The mediator role of organizational commitment in the effect of organizational justice on organizational cynicism

Focusing on the role of organizational commitment as an intervening variable between organizational justice perception and organizational cynicism, this study moved on correlational research design based on the study and detailed analysis of two or more variables. The population of this study, which mainly examined the relation among organizational commitment, organizational cynicism, and organizational justice perception through structural equation modelling, consists of research assistants working at Atatürk University. In the previous works done on this issue, the number of studies addressing the relation between the relevant three variables is quite few, so this study with a heavier focus on these variables addressed raising questions in the relevant literature. Within this scope, 344 research assistants from various faculties of Atatürk University participated in the study. The study consists of 2 sections. In the first section, generally, the theoretical framework regarding concept of justice, organizational justice, organizational cynicism and organizational commitment is established; the reasons and results behind the appereance of these concepts are put. Besides, the previos studies are deeply presented in order to justify the theory this study moves on. In the second section, the results of the study obtained through the statistical analysis of the data through IBM SPSS and AMOS programmes are interpreted and elaborated. In general, the results of the study showed that that there was a strong relation between organizational justice perceptions and organizational cynicism perceptions; and the results of the analysis done through structural equation modelling put that the organizational commitment, as a mediator variable among dependent and independent variables, caused partial intervention. These results confirmed the hypothesis that the raising concerns of research assistants about organizational justice had a significant negative impact on organizational cynicism of assistants, and so the organizational commitment also weakened. As a result, this study suggested that the unfair attitudes and behaviours of academics in different positions significantly affect organizational cynicism and may result in breaking the bond in terms of organizational commitment. The variables focused in this thesis may be studied in further studies of various disciplines, and the contrastive analysis could be held over the results to be obtained.