A Field Study of Participant Reactions to a Developmental Assessment Centre: Testing an organisational justice model

Abstract

Although assessment centres are being increasingly employed for developmental purposes, there has been a dearth of research regarding them. We investigated an organisational justice theory model suggested by Cohen-Charash and Spector (2001) in this relatively novel context. The model included antecedents (e.g., perceived validity), organisational justice perceptions (i.e., distributive justice and procedural justice), and one outcome (i.e., feedback utility perceptions). Most of our hypotheses were supported, suggesting much evidence for this model. The predicted effect for perceived fakability was not supported. Contrary to our hypothesis, distributive justice perceptions were at least as important as procedural justice perceptions in predicting feedback utility perceptions. A direct test of the effect of context on organisational justice theory is recommended.