PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effect that work locus of control has on perceptions of trust, perceived organizational support, procedural justice and interactional justice.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 679 alumni of a university in the Southwestern USA. Regression analyses and structural equation modeling were used to test a series of hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate that work locus of control has a significant positive relationship on all variables. Perceived organizational support fully mediated the relationship between work locus of control and perceptions of both procedural and interactional justice. Organizational trust fully mediated the relationship between work locus of control and interactional justice, but only partially mediated the relationship between work locus of control and procedural justice.Research limitations/implicationsThe data used in this paper are cross‐sectional. Also, results are based on self‐report survey data and subject to common method bias. As such, longitudinal studies are recommended for future research, as are finding antecedents to perceptions of justice that may help managers improve the way they communicate about decision‐making at work.Originality/valueFindings from the study suggest the important role that personality plays as a precursor to justice perceptions in organizations.