Investigating the role of social justice perception on citizen participation: the mediating role of trust in city councils (case study: Babol)

Bahmani ChoobBasti, Akbar; Fazeli Kebria, Hamed; Chegin, Maysam

doi:10.22034/uep.2025.551812.1734

Investigating the role of social justice perception on citizen participation: the mediating role of trust in city councils (case study: Babol)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Akbar Bahmani ChoobBasti ¹

Hamed Fazeli Kebria ²

Maysam Chegin ³

¹ Associate Professor, Department of Management, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Policy and Public Affairs, Faculty of Public Administration and Organizational Sciences, College of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/uep.2025.551812.1734

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of perceived social justice on citizen participation, with a focus on the mediating role of trust in city councils in Babol. The research is applied in terms of purpose and uses a descriptive-correlational survey approach in its methodology. The main variables include perceived social justice, with its distributive, procedural, and interactional dimensions, trust in city councils, and citizen participation. The entire population of Babol during the second half of 2017–2018 formed the statistical population. A sample of 368 individuals was selected through multistage cluster sampling followed by simple random sampling. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires, with reliability confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha values above 0.7. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling in LISREL, along with descriptive analyses in SPSS. The findings showed that perceived social justice does not have a direct significant effect on citizen participation (β = 0.05, p>0.05), but significantly enhances trust in city councils (β = 0.55, p<0.01), which in turn considerably increases citizen participation (β = 0.63, p<0.01). Additionally, trust in city councils fully mediates the relationship between perceived social justice and citizen participation (β = 0.25, p<0.01). Overall, the results suggest that enhancing public trust in city councils can be an effective way to promote citizen participation by improving perceptions of social justice.

Keywords

Citizen Participation

Mediating Role

Perceived Social Justice

Social Justice

Trust in City Councils

20.1001.1.28212118.1405.7.3.8.8

Subjects

Urban planning

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