Justice Perceptions of Team Disciplinary Actions in the Workplace

This scenario study examined fairness perceptions of rule violations and punishment in an organizational team setting. Participants read one of 16 scenarios in which an integral team member violates an organizational rule and subsequently is punished. Participants then answered 12 items assessing perceptions of fairness for the punished employee and for the non-punished team members, and the likelihood the punishment will deter future misconduct for the punished employee and for the teammates. This study examined two levels of misconduct severity (moderate and severe), two levels of punishment severity (moderate and severe), two types of punishment distribution (consistent and conditional), and two types of situational urgency (urgent and non-urgent). The rule violations and punishments used in this study were chosen from those evaluated in a stimulus-rating study calibrating violations and punishments in an organizational team setting (Shoenfelt, 2015). Overall, consistently applying punishment had a highly significant effect on perceptions of fairness to the punished team member and teammates, and on the likelihood the punishment will deter future misconduct by the punished team member and teammates