Referent cognitions theory: The role of closeness of reference points in the psychology of voice

The most generally accepted and best documented manipulation in procedural justice experiments is varying whether or not participants are allowed an o pportunity to voice their opinion about a decision. To better understand th e psychology of voice, the authors focus on Referent Cognitions Theory (RCT ). It is argued that thus far RCT has not been used to explain the psycholo gy of voice and that previous RCT research suffers from methodological prob lems and has been more outcome oriented than necessary, Two experiments res olve these problems and show that people react more strongly to procedures (especially no-voice procedures) when reference points are close as opposed to distant. These findings suggest that closeness of reference points play s an important role in the psychology of voice. The findings expand RCT in significant ways and indicate that insight into the role of reference point s is essential for understanding the psychology of justice.