THE ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE AND MEANINGFUL WORK IN THE FORMATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL OWNERSHIP

Abstract

The study examines the relationship between two important constructs in organizational psychology – psychological ownership and meaningful work in the context of organizational justice. Perception of organizational justice is conceptualized as a contextual variable which is used to evaluate environmental influence (fair, unfair) on the relationship between the target variables. To better analyze the complex relationship between the variables, we introduced burnout as a dependent variable. 536 public servants participated in the study. The study used a self-administered questionnaire and the results were interpreted from the perspective of social exchange theory.

According to the study, meaningful work plays an important role in the development of the sense of psychological ownership towards the organization. The more valuable the work is, the stronger is the sense of psychological ownership towards the organization. Meaningful work enables employees to overcome problems at the workplace and cope with difficulties. Organizational justice moderates the relationship between meaningful work and psychological ownership. The importance of work compensates for the negative effect of the perception of organizational injustice on the development of psychological ownership. The relationship between the perception of the meaning of work and burnout is partially mediated by  psychological ownership. Employees’ perception that they do valuable work contributes to the development of psychological ownership, which, in its turn, reduces the risk of burnout.