From split-seconds to lifetimes: The temporal fabric of fairness dynamics

In this chapter, we present a very brief historical review of how the organizational justice literature evolved across five different justice "waves" with respect to the integration and treatment of time and temporal dynamics. Specifically, we demonstrate how the field has slowly but steadily evolved from a static research approach to a more dynamic and temporal-oriented study of fairness and justice. We provide specific examples of how researchers addressed time in each wave with respect to theory, methodology and empirical evidence. We then offer suggestions and recommendations for continuing on this trajectory; our research recommendations are organized according to fairness dynamics of different temporal scopes, varying in size from split seconds to lifetimes. This classification illustrates several exciting research avenues that together might even mark the field's turn into the sixth wave of justice—i.e., the "temporal wave".