How Fairness at Work Is Structured and Measured in Arab Organizations

What is it about?

This study investigates how organizational justice—employees’ perceptions of fairness at work—is structured and measured within a Kuwaiti-Arab cultural context. Across two large public-sector samples (employees and teachers), the research tests competing models of justice (one-, two-, three-, and four-factor models) using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The findings provide strong empirical support for a four-dimensional model of organizational justice—distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational—and validate a new Arabic measure specifically designed to reflect local cultural meanings rather than relying on direct translation of Western instruments.better than one-, two- or three-factor models. Moreover, the study revealed that these four dimensions of organizational justice were significantly correlated with the four relevant outcomes of instrumentality, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and collective esteem. Using the Arabic version of Colquitt’s (2001) instrument (Fischer et al., 2011), the second study presented an evidence of concurrent validity of the new Arabic scale. The present study confirmed the four-factor dimensionality of organizational justice. Results of the current study may raise the issue of development of scales versus translation of well- developed ones. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

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Photo by Albert Stoynov on Unsplash

Photo by Albert Stoynov on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Theoretical clarity: Resolves long-standing debate about the dimensionality of organizational justice by demonstrating that a four-factor model best fits data from an Arab context. Methodological contribution: Shows the value of developing culturally grounded measures instead of relying solely on translated Western scales. Cross-cultural relevance: Extends organizational justice theory beyond Western samples and strengthens its global applicability. Practical utility: Provides organizations and researchers in Arab countries with a psychometrically sound tool to assess fairness perceptions linked to commitment, citizenship behavior, and collective esteem.

Perspectives