Trust in decision-making authorities dictates the form of the interactive relationship between outcome favorability and procedural fairness

Five studies demonstrate that employees' trust in management influences the form of the interactive effect of outcome favorability and procedural fairness on employees' attitudes and behavioral intentions. When trust is high, employees respond particularly negatively when outcome favorability and procedural fairness are both low whereas when trust is low, employees respond especially positively when outcome favorability and procedural fairness are both high. These findings suggest that employees use trust-based expectations of how management will treat them as a lens through which to interpret and respond to their actual treatment. Implications for the organizational justice and trust literatures are discussed.