How Employees Select Referents for Justice Judgement: Evidence from China

Abstract

Justice judgement depends on the social comparison of referents, so referent selection is the core issue of justice. In this study, a qualitative method was used to analyse the way in which employees select referents, and the following two characteristics were found: first, groupization, which means that comparisons are made among different groups rather than individuals; and second, feasibility, which is the reason for the selection of a group. Ability, intention and background were the origins of feasibility. The theoretical contributions and empirical implications of this study are finally discussed.