An empirical analysis of the role of reference point in justice perception in R&D settings in Korea

This study examines the relationship of the respondent's reference point with regards to distributive and procedural justice in an R&D setting in Korea. The two characteristics: (1) the rewards difference between Korean public and private R&D institutes (the outcome level at the public R&D institutes is much less than that at the private ones), (2) and the similarity of procedures being used to determine R&D professional's rewards at both types of research institutes, provide an excellent real-life setting for studying the role of reference point. To avoid common method variance, we measured distributive and procedural justice separately. Consistent with the previous experiments, R&D professionals at the public R&D institutes indicated differentiated distributive justice levels according to R&D professionals' reference points. Results also showed that the presence of a social comparison other (suggested reference point) leads the R&D professionals at public R&D institutes to perceive procedural injustice. Finally, several theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.