Reliance and disclosure: How supervisory justice affects trust in supervisor and extra-role performance

This study examines the relationship between supervisory justice and trust in supervisor and their impacts on extra-role performance. Drawing on fairness heuristic theory, we hypothesize that supervisory interactional justice will significantly affect the two domains of trust in supervisor, namely, reliance and disclosure, which in turn enhance subordinate extra-role performance. We also predict that supervisory procedural justice will moderate the relationship between supervisory interactional justice and trust in supervisor. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 111 insurance agent-manager dyads. The results show that although supervisory interactional justice is positively related to both reliance and disclosure, only disclosure mediates its effect on extra-role performance. In addition, supervisory procedural justice moderates the impact of supervisory interactional justice on reliance but not disclosure. The implications for research on justice and trust are discussed.