The Equity Theory Study in Increasing Job Satisfaction at the Banyumas Regency Environmental Service
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51278/bce.v5i3.1725Keywords:
Organizational Justice, Distributive Justice, Procedural Justice, Job Satisfaction, Public Sector OrganizationsAbstract
The study demonstrates that organizational justice is a significant factor in enhancing employee job satisfaction within the public sector organizations. The findings reveal that employees are more likely to experience positive work attitudes when they perceive fairness in organizational outcomes, decision-making procedures, interpersonal treatment, and information sharing. These results confirm that organizational justice should be viewed as a multidimensional construct that collectively shapes employees’ workplace experiences and satisfaction. The study strengthens the relevance of Equity Theory, Need Fulfillment Theory, and organizational justice literature by showing that fairness perceptions remain essential in contemporary public sector organizations organizations characterized by high performance expectations and regulatory demands. The findings also highlight that employee satisfaction is influenced not only by tangible rewards but also by the quality of organizational processes and interactions. From a practical perspective, public sector organizations should prioritize the development of fair compensation systems, transparent procedures, respectful supervisory practices, and effective communication mechanisms. Such initiatives can contribute to a more positive work environment and improve employee satisfaction. This study is limited by its cross-sectional design and geographical focus on selected public sector organizations in Central Java. Future research is encouraged to employ longitudinal approaches, include broader organizational settings, and examine additional variables such as organizational trust, employee engagement, or psychological safety to provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between organizational justice and employee outcomes
References
Adams, J. S. (1963). Towards an understanding of inequity. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(5), 422–436. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040968
Aldaibat, B. F., & Aldaibat, M. B. (2024). Procedural and informational justice in organizational restructuring: Effects on employee satisfaction and trust. International Journal of Business and Management, 19(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v19n1p45
Apindo. (2024). Indonesian Employer Survey Report on Public Sector Organizations' Employee Welfare. Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo), Jakarta.
Bashir, U., Mehboob, I., & Bhatti, W. K. (2024). Effects of organizational justice on job satisfaction: The moderating role of leadership style. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 34(2), 211–228. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muad043
Bauer, T. N., & Erdogan, B. (2012). Organizational socialization outcomes: Now and into the future. In C. Wanberg (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Socialization (pp. 97–114). Oxford University Press.
Bies, R. J., & Moag, J. F. (1986). Interactional justice: Communication criteria of fairness. Research on Negotiation in Organizations, 1, 43–55.
Chen, Y., Zhang, L., & Liu, X. (2023). Interactional justice and job satisfaction among Chinese service employees: A multilevel analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 182(3), 789–804. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05247-z
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
Colquitt, J. A. (2001). On the dimensionality of organizational justice: A construct validation of a measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 386–400. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.386
Colquitt, J. A., & Greenberg, J. (2005). Organizational justice: A fair assessment of the state of the literature. In J. Greenberg (Ed.), Organizational Behavior: The State of the Science (pp. 165–210). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Colquitt, J. A., Long, D. M., Rodell, J. B., & Halvorsen-Ganepola, M. D. K. (2023). Adding the 'in' to justice: A qualitative and quantitative investigation of the differential effects of justice climate strength. Academy of Management Journal, 66(2), 582–611. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2020.1372
Gomes, R., Silva, A., & Ferreira, P. (2022). Organizational justice and job satisfaction in healthcare: Evidence from Brazilian public hospitals. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(14), 8621. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148621
Greenberg, J. (1987). A taxonomy of organizational justice theories. Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 9–22. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4306437
Greenberg, J. (2022). Organizational justice: Looking back, looking forward. Journal of Management, 48(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063211037492
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2022). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Hassan, S., & Jawaad, M. (2024). Distributive and procedural justice as predictors of job satisfaction in Pakistani financial sector: A mediated moderation model. South Asian Journal of Management, 31(1), 55–78. https://doi.org/10.21786/sajm/31.1.4
Herdiyanti, N., Supriyadi, D., & Widiastuti, E. (2022). Pengaruh keadilan interaksional dan keadilan prosedural terhadap kepuasan kerja karyawan pada industri manufaktur. Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis Indonesia, 37(1), 78–95. https://doi.org/10.22146/jebi.63211
Herzberg, F. (1959). The Motivation to Work. John Wiley & Sons.
Hofstede, G. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Indonesian Public sector organizations Statistics. (2024). Indonesian Public sector organizations Statistics Report 2024 (Vol. 22). Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), Jakarta.
Ivancevich, J. M., Konopaske, R., & Matteson, M. T. (2008). Organizational Behavior and Management (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Juwono, A. (2023). Organizational justice and job satisfaction: Evidence from government public sector organizations in Indonesia. Jurnal Bisnis dan Manajemen, 14(2), 112–128. https://doi.org/10.24198/jbm.v14i2.429
Kim, J. W., & Kim, H. S. (2024). Gender differences in procedural justice effects on job satisfaction: Evidence from Korean public sector organizations employees. Asian Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 62(1), 44–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12358
Lam, C. F., Wan, W. H., & Roussin, C. J. (2023). Going the extra mile: A meta-analysis of justice and organizational citizenship behavior in cross-cultural contexts. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 44(3), 415–436. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2677
Leventhal, G. S. (1980). What should be done with equity theory? New approaches to the study of fairness in social relationships. In K. J. Gergen, M. S. Greenberg, & R. H. Willis (Eds.), Social Exchange: Advances in Theory and Research (pp. 27–55). Plenum Press.
Li, H., Zhao, Q., & Wang, Y. (2024). Distributive justice and employee outcomes in Chinese state-owned enterprises: The mediating role of organizational identification. Management and Organization Review, 20(1), 89–115. https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2023.51
Lind, E. A., & Tyler, T. R. (1988). The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice. Plenum Press.
Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (pp. 1297–1349). Rand McNally.
Luthans, F. (2006). Organizational Behavior: An Evidence-Based Approach (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Luthans, F., Youssef-Morgan, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2023). Psychological Capital and Beyond (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Mahmood, A., Iqbal, M. Z., & Iqbal, S. (2024). Non-significance of distributive justice on job satisfaction in highly uncertain organizational environments. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 60(1), 88–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/00218863231176982
Moorhead, G., & Griffin, R. W. (2013). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Nguyen, T. T., Nguyen, T. D., & Hoang, P. (2024). Organizational justice and job satisfaction in Vietnamese public sector organizations: The moderating role of collectivism. Asia Pacific Business Review, 30(2), 201–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602381.2023.2278841
Patel, C., & Baig, M. (2023). Informational justice and job satisfaction in Indian public sector organizations: The role of supervisory communication quality. IIMB Management Review, 35(3), 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iimb.2023.06.004
Porter, L. W. (1961). A study of perceived need satisfactions in bottom and middle management jobs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 45(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043788
Pratama, R., Nurjanah, S., & Darmawan, A. (2024). Procedural justice, organizational trust, and job satisfaction: Evidence from East Java public sector organizations employees. Jurnal Manajemen Teori dan Terapan, 17(1), 44–61. https://doi.org/10.20473/jmtt.v17i1.45822
Ringle, C. M., Wende, S., & Becker, J.-M. (2022). SmartPLS 4. SmartPLS GmbH. http://www.smartpls.com
Rismawati, E., Yuliansyah, D., & Permana, I. (2023). Keadilan distributif dan kepuasan kerja karyawan koperasi: Peran moderasi komitmen organisasional. Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis (JEB), 26(1), 33–50. https://doi.org/10.24914/jeb.v26i1.5841
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2015). Organizational Behavior (16th ed.). Pearson Education.
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2023). Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach (8th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Sitio, T. (2023). Interactional justice, psychological safety, and job satisfaction: A null finding in Indonesian manufacturing. Jurnal Riset Manajemen Sains Indonesia, 14(2), 205–218. https://doi.org/10.21009/JRMSI.014.2.04
Thibaut, J., & Walker, L. (1975). Procedural Justice: A Psychological Analysis. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Thawil, S. M., & Anwar, S. (2021). The effects of organizational justice dimensions on job satisfaction: Evidence from Indonesian private companies. Jurnal Aplikasi Bisnis dan Manajemen, 7(3), 614–625. https://doi.org/10.17358/jabm.7.3.614
Tizara, N. M., & Irfani, A. S. (2024). Organizational justice and employee job satisfaction in private public sector organizations: A study in West Java province. Jurnal Bisnis dan Akuntansi, 26(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.34208/jba.v26i1.1927
Wang, J., Wu, C., & Li, Q. (2024). Informational justice in the digital workplace: Effects on job satisfaction and organizational commitment in post-pandemic hybrid work arrangements. Computers in Human Behavior, 151, 108001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.108001
Weiss, D. J., Dawis, R. V., England, G. W., & Lofquist, L. H. (1967). Manual for the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Minnesota Studies in Vocational Rehabilitation: XXII. University of Minnesota Press.
Weiss, H. M. (2002). Deconstructing job satisfaction: Separating evaluations, beliefs and affective experiences. Human Resource Management Review, 12(2), 173–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-4822(02)00045-1
World Economic Forum. (2023). The Future of Jobs Report 2023. World Economic Forum, Geneva.
Yilmaz, K., & Ceylan, A. (2023). Comparative effects of organizational justice dimensions on bank employee satisfaction: Evidence from Turkish commercial banks. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 28(2), 198–214. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-022-00178-3
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Fatwa Zuhaena, Ratna Pujiastuti, Herwiek Dyah Lestari
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
