Procedural unfairness and managers surviving layoffs: Self-threat and coping in the context of organizational change

The affective and cognitive responses of managers who survive layoffs are explored. Evidence from two field studies suggests that managers who perceive that their organization was procedurally unfair exhibited greater anxiety than their nonmanagerial counterparts. Also, managers who perceived that the organization was unfair were more likely to withdraw from the organization, as measured by reduced organizational identification. Evidence that managers’ degree of identification with their managerial role moderated this relationship provides evidence of the psychological process driving these reactions to unfairness. Implications for the research and practice of organizational change are offered.