Equality, Justice and Identity in an Expatriate/Local Setting: Which Human Factors Enable Empowerment of Filipino Aid Workers?

This study explored which of social dominance, social identity and perceptions of organisational justice were most predictive of self-reported empowerment among aid workers in the Philippines (N = 98). Responses to an online survey available in English and Tagalog were obtained from employees of diverse locally operating aid organisations in the Philippines. The survey included composite measures of empowerment, perceived social dominance, social identity and organisational justice. All measures except perceived social dominance performed as theorised in the Philippine context of this study. The best predictor of empowerment was the aspect of organisational justice centering on the fairness of personal interactions (interactional justice; beta = .331). An interaction effect between interactional justice and aspects of empowerment and social (Filipino) identity was also observed (beta = .233), implying that a secure Filipino identity may act as a buffer to consequences of injustice, all other things being equal. The overall pattern of results suggests that justice plays a more significant role than either social dominance or identity in contributing to empowerment amongst Filipino aid employees. Strikingly, interactional justice may matter more than distributive justice.