Organizational uncertainty and stress among teachers in Hong Kong: work characteristics and organizational justice

Abstract

A growing literature now exists examining the relationship between organizational justice and employees' experience of stress. Despite the growth in this field of enquiry, there remain continued gaps in knowledge. In particular, the contribution of perceptions of justice to employees' stress within an organizational context of uncertainty and change, and in relation to the new and emerging concept of procedural-voice justice. The aim of the current study was to examine the main, interaction and additive effects of work characteristics and organizational justice perceptions to employees' experience of stress (as measured by their feelings of helplessness and perceived coping) during an acknowledged period of organizational uncertainty. Questionnaires were distributed among teachers in seven public primary schools in Hong Kong that were under threat of closure (n = 212). Work characteristics were measured using the demand-control-support model. Hierarchical regression analyses observed perceptions of job demands and procedural-voice justice to predict both teachers' feelings of helplessness and perceived coping ability. Furthermore, teacher's perceived coping was predicted by job control and a significant interaction between procedural-voice justice and distributive justice. The addition of organizational justice variables did account for unique variance, but only in relation to the measure of perceived coping. The study concludes that in addition to 'traditional' work characteristics, health promotion strategies should also address perceptions of organizational justice during times of organizational uncertainty; and, in particular, the value and importance of enhancing employee's perceived 'voice' in influencing and shaping justice-related decisions.

Keywords: organizational change; organizational justice; stress; teachers; work characteristics.