Teachers' Perception of Distributive Organizational Justice and Exposure to Stress in the Academic Context

Abstract

Equity in the academic context is an important construct that affects the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions of an individual. The study of fairness in the work context is extremely important, considering that a person spends a lot of time in the workplace during his life. Several studies so far have shown that affecting one's perception of equity can affect the individual itself- improving one's productivity, satisfaction, and such. (Galinec 2017). Distributive equity is based on Adams' (1965) equity theory, more specifically on its assumption that people do not care as much about the absolute outcome, compared to the equity of the outcome itself. Regarding stress, the academic staff in Slišković (2012) explored different sources of stress that result in reduced productivity. Some of the universal sources of stress, such as inadequate compensation and recognition within an organization, are linked to distributive equity. The goal of the research was to show if distributive inequity exists within an academic environment and if that inequity reflects stress levels inside that environment. The academic workers who took part in this research are employees of the following higher education institutions: the University of Zenica, the University of Sarajevo, the University “Džemal Bijedić” in Mostar, and the University of Bihać. The inventory contains 21 items. The research took place in July 2022. The descriptive method was used as a scientific research method. The results show that academic workers perceive distributive inequity in certain situations, and it correlates with an increase in their stress levels.