Leader's procedural justice affecting identification and trust

Purpose – This study aims to examine the effect of leader's use of procedural justice on followers' sense of organizational identification (OID), affect‐based trust and cognition‐based trust. Design/methodology/approach – A survey study was conducted to examine the relationship between the proposed constructs. Regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings – It was found that leaders enacting procedural justice positively affect OID and both types of trust. Further, only affect‐based trust (and not cognition‐based trust) mediated the relationship between procedural justice and OID. Research limitations/implications – The present findings reveal important new insights with respect to how procedural justice impacts upon followers' sense of OID. In fact, contrary to predictions based on theoretical reviews the results show that the cognitive concept of OID is mediated by an affective construct. Originality/value – The present research presents a perspective of looking at procedural justice as a tool that leaders can use in organizations to promote followers' sense of OID. At the same time, it also explores the role of another important psychological process relevant to the well‐functioning of an organization, that is, trust in the leader.