Fundamental research by means of laboratory experiments is essential for a better understanding of organizational justice

In this paper, it is argued that because the bulk of justice research has employed correlational research methods within real-life situations, we know quite a lot about the effects justice perceptions can have on people in organizations and other situations. Yet, this may have been achieved at the expense of thorough insights into the two most fundamental issues of organizational justice: why do people care about fairness and how are fairness judgments formed? It is proposed that the fundamentals of the why and how of organizational justice should be investigated by means of research methods that are best suited to study fundamental issues: laboratory experiments. © 2001 Academic Press.