When Fairness Fades: How Entitlement and Doubt Lower Job Performance

What is it about?

This study examines how employees’ perceptions of distributive injustice—the belief that rewards and outcomes at work are unfair—can harm their job performance. The authors propose that unfair reward systems not only frustrate employees but also lead them to believe that their organization itself is underperforming. These negative beliefs drain motivation and reduce employees’ willingness to complete tasks diligently. The study further explores how this dynamic depends on employees’ sense of psychological entitlement, or the belief that they deserve more favorable treatment than others. Using three-round, time-lagged survey data from employees and supervisors in Pakistani organizations, the study finds that perceptions of distributive injustice reduce job performance partly by fostering beliefs that the organization fails to meet its goals. This effect is stronger among employees with high psychological entitlement, who react more negatively to unfairness and see it as organizational failure. Those with lower entitlement are less likely to form such views or let them hinder performance. For organizations, the findings show that unfair reward practices can have far-reaching consequences—not just lowering motivation, but also shaping employees’ beliefs about overall organizational competence. Ensuring transparent and equitable compensation systems can prevent such destructive interpretations. HR managers can also help by identifying and moderating excessive entitlement, fostering realistic expectations, and reinforcing that performance outcomes depend on effort and contribution rather than perceived favoritism.

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Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This research is unique in uncovering organizational underperformance beliefs as a psychological pathway through which distributive injustice reduces job performance. It also highlights psychological entitlement as a key boundary condition that intensifies this harmful process. By integrating fairness theory with motivational and cognitive perspectives, the study clarifies how employees’ internal interpretations of injustice can spiral into disengagement and lowered productivity. The study is timely as organizations worldwide navigate growing concerns about fairness, recognition, and transparency in performance-based systems. In Pakistan and similar settings, where rapid change and limited resources can heighten perceptions of inequity, these findings stress the importance of managing both structural fairness and employee attitudes. The results suggest that when fairness fades, fostering humility and balance in expectations can help preserve both motivation and organizational trust.