LITERATURE REVIEW ASSIGNMENT 1
Literature Review Assignment
Chasity Dukes
Helms School of Government, Liberty University
CJUS 750
LITERATURE REVIEW ASSIGNMENT 2
Literature Review
Employee friction may arise from workplace strife. Miscommunication, animosity, and a
bad effect on the work environment can result from perceived injustices in the workplace.
Perceived injustices have the potential to worsen and turn into a catalyst for ongoing conflict in
the workplace. Perceived injustices at work might cause bad emotions to develop and sometimes
explode (Minnotte & Pedersen, 2019). The concept of perceived unfairness arises when someone
believes that their treatment at work is not equitable (2019). Regrettably, a lot of people working
in agencies encounter conflict at work, and a lot of that conflict is caused by injustices that they
believe to be unjust. It is critical to identify the underlying causes of perceived injustice in the
workplace and develop mitigation and elimination strategies for them.
According to Mohammed (2022) there are three levels to perceived organizational
injustice: distributive, procedural, and interactional. The distribution of opportunities like as
promotions, salaries, training, and other benefits, as well as the administration of incentives and
penalties, are all considered distributive components. As long as perceived injustices persist,
there are questions regarding how to guarantee justice is served. In order to accomplish
objectives connected to the aforementioned problems, procedural components concentrate on the
distribution's fairness. Interactional analysis highlights the disparities in treatment that occur
throughout the procedural phase. Victims of perceived injustices start to feel helpless when they
experience alienation. The lack of progress in the workplace causes some people to feel
irrelevant (2022). The authors of this paper contend that interactions between employees are
harmed by perceived unfairness. A person's mental health is harmed by alienation (2022).
Like the earlier articles, perceived injustices cause friction and bad feelings at work.
Emotional animosity results from perceived injustices (Navarro-Carrillo et al., 2018). According
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to the essay, people are driven to act when they believe there are injustices. According to this
article, problems arising from perceived injustices are subjective. According to Navarro-Carrillo
et al. (2018), the authors claimed that "deservingness would be determined by the subjective
perceptions of the person, while perceived justice would be defined by an objective standard."
Reactions to perceived injustice at work can take the form of unproductive actions. These actions
also cause the wounded individual or individuals in the workplace to share their negative
opinions about the situation more frequently.
Some people who believe they have been the victim of injustices frequently believe they
have been bullied at work. The significance of the perceived injustices that bullying perpetuates
is emphasized in the paper "Filling a Theoretical "Black Box" Between Workplace Bullying and
Poor Attitudes: Psychological Contract Violation, Work Injustice, and Negative Environmental
Contagion." According to the authors, "Perceived injustice or direct correlation existed between
perceived bullying and work attitudes" (Valentine et al., 2022). Maltreatment at work might take
the shape of perceived injustice. The longer the abuse goes unchecked, the more it feeds into the
perception of unfairness in the job. Bullying serves as a trigger for more bad emotions and
sentiments brought on by mistreatment and perceived injustices (2022).
Moreover, persistent harassment and perceived unfairness at work cause dissatisfaction
with the workplace, which in turn causes bad feelings and, eventually, turnover. This article
makes the case that workplace bullying—rather than perceived injustices leading to workplace
bullying—is the main cause of perceived unfairness (Valentine et al., 2022). Workplaces with
high turnover rates will experience persistent feelings of injustice. As Sloan addresses in his
piece, there is evidence in the literature that a hostile work environment can result in perceived
injustice brought on by bullying, abuse, subpar treatment, and even harassment (Sloan, 2011).
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Being harassed and intimidated at work by superiors can harm workers as well as other people,
especially if the victim is unable to take revenge and may need to conceal their bad emotions
(2011).
It has been suggested in another piece that perceived injustice harms the organization as
well as the person experiencing it (Qin & Zhang, 2022). According to the authors, an employee
may feel mistreated by their employer as a result of perceived injustice, which may lead to
punitive actions. Employee performance problems are also caused by more significant stress
related to perceived injustices (2022). Perceived injustices can raise issues with performance,
mental health, and behavior, among other areas. So far, every writer has argued that injustice will
engender rage and, a lot of the time, low self-esteem. Additionally, Qin and Zhang link the
impression of injustice to potential revenge (2022)
The article "Does Perceived Unfairness Exacerbate or Mitigate Interpersonal
Counterproductive Work Behaviors Related to Envy?" also discusses this topic, supporting the
idea that retribution stems from perceived injustice (Cohen-Charash & Mueller, 2007).
Retaliatory actions may be taken by people who feel that they are being treated unfairly at work.
The employer could perceive themselves as the target of retaliation, in addition to the victim
(2007).
Retaliation affects perceived injustice in addition to increasing agency turnover rates.
Within organizations, high turnover rates are influenced by perceived injustice. High turnover
rates are linked to staff perceptions of unfair treatment from leaders and supervisors, according
to the authors of the paper "The Influence of Workplace Envy on Turnover Intention: The
Mediating Role of Negative Emotion and Perception of Injustice." The paper (Dahri et al., 2023)
demonstrates the relationship between injustice and work discontent as well as justice and work
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satisfaction. People who feel they are being treated unfairly are more likely to finally resign from
their positions.
According to Fine and Teram (2012), there are two ways to resolve perceived inequality
in the workplace: overt and covert. Overt justice is when people confront injustice directly;
covert justice deals with less obvious and contentious issues, but both have their effects (2012).
The development of the organization and the welfare of the injustice's victim depend on dealing
with people responsible for the perceived injustice. The authors admit that it is riskier to speak
up about perceived injustice than it is to take action (2012). To redress perceived inequities in
work contexts, covert activities are required. According to Fine and Teram (2012), overt
behavior makes people anxious because it raises the possibility of acting to correct perceived
injustices, which is connected to a moral duty brought about by institutional pluralism.
Regrettably, some people's experience of perceived injustice and conflict at work is a
result of underlying racial dynamics. Many employees believe that racial inequities that persons
of color encounter in society are reflected in perceived workplace inequalities. The authors
Cumberland, Deckard, and Ellinger made the observation that workers regularly face covert as
well as overt workplace injustices, which companies tend to ignore (Cumberland et al., 2021).
Taking into account external societal elements that influenced perceived injustices, this piece
helped companies create a more inclusive work environment for all employees. Conflict arises in
the workplace as a result of the pressures of racism and discrimination that permeate American
society.
Perceived inequalities persist for many reasons, even though social inequities can affect
the workplace. We discovered earlier in this paper that reprisals can be the cause of perceived
injustices. Furthermore, bullying can also result in feelings of perceived injustice. Workers who
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experience injustice at work may frequently feel mistreated and undervalued by management or
other leaders (Rai & Agarwal, 2020). According to the authors, there can be underlying problems
that contribute to bullying and unfairness in the workplace, rather than them always being linear
(2020). Workers desire a professional and cooperative working relationship with their managers.
Employees seek honesty and fulfillment when working with their supervisor, according to Rai &
Agarwal. Rai & Agarwal observe that employees desire to be treated with decency and respect in
addition to having a genuine relationship (2020). On the other hand, conflict in the workplace
arises when workers don't feel that their bosses are treating them with respect or when they are
being bullied by them. A number of people experience bullying at work from superiors as a
consequence of the disagreement.
Perceived discrimination in the workplace is correlated with perceived injustice. People
who believe in injustices don't think they would have fair opportunities at work, not even fair
opportunities to advance in their careers. According to the authors, a bad impression of the
workplace is caused by perceived institutional racism, which is linked to perceived
discrimination (Sheaffer et al., 2017). This article demonstrates how perceived injustice or
prejudice at work might affect employee mobility. Promotions are subject to both explicit and
implicit workplace discrimination, as well as real and perceived variables (2017). Employees are
negatively impacted by perceived injustice and prejudice, which also fuels animosity and conflict
in the workplace. Many organizations are reluctant to confront institutional racism because it
would necessitate open communication and adjustments to counteract perceived injustice. No
one wants to work in a place where they are denied respect and dignity, as we live in an
oppressive culture and many have done historically.
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Workers are frequently happy to work until they witness injustice. Though many workers
would like to quit their jobs or be demoted from the supervisor in question when they feel
injustice has occurred, things do not always turn out that way. Singh claims that although
workers may have plans to quit if they see injustice or unfairness at work, they eventually
become reluctant stayers (Singh, 2021). Singh claims that employees' performance, habits, job
happiness, and trust can all be negatively impacted by perceived injustices, to the point that they
may wish to leave the company in order to reclaim control (2021). Many people who believe
they are being treated unfairly at work may feel powerless to stop it; their only option may be to
quit. Singh also discusses how people's treatment of others may suffer in response to perceived
unfairness (2021).
Deviance may result from treatment that the employer or employee feels is unfair.
According to studies, workplace deviance is predicted by perceived injustice or unfairness,
according to one publication (Michel & Hargis, 2016). Perceived unfairness has a detrimental
effect on workers' motivation and interpersonal relationships (2016). In their research, the
authors discovered that blame and acts of retaliation or revenge are a result of perceived
unfairness or unjust treatment. Depending on the extent of the employer's perceived unfairness,
the more the frustration, the greater the demand for retribution (2016). Fairness and perception
have a big impact on workplace behaviors, thus it's critical that staff members feel appreciated
and respected in order to prevent perceptions of injustices from acting as a catalyst for bad
conduct, particularly when it comes to deviant behavior. "Needing thwarting environments can
include factors like procedural injustice and abusive supervision, while need supporting
environments can include factors like transformational leadership or family supportive
supervisory behaviors," the authors write in their conclusion to their findings (Michel & Hargis,
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2016). Companies need to be able to spot patterns in their leadership that give rise to feelings of
unfairness or injustice toward their workers. Unfortunately, some workers who want retribution
could act violently and in a very unpleasant way. Regrettably, numerous acts of violence in this
nation occur as a result of workplace disputes disregarded by the authorities.
For many people, the experience of being mistreated at work is a reality. As this body of
literature has demonstrated over and again, people who perceive unfairness may suffer as a
result. According to data gathered, 76% of employees saw acts of hostility that resulted from
harassment at work, and 90% of employees encountered psychological aggression (Hershcovis et
al., 2020). The authors go on to say that the biggest influence on employees comes from
supervisor mistreatment, or the perception of mistreatment. Workplace social networks might
emerge as a result of mistreating employees (2020). When injustices and abuse occur in the
workplace, the victims of these practices often take action. People who have been marginalized
often develop social networks with others who have similar experiences. It is disturbing to see
that 90% of workers report having experienced psychological hostility as a result of perceived
injustice. The high data must be reduced because those figures can intensify and cause serious
dispute.
A recurring element is that workers are negatively impacted by perceived unfairness,
while they are positively impacted by just and favorable outcomes; also, attitudes have
repercussions (Sen et al., 2021). The authors of the paper "The nexus among perceived
organizational support, organizational justice, and cynicism" (2021) concentrate on how high
levels of stress, absenteeism, turnover, performance problems, mistrust, and unfavorable feelings
related to the workplace are all caused by perceived injustice. The perceived injustice may range
in intensity depending on the situation, but it usually has negative consequences. In essence,
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conflict can arise from unfavorable feelings about the job because of these negative feelings
about the surroundings. Mitigating and maybe eliminating perceived injustice in the workplace
would involve establishing a positive work environment with equitable outcomes for all. The
way that employees feel about their employer is reflected in their attitudes at work.
Workers must be treated fairly and equally in all working procedures. According to one
paper, conflict in the workplace arises when unpleasant emotions are caused by perceived
injustice, which in turn causes conflict over scheduling and allocation of labor (Kuriakose et al.,
2019). When there is a sense of unfairness in the workplace, it is imperative to identify the
underlying source of the problem. More importantly, businesses need to know that disagreement
in the workplace can negatively affect workers' productivity, happiness, and general well-being
(2019). Although conflict itself need not be bad, how it is handled is where problems might
occur (Raines, 2019). One of the main objectives of managers and leaders should be to ensure
that employees are distributed fairly and that their work is expected of them. There is an increase
in conflict and perceived injustice when workers believe that their tasks or assignments are not
distributed equally or fairly. Disagreement stemming from perceived unfairness can lead to stress
both for the person experiencing the injustice and for the employer. Perceived injustice can also
amplify the negative effects on everyone involved and in the workplace. More significantly, the
employee's actions at work may be influenced by the perceived injustice (Syed et al., 2020).
According to the authors, feelings of unfairness at work cause stress, which in turn affects
productivity and creativity. It can also trigger retaliatory actions and worsen workers' reactions to
stress at work (2020). As a result, those who have observed injustice frequently have heightened
awareness of what constitutes fairness and unfairness in the workplace. Perceived injustice (both
distributive and procedural) may worsen the negative impacts of job stress on employee actions,
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according to Syed et al. (2020). Work performance is badly impacted by perceived injustice at
work, which has an effect on the organization's workflow. It seems that perceived injustice in the
workplace has a negative snowball effect. Some people experience severe workplace stress,
which causes them to slow down their productivity and compromise the quality of their work.
Employers need to be aware when evident problems with work performance or perceived
injustices occur.
The psychological and emotional toll that perceived injustice has on workers is
substantial. According to one article, there is a link between mental illnesses and symptoms of
mental disease and perceived injustices. According to the article, those who feel that there is
unfairness at work want to see justice and balance restored, but doing so is a difficult
undertaking (Virtanen & Elovainio, 2018). After people are aware of what must be done, the
only thing left to do is put that knowledge into practice. Stress and mental exhaustion might
result from unfavorable sentiments and emotions brought on by perceived unfairness at work.
Breaking away from the things that might be causing the imbalance is necessary in order to
regain control and balance in one's life.
Environments that support justice and equality in the workplace must be developed and
promoted by workplaces. People who work in environments devoid of justice may feel
mistreated and may sense injustices, which could develop into something more serious.
According to one paper (Branch et al., 2012), the perception of unfairness might cause actions
and attitudes to shift downward and become more negative. As mentioned in a previous piece,
those who feel that they have been wronged will try to get their lives back. Many experience
physical and mental health problems as a result of this; others are forced to quit their jobs. As a
result, perceived injustice at work can have negative effects on both the employee and the
LITERATURE REVIEW ASSIGNMENT 11
company. Staff turnover is also detrimental to the workplace. It's questionable how much money
is spent on training employees to quit their jobs. It is imperative for workplaces to prioritize
equitable treatment in order to improve employee happiness and reduce high turnover rates
stemming from perceived injustice.
People who perceive injustices may suffer long-term effects that negatively affect their
mental and physical well-being as well as their ability to find work (Sarwar & Muhammad,
2020). It becomes challenging to achieve favorable results for workers who might feel that they
are the targets of discrimination or injustice at work. Employees who believe there is unfairness
or discrimination at work experience stress as a result (2020). In order to address perceived
inequities and discrimination in the workplace, Sarwar & Muhammad stress that a company must
identify the root of the problem. The only way to address perceived injustice is for employers to
be open to investigating the reasons behind it. This article explores many approaches to
identifying the root cause of perceived injustice and employment discrimination.
Every item we looked at addressed the detrimental effects that employees and the
workplace may experience from perceived injustice. Victims of perceived unfairness may
experience psychological and physical effects from the acts. Employers must determine the root
reasons of perceived injustices and work to allay and lessen these kinds of worries. Even though
perceived unfairness may affect a large number of people, not everyone will experience the same
results. While some people might be able to leave the company, others might not be able to
afford to. The subjectivity of perceived unfairness is an important concept to grasp. Many people
will view perceived unfairness via various prisms. If employers are not directly affected, they
might not be able to recognize perceived injustice or fairness. Even though the individuals
involved in bullying or unfair treatment are aware of their actions, they will nevertheless carry
LITERATURE REVIEW ASSIGNMENT 12
them out in the workplace if there are no policies in place to stop them. Because there is no
process in place to address the perceived injustice, the issue will only worsen and spiral into an
endless loop. Many occupations are unaware of the complete influence they have on people.
Perceived unfairness exacerbates the already difficult environment and population one works
with in social and human services professions.
Resolving a problem requires careful consideration of how to handle it. The issue and
effects of perceived injustice in the workplace were covered in a number of the reviewed papers.
The majority of publications, however, did not offer many answers to the persistent problem. On
perceived injustice in the workplace, research is ongoing. It seems in a few papers that
workplace conflict was first unrelated to perceived injustice, but it was mentioned as a problem.
There aren't many articles discussing how different communication styles or misunderstandings
might result in perceived injustice at work. A few publications recommended that the best way to
address perceived injustice and job discrimination would be through training. If the root causes
of workplace unfairness and prejudice were identified, training may be beneficial. People need to
confront their prejudices, anxieties, and preconceptions about how to approach people who might
not be the same in terms of skin tone, ethnicity, race, gender, or even religion. Training is only
useful if it tackles both the primary problems and the underlying ones. A large number of the
articles deal with the root causes of conflict in the workplace.
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