A Person-Centered Approach to Understanding Endorsement of Restorative Justice in Response to Workplace Mistreatment

There is growing body of research investigating endorsement of restorative justice as a response to interpersonal transgressions, but a limited understanding of how endorsement varies across different individuals—for whom is restorative justice seen as an appropriate response? The current research seeks to address this limitation by identifying natural heterogeneity in endorsement of restorative justice. We employ a policy-capturing within-subject design to examine restorative justice endorsement following workplace mistreatment by a supervisor at different levels of severity. Latent growth curve analyses indicated support for restorative justice increased with more unfair treatment, but following a concave, curvilinear slope. Latent class analysis suggested heterogeneity in endorsement patterns. Class 1 (66%) comprised individuals with a low initial level of restorative endorsement and a curvilinear growth trajectory as offense severity increased, while Class 2 (33%) comprised individuals with a medium initial level and a linear growth trajectory. We also examined victim-focused justice sensitivity as a predictor of class membership; but in line with past research, we did not find a significant relationship between victim sensitivity and restorative justice endorsement. These findings identify previously unrecognized heterogeneity in patterns of restorative justice endorsement, pointing to differences in the lay understanding of the when and where restorative processes should be applied. More broadly, this research illustrates how we can utilize person-centered approaches to shed new light on established justice research and theory.