Physiological Relaxation: Stress Reduction Through Fair Treatment

The effects of fair treatment on physiological stress reactions of participants in a moderately high or low mental pressure condition are studied. On the basis of Injustice Stress Theory IST; Vermunt, R., and Steensma, H. In: Cropanzano, R. (ed.), Justice in the Workplace (Vol. 2), Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 27–48,2001, predictions were made about procedural fairness as stress reducing factor. The results supported the expected effect of fair treatment, in that lower cardiovascular activity was measured after fair treatment but not after unfair treatment. Moreover, three-way interactions showed that participants with type-A behavior in the low mental pressure conditions had lower cardiovascular activity after fair treatment but not after unfair treatment, while participants with type-B behavior showed lower cardiovascular activity after fair treatment in the moderately high mental pressure condition. The discussion focuses on the difference between fair treatment and social support as well as on the several ways to reduce stress by being fair.