Abstract: Employees′ procedural justice perception in performance appraisals is an important part of organizational justice, and individuals with different trait affects will have different subjective perceptions of performance appraisal system. This paper constructs the effect mechanism model of employees′ trait affect on procedural justice perception in performance appraisals, and tests the model by the following-up data. The results show that ratee′s positive trait affect has a significant positive effect on the two dimensions of procedural justice perception in performance appraisals (justice perception of system, justice perception of raters), and negative trait affect has a significant negative effect on the justice perception of the system and raters; perception of organizational politics mediates the relationship between trait affect and justice perception of system and raters. In conclusion, the findings of this research broaden the research field of antecedents of procedural justice perception in performance appraisals from the perspective of affect, and related countermeasures put forward will help managers improve the ratee′s procedural justice perception in performance appraisals.

Key words: longitudinal investigation, positive trait affect, negative trait affect, procedural justice perception in performance appraisals, perception of organizational politics