Manville, Caroline, Akremi, Assâad El, Niezborala, Michel and Mignonac, Karim (2016) Injustice hurts, literally: The role of sleep and emotional exhaustion in the relationship between organizational justice and musculoskeletal disorders. Human Relations, vol. 69 (n°6). pp. 1315-1339.

Abstract

The physical health consequences of perceived injustice at work are an important yet underexplored area of research. Using the job-stress recovery literature as an overarching framework, we argued that incomplete recovery because of sleep disorders and subsequent emotional exhaustion is a possible underlying mechanism through which organizational justice relates to employee musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). Using both self-administered questionnaires and medical examination to assess MSD, we tested our argument in two studies. Based on a randomly selected sample of employees from a variety of organizations, Study 1 found organizational justice to be negatively related to MSD through diminished sleep-related disorders. Using a sample of employees in nursing homes for the elderly, Study 2 extended these results by showing that the organizational justice–MSD relationship is sequentially mediated by sleep disorders and emotional exhaustion.