Research note – the connection of organizational justice views with Chinese police officer organizational commitment

Abstract

Purpose

Police officers' attitudes toward their employing organizations are impacted by officers' perceptions of justice within the organization itself, and these perceptions can affect the bond that officers form with their organization. The current study explored how perceptions of three dimensions of organizational justice (i.e. interpersonal, procedural and distributive justice) were related to the affective (i.e. voluntary) organizational commitment of Chinese police officers.

Design/methodology/approach

The data for the current study came from a voluntary survey of 589 Chinese police officers in three areas, one each in southern, central and western China.

Findings

Based on an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression equation, interpersonal, procedural and distributive justice had similar sized positive associations with organizational commitment.

Research limitations/implications

The findings support the contention that perceptions of organizational justice views are related to the commitment of Chinese police officers.

Practical implications

Raising the interpersonal, procedural and distributive justice views should raise the level of affective commitment of officers.

Social implications

Enhancing the justice views of officers should benefit officers by treating them more fairly, as well as benefiting the police organization by increasing commitment of officers.

Originality/value

There has been limited research on how the different forms of organizational justice are related to officer commitment, especially among Chinese officers.

Citation

Lambert, E., Liu, J. and Jiang, S. (2023), "Research note – the connection of organizational justice views with Chinese police officer organizational commitment", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 46 No. 5/6, pp. 697-708. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-12-2022-0156