WORKPLACE INJUSTICE AND THE PLACE OF THE VICTIM; THE ANTECEDENTS OF TALK ABOUT WORKPLACE INJUSTICE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA, CAMEROON

Mbayong Napoloen Arrey, Emmanuel Mbebeb Fomba, Nicodemus Tiendem

Abstract


Purpose: This study examines the role of a victim of workplace injustice in their own recovery process. It asks: can victims recover from the negative effects of a fairness violation, and more specifically, can talk, that is, conversation with others, aid such a recovery process? This study argues that such victims of workplace injustice will be motivated to reduce this distressing condition, to repair their relational selves, via talk. It is argued that this state of threatened relational need will lead to both emotional and cognition talk via anger. Methodology/Design/Approaches: A repeated cross-sectional survey was carried out at two time points separated by six weeks. The data and analyses for this study came from the first survey, with a replication of the results conducted with the second time point of data to examine the validity of the findings. The sample for this study used 166 employees of the University of Bamenda. The average age of participants was 43 years (SD = 15.66), and their tenure with the company was on average 7.94 years (SD = 7.33). Sixty percent (60%) of the participants were Female. Findings: The study uncovered antecedents and consequences of talk; anger and thwarted justice needs were found to trigger talk, with an interaction between emotion and cognition talk driving victim-centred outcomes of rumination, self-affirmation and active solutions. Research Limitations: It should be noted, that the present study is perhaps best assessed by cross-sectional design rather than separating predictor and criterion variables over separate time periods. The issue lies with the nature of talk – conversations unfold soon after an event. Too much temporal separation leaves a researcher open to missing the fundamental intricacies of conversation that occurs and perhaps artificially inflating the links between injustice, needs and talk. Originality: This empirical research is the first of its kind to be carried out within the context of the victims of injustice at the University of Bamenda. The study area is unique as no related research has been carried out within the University of Bamenda. As such, if the findings of this study are implemented within the study area, the present study will be one step towards a greater appreciation of workplace injustice as experienced through the eyes of a victim, providing impetus to the integration of both organisational justice and talk as fields of enquiry.

 

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Keywords


workplace injustice, place of the victim, antecedents of talk, University of Bamenda

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejhrms.v6i1.1334

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