., (1986) have used
POS to shed light on the employee-organization exchange process. Further, it has
been argued that POS not only is affected by the amount of discretionary rewards
which is a signal of the aids available to employees (Rhoades & Eisenberger,
2002), but also influenced by the supervisors who act as the organizational agents
to provide timely information and constructive feedback to the employees
(Eisenberger et al., 1986; Farh et al., 1990; Chen et al., 2002; Loi et al., 2006).
Numerous studies have therefore indicated that discretionary practices
contribute to employees forming favourable perceptions of organizational support
(Eisenberger et al., 1986; Allen, 1992; Guzzo et al., 1994; Tetrick et al., 1997). In
particular, some researchers have suggested that fair allocation of rewards is
regarded by employees as a discretionary action. This is because employees will
be rewarded for the extra effort they put in to meet organizational goals
(Moideenkutty et al., 2001; Loi et al., 2006), signifying a perception that the
organization values the contributions of its employees.

Organizational Justice
Some researchers have suggested that distributive justice, informational justice
and interpersonal justice are distinct constructs (Colquitt, 2001; Colquitt et al.,
2001). Previous studies on organizational justice have focused largely on
distributive justice. For example, distributive justice has reported to be associated
with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, the intention to leave and
trust in an organization (Cohen-Charash & Spector, 2001; Loi et al., 2006).
Nevertheless, researchers have turned their attention away from a focus on the
fairness of reward allocations to interpersonal treatment on work procedures (for
example, Colquitt, 2001; Roch & Shanock, 2006) because an individual’s feelings
about organizational fairness may not be fully explained by distributive justice.
Therefore, distributive justice is increasingly replaced by informational justice
and interpersonal justice in the investigation of the social exchange relationship
between employees and organizations. The inclusion of informational and
interpersonal justice adds significant values to the research of organizational
behaviour because the provision of reasonable explanation – that is, informational
justice – gives clues to employees about the activities of an organization and
the opportunities for their personal growth (Cook & Rousseau, 1988), while
the fairness of interpersonal justice is about employees’ status within their
 The Mediating Effects of Perceived Organizational Support in Hong Kong 217

organization (Eblen, 1987; Leifer & Maslach, 1988; Gaertner & Nollen, 1989;
Putti et al., 1989; Barling et al., 1990).

POS mediates distributive justice and organizational identification

Distributive justice refers to a perception of the fairness of outcomes. Based
on Adams’s equity theory (Adams, 1965), it suggests that individuals calculate
their perceived input-outcome ratio and compare this ratio with that of a selected
referent. The presence of inequity generates a feeling of unfairness and individuals
may be motivated by this feeling of discomfort to react unfavourably to an
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organization in terms of changing their job performance or job attitude

(Greenberg, 1990). According to this view, some past research studies have
provided the empirical support that distributive justice is positively related to job
satisfaction, organizational commitment, trust in an organization, and
organizational identification (Cohen-Charash & Spector, 2001; Olkkonen &
Lipponen, 2006).
Under the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960), when one invokes an
obligation to give benefits to another party, individuals may create imbalance in
their relationships and try to avoid becoming indebted to that exchange party.
Therefore, employees who receive a high POS may build up their satisfaction and
translate it to be a feeling of psychological attachment to the organization. In fact,
employees who are happy with the organizational support may develop a stronger
indebted feeling, and in return such goodwill is favourable to the development of a
psychological relationship with the organization as supported by some researchers
(Tyler & Blader, 2000; Van Knippenberg & Sleebos, 2006).
According to the organizational support theory, POS is induced by positive
discretionary activities, such as pay and promotion (Wayne et al., 2002), which
make employees think the organization values and cares about their well-being
(Eisenberger et al., 1986; Eisenberger et al., 1990). Shore & Shore (1995) have
argued that distributive justice should contribute to POS and this view is
supported by Fasolo (1995) that distributive justice explains the unique variance
in POS. Cropanzano & Ambrose (2001) have also stressed that fairness of pay
may be considered as a reflection on the quality of the employee-organization
exchange relationship. In view of the above, the following hypothesis is put
forward:
H1. POS mediates the positive relationship between distributive justice
and organizational identification.

POS mediates informational justice and organizational identification. Informational

justice focuses on reasonable explanations that convey information to individuals
about procedures (Bies & Moag, 1986). The intensity and content of information
provided by organizational agents of whom to interact with employees on a daily
basis, may fulfil the needs of individuals relating to their task-role or update them
on organizational activities (Farh et al., 1990; Putti et al., 1990). In this context,
individuals may feel the support provided by the organization. Martin et al. (1983)
have provided several examples that conveying rich information to employees is
 218 M. F. Y. Cheung & M. C. C. Law

regarded as a kind of organizational support. On the other hand, Allen (1992) has
also argued that employees may perceive the degree of richness and unbiased
information as organizational trust on them and that may affect their sensitivity of
the assessment on their own status inside the organisation (Allen, 1992). Hence, such
information relating to justice is central to individuals’ evaluations of organizational
supportiveness in different social situations (Tyler & Smith, 1997; Van den Bos &
Lind, 2002).
Making an inference from the literature on communication environment
(Dennis, 1974), a supportive organizational environment provides clear, candour,
and adequacy information that may facilitate a close mutual relationship between
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employees and the organization. Indeed, Wallach (1993) has suggested that a
supportive communication climate conveys the elements of openness and trust to
employees and such support may facilitate them to link the fate of the organization
to their own (Scott et al., 1999; Smidts et al., 2001; Bartels et al., 2006; Bartels
et al., 2007). Hence, POS helps to address employees’ needs that in turn translate
their fair evaluations of reasonable explanations of procedures into linking up
their conception of self within the organization. Accordingly, the second
hypothesis is proposed:
H2. POS mediates the positive relationship between informational justice
and organizational identification.

POS mediates interpersonal justice and organizational identification

Interpersonal justice demonstrates the extent to which individuals are treated with
dignity and respect by authorities in the execution of procedures (Bies & Moag,
1986). Eisenberger et al. (1990) have highlighted that organizational agents may
show their respect to employees by showing concern about their work needs, and
this exerts a positive impact on POS. On the other hand, employees may perceive
a higher level of organizational support if organizational agents spend additional
time and pay attention to what tone they use in interactions with these employees
(Fleishman & Harris, 1962; Hutchison et al., 1998). Moreover, Wayne et al.,
(2002) have pointed out that a positive recognition provided by top management
conveys a clear message; that is that the organization values employees’
contributions. In light of the above arguments, individuals may evaluate the extent
of organizational support on the basis of the sincerity of organizational agents to
communicate recognition, inclusion, values and respect (Tyler, 1999).
It is predicted that interpersonal justice may turn into organizational
identification through the mediating role of POS. The positive history of work
experiences provided by organizational agents (for example, respect and dignity)
may make employees feel that the organization values their contributions and
well-being, and this in turn draws their attention to build and maintain an
emotionally satisfying relationship with that organization. Consistent with this
view, Smidts et al. (2001) have suggested that a supportive organization may give
recognition to individuals who have credits for making contributions to the
organization, and such recognition promotes their sense of organizational
membership. Evidently, the lack of organizational support may make employees
 The Mediating Effects of Perceived Organizational Support in Hong Kong 219

less interested in reciprocating their respectful membership of the organization

into desirable work outcomes. Accordingly, the third hypothesis is as follows:
H3. POS mediates the positive relationship between interpersonal justice
and organizational identification.

Methodology
Sample and Procedure
Respondents in three construction service organizations, who worked in project
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control departments, were randomly drawn to participate in the survey of 2005.

This sample was drawn from the engineering section in the directory of Hong
Kong Services Industries because employees of these service firms rely heavily on
the support provided by their organizations to complete projects on schedule and
within the estimated budget. Hence, organizational support is critical to them.
Samples from Hong Kong were selected because researchers argued that Hong
Kong employees focus on particular types of justice in evaluations of work
outcomes, for example distributive justice (Fields et al., 2000; Loi et al., 2006).
During the survey, representatives of the human resources departments of the
organizations were invited to attend briefing sessions and distribute questionnaires
to the targeted employees. Cover letters were attached to the questionnaires
explaining the purposes of the survey and providing assurances of anonymity. The
questionnaires were prepared in both Chinese and English. Although the
questionnaires were initially drawn up in English, each item was translated into
Chinese and back-translated independently into English by one of our authors for
checking the consistency between the Chinese and English version. The
respondents were asked to return the completed questionnaires in stamped and
self-addressed envelopes.
Out of 200 sets of questionnaires, 159 were returned, representing a response
rate of 79 per cent. Of these 159 respondents, 83.2 per cent were men and 79.2 per
cent were single. All of them were Chinese and the average age of the respondents
was 25.18 (SD ¼ 5.96), the average tenure in the organization was 3.7 years
(SD ¼ 3.9), and the average industry experience was 6.82 years (SD ¼ 6.48).

Measurement
Most of the measurement items used in the survey were adopted from studies of
organizational justice, POS and organizational identification. Unless stated, all of
the measures adopted a five-point Likert scale, ranging from ‘Strongly disagree’
(¼ 1) to ‘Strongly agree’ (¼5).

Perceptions of organizational justice

Three concepts related to organizational justice were drawn from a study by
Rhoades & Eisenberger (2002). First, distributive justice refers to the perceived
fairness of decision outcomes. A three-item scale for distributive justice was adopted
from Leventhal (1976). An example of one of these items is: ‘Does your outcome
 220 M. F. Y. Cheung & M. C. C. Law

reflects the effort you have put into your work?’ Second, interpersonal justice relates
to how workers are treated during the enactment of procedures. A three-item scale for
interpersonal justice was adopted from a study by Bies & Moag (1986). An example
of one of these items is ‘Has your organizational authority treated you in a polite
manner?’ Finally, informational justice refers to the accuracy and the quality of
the explanations that individuals receive about procedures. With reference to
recommendations made by Bies & Moag (1986) and Shapiro et al. (1994),
informational justice was also composed of three items, for example, ‘Has your
organizational authority been candid in his/her communications with you?’
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Perceived organizational support

This concept describes employees’ global beliefs concerning the extent to which
the organization values the contributions of employees and cares about their well-
being. Some researchers (for example, Masterson et al., 2000) have recommended
using a short version of POS because this may enhance the willingness of
respondents to complete questionnaires. A total of five items were adopted from
the study of Eisenberger et al. (1986). One example of an item from the scale is:
‘Managers at this company care about my general satisfaction at work’.

Organizational identification
The six-item organizational identification scale developed by Mael & Ashforth
(1992) was borrowed. Examples of organizational identification include, ‘This
organization’s success are my successes’ and ‘When someone praises this
organization, it feels like a personal compliment’.

Data Analysis and Results

Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations among the variables in the study are
provided in Table 1. Before testing the hypotheses, structural equations modelling
(Anderson & Gerbing, 1988; Medsker et al., 1994) was used to test the
measurement model. In the first step, the measurement model comprised of all of
the items was tested with the global fit indexes (x2/df ¼ 1.13; goodness-of-fit
index [GFI] ¼ 0.90, comparative fit index [CFI] ¼ 0.99, normed fit index [NFI]
¼ 0.91, incremental fit index [IFI] ¼ 0.99, and root mean square error of
approximation [RMSEA] ¼ 0.032) using AMOS software (version 5.0). Results
indicated that the hypothesized factor structure well fitted the model, showing that
the model was acceptable. Furthermore, the average variance extracted (AVE) of
these items was between 0.56 to 0.69, thus meeting the suggested level of 0.5
(Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Therefore, all of the indicators measuring the
corresponding constructs and convergent validity were supported (Anderson &
Gerbing, 1988). As a test of discriminant validity, the Fornell-Larcker Ratio was
adopted for the third order factor, that is, the AVE for one construct should be greater
than the squared correlation between the construct and any others (Anderson &
Gerbing, 1988). The AVE for the organizational identification construct was 0.62,
whereas the squared correlations of organizational identification were 0.18 for
 The Mediating Effects of Perceived Organizational Support in Hong Kong 221

Table 1. Means, standard deviations and zero-order correlations

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5
1. Distributive justice 3.36 .84
2. Interpersonal justice 3.16 .92 .56**
3. Informational justice 3.21 .86 .46** .64**
4. Perceived organizational support 3.09 .81 .40** .62** .66**
5. Organizational identification 3.87 .76 .42** .32** .35** .22** –

**p , 0.01
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distributive justice, 0.07 for interpersonal justice, 0.09 for informational justice, and
0.03 for POS, which were less than the AVE, thereby supporting discriminant
validity. In addition, all the constructs were with high reliability scores, i.e.
distributive (á ¼ 0.81), interpersonal (á ¼ 0.89), informational (á ¼ 0.77), POS
(á ¼ 0.85) and organizational identification (a ¼ 0.85).
After the validation of the measurement models, the next step was to test the
hypothesized mediating effect of POS. With regard to the suggestion provided
by Baron & Kenny (1986), there are four conditions to be assessed for mediation:
1) the independent variable must be related to the dependent variable; 2) the
independent variable must be related to the mediator; 3) the mediator must be
related to the dependent variable; and 4) the independent variable exerts no effect
on the dependent variable when the mediator was controlled and this situation was
referred as full mediation, and the effect of the independent variable should have a
significantly smaller effect on the dependent variable and this situation was named
partial mediation. These four conditions were tested step by step.
For the first condition, the correlation table illustrated that all the five constructs
in this study were correlated with each other as shown in Table 1. In order to
investigate further, a direct model was used to explore the proposed direct
relationships between distributive justice, interpersonal justice, and informational
justice and organizational identification. Global fit indexes (x2/df ¼ 1.23;
GFI ¼ 0.87, CFI ¼ 0.97, and RMSEA ¼ 0.04) showed that the model
adequately explained the relationships between the constructs. The parameter
estimates and t-values for the relationships between distributive justice and
organizational identification (b ¼ 0.53, t ¼ 4.11), between interpersonal justice
and organizational identification (b ¼ 0.33, t ¼ 2.98), and between informational
justice and organizational identification (b ¼ 0.35, t ¼ 3.21) were examined. The
findings supported the first condition.
When testing the second and third conditions, the relationships between
perceptions of organizational justice and POS, and between POS and
organizational identification were examined. As shown in Table 1, all the
constructs were correlated with POS. Indeed, for further examination, a mediation
model, in which POS mediated the relationships between distributive justice,
interpersonal justice, informational justice and organizational identification, was
used. All of the global fit indexes (x2/df ¼ 1.17; GFI ¼ 0.90, CFI ¼ 0.98, and
RMSEA ¼ 0.04) were within the acceptable level. The significance of the
estimated paths was tested based on the parameter estimates and t-values for
the hypothesized relationships. Surprisingly, only distributive justice was found to
 222 M. F. Y. Cheung & M. C. C. Law

be unrelated to POS (b ¼ 0.07, t ¼ 0.61). The links between interpersonal justice

and POS (b ¼ 0.34, t ¼ 2.12), and between informational justice and POS
(b ¼ 0.59, t ¼ 3.91) were supported. POS was also found to be positively related to
organizational identification (b ¼ 0.24, t ¼ 2.43). The estimated path coefficients
of the mediation model are shown in Figure 1. Hence, the above three conditions
were met, except for the relationship between distributive justice and POS, and the
remaining step was to test the mediating role of POS on the effects of informational
and interpersonal justice and organizational identification.
In order to assess the mediating condition of POS, additional paths between
distributive justice and organizational identification, between interpersonal justice
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and organizational identification, and between informational justice and

organizational identification were tested respectively. The significance or non-
significance of such paths was used to draw conclusions about full or partial
mediation.
Three results were found. First of all, the mediation effect of POS
between distributive justice and organizational identification was insignificant
(b ¼ 0.02, ns), but the relationship between distributive justice and organizational
identification was significant when POS was excluded (b ¼ 0.39, p , 0.05). This
finding illustrates that the proposed mediation relationship of POS on the
relationship between distributive justice and organizational identification was not
supported and therefore Hypothesis 1 was unsupported. On the other hand, POS
fully mediated the relationships between interpersonal justice and informational
justice, and organizational identification. Specifically, the relationship between
interpersonal justice and organizational identification was formerly supported
(b ¼ 0.19, p , 0.05). But when POS was added, the significant effect of POS on
organizational identification was found (b ¼ 0.26, p , 0.01) and the significant
relationship between interpersonal justice and organizational identification was
changed as to be insignificant (b ¼ 0.02, ns). The same case applies to the
relationship between informational justice and organizational identification,
which were positively related (b ¼ 0.17, p ,0.05). But after POS was added,
it mediated the relationship between informational justice and organizational

Figure 1. Standardized path coefficients for the mediation model

 The Mediating Effects of Perceived Organizational Support in Hong Kong 223

identification as POS had a significant relationship with organizational

identification (b ¼ 0.32, p , 0.05) and the relationship between informa-
tional justice and organizational identification turned out to be insignificant
(b ¼ 0.03, ns). Therefore, the results supported Hypotheses 2 and 3.

Discussion
The results largely support the hypotheses that both informational and
interpersonal justice have significant impacts on organizational identification
through the mediating role of POS. This finding suggests that organizational
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identification can be generated as a result of a social exchange process in which

employees perceive organizations’ care and concern as an outcome of an
organizational agent’s provision of respect and consistent messages. To reciprocate
the favour of organizational support, employees may translate the perceived
extent of interpersonal and informational justice in a sense of organizational
membership.
The relationships between interpersonal justice and organizational identifi-
cation, and informational justice and organizational identification may be more
salient in a collectivist society than that in an individualist society. The reason may
be related to the differences in work values and ideology in these two societies
(Bond & Wang, 1983). On the basis of Confucian philosophy, Chinese employees
with high power distance are more focused on interpersonal harmony and mutual
respect and that partly explains the reason why they are tolerant to disrespectful
and undignified treatment (Eberhard, 1971; Shenkar & Ronen, 1987; Chiu
et al., 1988; Hamilton & Hagiwara, 1992; Itoi et al., 1996; Tata, 2000).
Specifically, employees’ interpersonal interactions with organizational agents, for
example, supervisors, may perceive to be fairer in a collectivist society because
the Chinese prefer resolving work conflicts and face saving (Leung & Lind, 1986;
Tata et al., 2003). In contrast, employees in an individualist society with low
power distance, in which respect for individuals is advocated and all members
are treated to be equal, may challenge supervisors’ viewpoints or express their
work discontents in voice (Brockner et al., 2001). On the other hand, fairness
of information accessibility can be regarded as a valuable resource that allows
employees to handle challenges in the dynamic and competitive work
environment of China (Gargiulo & Benassi, 2000; Cross & Cummings, 2004;
Ng & Chow, 2005). In particular, employees in the context of a collectivist society
tend to make decisions privately so that they may transmit and exchange
information to close guanxi partners (an exchange of favour or benefit between
two parties) for building and maintaining informal relationships that are based on
trust. Taken together, perceived interpersonal and informational justice induce the
belief of being cared for by the organization. The enhanced feelings of self-worth
may subsequently translate the goodwill into actions of caring for the fate of
the organization, such as the development of psychological attachment to the
organization. Hence, the findings of this study are consistent with the prior
research that POS is a good mediator on the relationships between organizational
justice and work outcomes (Moorman et al., 1998; Naumann et al., 1998;
Masterson et al., 2000; Loi et al., 2006; Stinglhamber et al., 2006).
 224 M. F. Y. Cheung & M. C. C. Law

Moreover, the earlier literature on POS has supported distributive justice as the
primary source in the evaluations of support from employers (Pillai et al., 2001;
Ngo et al., 2002; Loi et al., 2006). Surprisingly, the findings of this study fail to
provide the direct link between distributive justice and POS, thereby hindering
further testing of POS as a mediator on such a link. Three reasons are supplied
below for such an insignificant link. First, employees who perceive their reward
allocations are fair to them may find it difficult to ask for additional rewards from
the organization, such as promotional opportunities. When organizations are
unable to provide adequate valued rewards and strong support for these
employees, they may feel less recognition and inclusion and these elements are
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critical for the development of POS (Shore & Shore, 1995; Eisenberger et al.,
1997). Second, Rhoades & Eisenberger (2002) have suggested that organizations
with strong unions may have less discretion and control over the allocation of
resources than those with weak or no work unions and the selected service firms
have strong unions which form obstacles for employees to get a fair share of
resources and rewards. Finally, employees’ different interpretations on various
kinds of organizational rewards may affect their evaluations of POS. For example,
employees may prefer promotion and job security more than pay because some
employees may not consider pay as a kind of socio-emotional resource to assess
the employee-organization relationship (Cropanzano & Ambrose, 2001).

Theoretical Implications
The results of the present study contribute to the process of the group engagement
model (Tyler, 1999; Tyler & Blader, 2002) by demonstrating the process through
which interpersonal justice, that represents respect in the intra-group, may be
translated into organizational identification via the mediating role of POS. On the
other hand, informational justice represents prestige in inter-group status (such as
transmitting accurate information or receiving reasonable explanations on work
procedures inside the same group) that are key stimulus to promote employees’
feelings of psychological attachment to the organization through the mediating
role of POS.
Consistent with the study of Olkkonen & Lipponen (2006) in a North American
context, the findings of this study indicate that employees with a fair perception of
reward allocations provide a direct resource-based motivation to organizational
identification. But interpersonal and informational fairness are indirectly channelled
by POS, which in turn account for employees’ feelings of organizational identifica-
tion. The significant mediating role of POS is proximally, closer to both inter-
personal and informational justice, for engendering employees’ feelings of
organizational identification in a non-western context. In other words, if employees
do not perceive that they are getting adequate organizational support and are valued,
they may react to such a work situation by being reluctant to build close
psychological bonds between themselves and the organization.

Practical Implications
In an organization, leaders and other organizational representatives may be trained
to recognize multiple types of justice and their effects as suggested by Skarlicki
 The Mediating Effects of Perceived Organizational Support in Hong Kong 225

and Latham (1996; 1997). Furthermore, organizational identification may be

enhanced by encouraging leaders to treat employees in a respectful manner and
provide them with reliable company information, as well as enhancing the amount
of organizational aids to employees. Therefore, this study suggests that such
awareness may involve the implementation of organizational rules, interpersonal
interactions and communication between supervisors and employers.
By differentiating distributive justice (namely, the organization) from inter-
personal and informational justice (that is, the supervisor), an organization may
benefit from not only allocating fair rewards but also by showing respect and
providing unbiased information to employees. The results of this study shed light on
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the significant role that POS has taken in the development of organizational
identification. Given this salient mediating role of POS, organizational agents are
authorized to transmit unbiased messages to employees that an organization may
trust them. Moreover, clear and open communication on decision making is
necessary for enhancing employees’ perception of the organization’s discretion to
provide available aids. Additionally, constructive feedback may be provided to
employees as a way to answer their job concerns or resolve the problems relating
to job dissatisfaction. Hence, the results of this research indicate that interpersonal
and informational justice may replace the paramount role of distributive justice in
affecting organizational support and organizational identification. Moreover, the
actions taken by organizational agents are indicative to employees of the intentions of
organizations in employee recruitment, selection and development policies
(Levinson, 1965).

Research Limitations and Future Research

Despite the above implications, the present study is not without its limitations. First,
the research design was cross-sectional; this design impedes the drawing of
inferences from a casual ordering of the variables in the model. Second, although the
results of the confirmatory factor analysis provided strong support for the empirical
distinctiveness of the studied variables, the self-reported data on organizational
justice, perceived organizational support and organizational identification were
measured by the self-rating method, which may lead one to be cautious in drawing a
strong conclusion from the sample. However, it is noticed that the approach looks
similar to the studies conducted in the North American context. For example, with
regard to the study prepared by Olkkonen & Lipponen (2006), our findings also
indicate that distributive justice is directly related to organizational identification.
Moreover, our results have similar findings as that of the study of Stinglhamber et al.
(2006), which perceived that the supportive work environment is partially mediated
by the relationship between the fairness of interpersonal interactions and reasonable
explanations, and work attitudes, such as trust in supervisors. Therefore, the
possibility of our results being affected by common method bias may be minimized.
On the other hand, as stated by Crampton & Wagner (1994), percept-percept inflation
is not a severe problem in micro-organizational research. Certainly, future
researchers may test whether the mediation model holds in the longitudinal study.
Third, we did not include procedural justice in our model, which may limit the
comparison of our results with some of the western literature. However, the major
 226 M. F. Y. Cheung & M. C. C. Law

purpose of this study was to test the impacts of informational justice, interpersonal
justice and distributive justice, in which the first two types of justice have been
previously classified as interactional justice, as the key antecedents of POS in our
proposed mediation model, and their relationships have been neglected in
previous studies and most of the researchers only pay attention to the impacts of
procedural justice on POS (see, for an example of this, Loi et al., 2006). In
addition, past research has indicated that Hong Kong employees place strong
emphasis on distributive justice when they evaluate support from the employers
(Fields et al., 2000; Pillai et al., 2001). Therefore, it is valuable to study the impact
of various types of organizational justice. Certainly, it is recommended that future
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study may include all dimensions of organizational justice and investigate their
respective effects on organizational identification.
Furthermore, the incorporation of POS may lead to the fallacious conclusion that
relationships between perceptions of organizational justice and work outcomes do
not exist or may change considerably when there are different combinations of social
exchange relationships. If this is the case, future research may include more types of
social exchange relationships, such as the leader-member exchange which describes
a dyadic relationship between leaders and their subordinates (for example, Dansereau
et al., 1975; Graen, 1976; Graen et al., 1977).
Finally, the respondents of this study were selected from several service
organizations in Hong Kong. The background characteristics of these employees
may limit the generalizability of findings to other work settings. Further studies
may be required testing our model with multiple samples or alternative work
arrangements in diverse work occupations or test the different focuses of
identification (Van Dick et al., 2004; Olkkonen & Lipponen, 2006).

Conclusions
In conclusion, we believe that the group engagement model can be extended beyond
theoretical conceptualizations. Our mediation model provides not only a better
understanding of how the identification process of employees develops in
organizations but also inspires researchers to highlight the full mediating role of
POS on the links between informational and interpersonal justice, and organizational
identification. Finally, the results of the present study may encourage practitioners to
formulate supportive organizational policies and practices on strengthening the
psychological bond between employees and their organizations.

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