scholarly journals Public Service Motivation: A Rationalist Critique

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris O’Leary
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Bureaucratic Behavior

There has been a significant and growing interest, and growing empirical research, around Public Service Motivation (PSM) in recent years. There are few critiques of the construct, and none from a rationalist perspective. Given that the origins of PSM lie in attempts by public administration scholars to counter rationalist explanations of bureaucratic behavior, this lack of countercriticism is surprising. This article provides a rationalist critique of PSM. It argues that PSM is consistent with, and not an alternative to, rationalist understandings of what motivates individuals. It also argues that a significant gap in the PSM literature is around how civil servants and others make decisions; decisions about the public interest, and thus how and when to allocate public resources. It concludes that seeing PSM as consistent with rationality, and specifically as a form of expressive interests, answers many of the remaining questions about PSM and addresses the substantive gaps in the construct.

scholarly journals Iraq’s tough governance setting: Examining the importance of self-sacrifice over institutions to public service motivation

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-203
Author(s):  
Dhirgham Alobaydi ◽  
Bonnie J. Johnson ◽  
Jonathan Templin
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Social Self ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Civil Unrest ◽  
The Public ◽  
Governance Choices

Public service motivation (PSM) is understudied within ‘tough governance settings’ such Iraq’s, as it transitioned from dictatorship to democracy amidst civil unrest. Debates surrounding a universal construct of PSM currently focus on whether a love of public institutions is an essential component, or if measures of self-sacrifice will suffice. Results from a multidimensional PSM measure previously utilized in western settings are used here in Iraq. The results demonstrate that items from typical PSM dimensions remain in the model, but the pro-social, self-sacrifice dimension is the only reliable subscale. Reinforcing a pro-social foundation of PSM, a pro-social unidimensional measure fits the data well and respondents themselves define ‘public service’ in pro-social terms. Showing little connection to institutions, PSM in Iraq correlates with public servants determining the public interest based on their knowledge of their communities and of citizens and less on professional expertise, adopted plans or on guidance from elected officials. Contrary to reports of a divided Iraq, PSM scores are similar across regions. These insights have implications for PSM measurement, governance choices in developing countries, and comparative public administration research.

Public service motivation and organizational performance in Chinese provincial governments

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 770-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunkui Zhu ◽  
Chen Wu
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Hunan Province ◽  
Government Employees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

Purpose This paper aims to examine different hypotheses concerning the effects of public service motivation (PSM) and other attitudinal or institutional dimensions on organizational performance (OP). Specifically, based on the experience of Chinese provincial governments, this study provides new evidence about how PSM may affect OP. Design/methodology/approach This study collected data from a survey of different provincial government departments in Sichuan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province and Chongqing Municipality in 2011. Using data from 761 respondents, Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to explore the relationships between related factors. Findings PSM, job satisfaction, affective commitment and job involvement have statistically significant effects on OP, and these results are consistent with the findings of previous researches that PSM positively affected OP at a significant level. The results suggest that, if civil servants have a strong PSM, the performance of their organizations will be high. Research limitations/implications Future research should look for additional factors that affect OP, comparing employees’ perceptions of an organization’s performance with objective data to determine whether, and to what degree, subjective measures of performance are valid measures of OP in the public sector. Practical implications In the process of improving government performance, it is significant to give attention to the government employees’ mentality. The government training and promotion system should encourage civil servants to care about the public interest. A more flattened organization should be considered as part of the next steps in government reform, and more opportunities should be provided to involve more government employees in policy making. Originality/value This study helps to clarify the effects of individual factors of PSM on OP in China in a tightly controlled bureaucratic environment, where related data are hardly accessible.

scholarly journals THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC SERVICES MOTIVATION AND ETHICAL LEADERSHIP WITH ORGANIZATION PERFORMANCE AT MILITARY TRAINING ACADEMY, NDUM.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (18) ◽  
pp. 01-08
Author(s):  
Fauzahani Pairan ◽  
Jessica Hai Liaw Ong ◽  
Mohd Juraimy Kadir ◽  
Nora Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Military Training ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Quantitative Research Methods ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Relationship

A public organization is an important sector in the administration of the Nation and it needs to remain relevant and accepted by society. The sub-sector such as services and security are the most important organizations that require high performance in society and the country to ensure security is always guaranteed. Military Training Academy, NDUM is an organization involved in various security and humanitarian operations either nationally or internationally. Accordingly, this study was conducted to assess employee motivation in public service activities by using the Public Service Motivation Model (PSM). The elements contained in the model are an attraction to public policymaking, commitment to the public interest, self-sacrifice, compassion, and ethical leadership. This study aims to analyze the relationship between Public Service Motivation (PSM) and organizational performance with ethical leadership among employees in Military Training Academy, NDUM. Quantitative research methods were used and questionnaires have been distributed to staff and instructors in Military Training Academy, NDUM, located in Kuala Lumpur by distributing the questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS 19. The results of this study showed that the attraction towards public policy-making (t=1.927, p>0.01), commitment to public interest (t=0.289, p>0.01), self-sacrifice (t=1.623, p>0.01), compassion (t=0.704, p>0.01) and ethical leadership (t=7.071, p<0.01). Ethical leadership encourages employees to participate in community service programs and improve organizational performance.

The Effect of Personality Traits on Public Service Motivation: Evidence from Taiwan

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 725-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chyi-Lu Jang
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
The Public

The relationship between the Big Five personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and public service motivation (PSM) was examined using a questionnaire survey of 277 public servants employed by 3 local governments in Taiwan. Regression analysis results indicated that extraversion was positively related to attraction to policy making, but negatively associated with self-sacrifice. Agreeableness was positively correlated to compassion. Conscientiousness was positively related to commitment to the public interest, compassion, and self-sacrifice. Neuroticism was negatively associated with commitment to the public interest and compassion, but positively with attraction to policy making. Openness to experience was positively correlated with all dimensions of PSM. In summary, personality traits can function as strong predictors of public service motivation.

In charge of safeguarding the public interest: the role of goal clarity in shaping public service motivation and the acceptance of unethical behaviours

2019 ◽  
pp. 002085231987825
Author(s):  
Guillem Ripoll
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
Goal Clarity ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Public Context

Ethics are important for personal, organizational and societal development. Although the literature has isolated some remedies and causes of unethical attitudes and behaviours, there is a still a need for further research. When focusing on the public context, it has been suggested that the motivation to serve the public interest has a negative relationship with different unethical outcomes. Thus, one interesting avenue of research is to explain how public service motivation can be enhanced by the outcome of certain managerial practices, which may also lead to ethical benefits indirectly. Using data collected from social workers in Catalonia (Spain), this article confirms that goal clarity directly increases the levels of public service motivation and indirectly reduces the acceptance of unethical behaviours by eliciting public service motivation. Research and practical implications of the findings are discussed. Points for practitioners This study highlights the importance of public service-oriented institutional contexts in indirectly shaping unethical outcomes. The findings recommend to public managers and practitioners to provide goal clarity (through certain human-resource management practices such as appraisal or job design) because it increases public service motivation and indirectly reduces the acceptance of unethical behaviour.

scholarly journals MOTIVASI PELAYANAN PUBLIK SEBAGAI PREDIKTOR ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 01
Author(s):  
Arfah
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Organizational Citizenship ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Organizational Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Public Policy Making ◽  
The Public

The study examined the relationship between the Public Service Motivation and Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Location of research at the Department of Marine and Fisheries East Java Province. The population of the study was 75 employees and the sample used is 52 people. To test the pattern of model relationships established, the researchers used regresssion statistical method analysis.The results of this study prove that the Public Service Motivation has a significant and positive influence on Organizational Citizenship Behavior, as well as partially indicate that Commitment to Public Interest, Solidarity and Patriotism have a significant and positive impact on Organizational Citizenship Behavior, but Involvement in Public Policy Making has no significant effect to Organizational Citizenship.         Keywords:Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Public Service Motivation, Public Policy Making, Commitment to the Public Interest and Civic Duty, Compassion, and Self-sacrifice.

scholarly journals Perception of civil servants regarding the professional performance assessment process in the Republic of Moldova

2021 ◽  
pp. 148-158
Author(s):  
Ana Varzari ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
Republic Of Moldova ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact

This article includes an empirical research of the process of evaluating the performance in the public service of the Republic of Moldova, in the perception of civil servants. The importance of the quality of human resources and personnel policy in the public administration and the role of performance evaluation in order to streamline public administration were highlighted. In order to have a better understanding of the impact of performance appraisal of civil servants on the administration process in the Republic of Moldova, a study was conducted by collecting empirical data. Empirical research illustrates the state of affairs in this segment of the competitive labor market. The application of sociological research methods, techniques, procedures and tools provided the opportunity to study the perception of civil servants on the performance evaluation process in the Republic of Moldova.

scholarly journals Public Service Motivation Measurement: A Test of Perry's Scale in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Hety Budiyanti ◽  
Shine Pintor siolemba Patiro ◽  
Akhmat Yamin
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Original Work ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
City Government ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Item Scale

This article proposes and tests a ‘shorter version of the instrument for public service motivation based on Perry’s (1996) exploratory 24-item scale for Indonesia civil servants in five big cities, inter alia, Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Makassar, and Medan. Of 1200 respondents, 904 completed the questionnaire, and 800 questionnaires were determined to be feasible for further analysis. Thus, the response rate was 88.50% the results indicated support for the shortened scale of Perry’s original work on investigating the Public Service Motivation (PSM) of Indonesia civil servants in sample cities. The 10-item scale was based on four factors PSM, inter alia Attraction to Policy Making (APM), Commitment to the Public Interest (CPI), Compassion (COM), Self-Sacrifice (SS). Results also showed that, generally PSM for civil servant with basic positions in city government offices, in five cities tends to vary. The research results are expected to enhance our understanding about the importance of factors that influence the motivation of civil servants in providing public services to the general public. However, the limitation of the study lies in the small sample which is drawn from only five large cities in Indonesia.

Why Do Public Employees Desire Intrinsic Nonmonetary Opportunities?

2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Bright
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Public Employees ◽  
The Relationship

Public administration research has consistently demonstrated that public employees possess a higher desire for intrinsic nonmonetary opportunities than their private sector counterparts. Yet it is not entirely clear why. Researchers have largely assumed that public service motivation is the reason for these findings. However, no empirical research to date has directly tested this assumption while also taking into account alternate explanations. This study aims to fill that gap in the literature by empirically investigating the relationship that public service motivation has to the intrinsic nonmonetary preferences of public employees while controlling for several confounding explanations. This article closes with some summary findings, a discussion of contributions to the current literature on public service motivation, and the identification of a few issues that deserve further investigation.

scholarly journals The Public Servants’ Response When Facing Pandemic: The Role of Public Service Motivation, Accountability Pressure, and Emergency Response Capacity

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 529
Author(s):  
Yong Ye ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Xiaojun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Response ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Response Capacity ◽  
Medium Level ◽  
And Control

(1) Background: Public servants are regarded as guardians of the public interest, and their pandemic response played a vital role in controlling the spread of the epidemic. However, there is limited knowledge of the factors that influence public servants’ response (PSR) when facing pandemic prevention and control tasks. (2) Methods: Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), models were constructed and a regression method was employed with Chinese civil servant data to investigate how PSR is influenced by public service motivation (PSM), accountability pressure (AP), and emergency response capacity (ERC). (3) Results and discussion: PSM, AP, and ERC all have a positive effect on PSR, with AP having the greatest influence, followed by PSM and ERC. The effects of PSM, AP, and ERC on PSR have group heterogeneity, which had little effect on civil servants with very low levels of PSR and the greatest impact on civil servants with medium-level PSR. Job categories of civil servants also are a factor related to PSR; PSM and AP have the strongest effects on civil servants in professional technology, and ERC has the greatest influence on administrative law enforcement. Moreover, gender, administrative level, and leadership positions also have an impact on PSR. (4) Conclusions: Based on the factors of PSR, we found at least three important aspects that governments need to consider in encouraging PSR when facing a pandemic.

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