The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted businesses globally, forcing adaptations such as remote work and employee sharing. These changes altered employee-organization relationships and raised concerns about employee motivation and the potential for social loafing – the reduced effort exerted by individuals in group settings. This study addresses the critical question of how to maintain high employee performance and prevent social loafing amidst pandemic-related uncertainty. Social exchange theory provides the framework, suggesting that employees' perception of organizational justice (procedural, distributive, and interactional) is key to influencing their intrinsic motivation and, consequently, their likelihood of social loafing. Prior research highlights the importance of organizational justice in shaping employee attitudes and behaviors, influencing their commitment to the organization. This study investigates how organizational justice influences social loafing, with organizational commitment acting as a potential mediating mechanism. The pandemic’s impact on job security and the adoption of new work models heightened the importance of understanding these relationships, leading to the hypotheses that organizational justice negatively impacts social loafing and that organizational commitment mediates this relationship.

The literature review examines existing research on social loafing, highlighting its causes (inadequate performance evaluation, lack of challenging tasks) and the role of intrinsic motivation in its mitigation. It establishes the link between organizational justice and employees’ intrinsic motivation, showcasing research demonstrating the positive influence of organizational justice on various aspects of employee attitudes and behaviors. The review also explores the connection between organizational justice and organizational commitment, noting that perceived fairness strengthens commitment while unfairness weakens it. Finally, it touches upon the relationship between organizational commitment and social loafing, suggesting that high organizational commitment correlates with a stronger sense of responsibility and reduced likelihood of social loafing. Social exchange theory is presented as the underpinning theoretical lens, emphasizing the reciprocal relationship between employees and the organization based on perceived fairness and rewards.

This quantitative study utilized a questionnaire survey, employing both on-site and online methods to reach employees of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Henan Province and Wuhan City. After screening out invalid questionnaires, 276 valid responses were analyzed. The study employed established scales for measuring organizational justice, social loafing, and organizational commitment, all using a 5-level Likert scale. The reliability of the scales was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, with values exceeding 0.8 indicating good reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) validated the construct validity of the three key variables. Harman's single-factor method was used to test for common method bias; the results indicated no significant common method variance issues. To test the hypotheses, hierarchical regression analysis was performed, following the Baron and Kenny (1986) method for mediation testing. The Bootstrap method was also employed to further confirm the mediation effect.

The hierarchical regression analysis revealed the following: 1. Organizational justice significantly negatively impacted social loafing (Hypothesis 1 supported). 2. Organizational justice significantly positively impacted organizational commitment (Hypothesis 2 supported). 3. Organizational commitment significantly negatively impacted social loafing (Hypothesis 3 supported). 4. Organizational commitment played a full mediating role in the relationship between organizational justice and social loafing (Hypothesis 4 supported). The effect of organizational justice on social loafing became insignificant when organizational commitment was included in the model. Bootstrap analysis further confirmed this mediating effect with a confidence interval excluding zero. The interaction term between organizational justice and organizational commitment was not significant, indicating that commitment did not moderate the relationship. The study also reported descriptive statistics on demographics (gender, age, education, company tenure).

The findings support the hypothesis that perceived organizational justice positively influences employee behavior, specifically reducing social loafing. This effect is mediated by organizational commitment: a fair and just workplace fosters stronger employee commitment, which, in turn, reduces the tendency towards social loafing. This is particularly significant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, where heightened uncertainty could exacerbate social loafing. The results highlight the importance of focusing on organizational justice and commitment as key levers for enhancing employee engagement and productivity. The full mediation effect suggests that interventions aimed at improving organizational justice will be most effective when they simultaneously boost employee commitment.

This study confirms the negative impact of organizational justice on social loafing and highlights the crucial mediating role of organizational commitment. The findings emphasize the importance of creating a just and supportive work environment to mitigate social loafing, especially during challenging times. Future research could explore the generalizability of these findings across different organizational contexts and investigate other potential mediators or moderators. Development of a Chinese-specific social loafing scale could further refine future research.

The study's reliance on a single data collection method (questionnaires) limits the richness of the data. The cross-sectional nature of the study prevents establishing causality definitively. The focus on SMEs in specific regions of China may limit the generalizability of the findings to other types of organizations or geographical areas. Finally, the use of a pre-existing social loafing scale, originally developed in a Western cultural context, may have introduced some limitations in perfectly capturing this phenomenon in a Chinese setting.