The relationship between procedural fairness and participation in development activities under unfavorable outcomes: the mediating role of self-attribution and the moderating effect of self-construal

Extant literature on the reversal of the fair process effect has demonstrated that procedural fairness can lead to adverse reactions, such as poorer self-evaluations, under circumstances of unfavorable outcomes. However, procedural fairness resulting in failure may not necessarily be bad from a developmental perspective. The present research explores the relationship between procedural fairness and participation in development activities (PDA), the underlying mechanism, and the boundary condition of the relationship, drawing on attribution theory. Data were collected from a sample of 282 employees (M-age = 32.20, SD = 6.92). The results show that procedural fairness positively predicted PDA and that self-attribution mediated their relationship. In addition, self-construal played a moderating role in the relationship between self-attribution and PDA. Specifically, for individuals high in independent self-construal, self-attribution is associated with stronger PDA, while the relationship is nonsignificant for those high in interdependent self-construal. Overall, the findings shed light on the positive function of procedural fairness even under unfavorable outcomes and reveal how situational factors and individual differences may jointly shape peoples' responses to organizational events. Practical implications for how to promote PDA in organizations are also discussed.