Procedural Justice in Selection from the Lens of Psychological Contract Theory

Abstract Background and purpose: In recruitment and selection, job applicants do not only base their justice judgment on the actual experience but also compare what happens and what they expect. This study, therefore, investigates applicants’ reaction to procedural justice in recruitment selection through the lens of psychological contract framework. Psychological contract theory highlights the role of expectations, discrepancies between perception and expectation, and perceived contract breach on individual outcomes. Methodology: Two surveys were conducted with job seekers in Vietnam, one before and one after the selection process. Printed questionnaires were administered to job seekers in the first survey, while the second used online survey. Structural Equation Modeling technique was adopted to analyze the data. Results: Data from a sample of 232 job seekers indicated that previous job experience and source of candidates were significantly related to justice expectations. In addition, perceived unmet expectations were found to predict procedural contract breach, which in turn negatively influenced job acceptance intention and recommendation intention. Conclusion: The research highlights the role of unmet justice expectation, the perceived discrepancy between what happened and what was supposed to be, in predicting intention to accept offer and to recommend others. The results suggest that firms should provide updated and official information regarding the selection process to all parties such as internal employees, recruitment agency and job search website to reduce over-expectation.