THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED BEHAVIORAL SCIENCEJune 2001Erdogan et al. / PROCEDURAL JUSTICE Procedural Justice as a Two-Dimensional Construct An Examination in the Performance Appraisal Context

Procedural justice is generally thought of as a unidimensional construct. In this article, it is argued that in the performance appraisal context procedural justice can be conceptual-ized as two-dimensional: system procedural justice and rater procedural justice. Regres-sion results from a study of one organization in Turkey support this distinction. Due pro-cess characteristics and employee characteristics were differentially related to two dimensions of procedural justice. Specifically, perceived validity of performance criteria, knowledge of performance criteria, and organizational level of employees were related to system procedural justice, whereas perceived performance feedback and fair hearing were each positively related to rater procedural justice. Performance appraisal is a human resource management tool that has received much attention for more than seven decades (Landy & Farr, 1980). Formal performance appraisals have been used as inputs to salary adjustments, promotions, training, and other decisions that influence employee attitudes and behaviors. As a result, designing appropriate appraisal systems has been a major concern for researchers. Traditionally