The Association between Organizational Justice and Psychological Well-Being by Regular Exercise in Korean Employees

Many studies have shown that organizational justice (OJ) is related to psychological determinants of employees’ physical and mental health in the workplace, and these health outcomes also lead to the psychological well-being (PW) of employees. Additionally, physical activity is one of the most important issues related to health in the workplace. This study compared the level of perceived OJ according to sociodemographic and lifestyle factors and examined the association between OJ and PW by regular exercise (hours per week) in Korean employees. This study used cross-sectional data obtained from 494 subjects in South Korea. Self-administered questionnaires comprising OJ, PW, and lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking, drinking, sleeping, and exercise) were completed by employees in April 2017. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the association of procedural justice (PJ) and interactional justice (IJ) with the prevalence odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of the high risk to PW. After the adjustment of sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle factors, the main effects of PJ and IJ on the high risk to PW were significantly observed, and when these values were stratified by a regular exercise category, the lowest odds ratio was observed in a group that exercised for 1–2 h (hours per week). Organizations must encourage trust and consideration between employees and supervisors and carry out efforts to improve their environment, such as making the decision-making process fairer and encouraging employees to exercise regularly. This intervention may help prevent a high risk to PW.