Public Service Motivation in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Public Voices ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Mastracci
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Buffy The Vampire Slayer ◽  
The Public ◽  
American Popular Culture ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual

In this paper, the author examines public service as depicted in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS). First, she shows how slaying meets the economist’s definition of a public good, using the BtVS episode “Flooded” (6.04). Second, she discusses public service motivation (PSM) to determine whether or not Buffy, a public servant, operates from a public service ethic. Relying on established measures and evidence from shooting scripts and episode transcripts, the author concludes Buffy is a public servant motivated by a public service ethic. In this way, BtVS informs scholarship on public service by broadening the concept of PSM beyond the public sector; prompting one to wonder whether it is located in a sector, an occupation, or in the individual. These conclusions allow the author to situate Buffy alongside other idealized public servants in American popular culture.

scholarly journals INTRODUCTION OF COMPETENCE APPROACH TO THE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM OF PUBLIC SERVANTS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iryna Sochynska-Sybirtseva
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Administration System ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
Definition Of

Within the strategy for reforming public administration, priority is given to the issues of personnel competence in the public service. It is in this context that the main directions of personnel reforms in the framework of the state personnel policy have been determined, since the competitiveness and socio-economic development of the state depends on the quality level of staffing, the professionalism of the public servants. The results of research by scientists give grounds to assert that the management of public service personnel today is carried out without taking into account the systematic assessment of public servants. Reducing professionalism, insufficient level of staff involvement and satisfaction negatively affect the performance of government agencies. As practice shows, the public servants, for various reasons, are not engaged in the systemic development of their professional level. Given the high level of intensity of professional activity, specific difficulties in the public service, problems in the personal and professional development of public servants complicate the process of disclosing human potential. The article defines the essence of the competence-based approach, characterizes the constituent elements and features of the assessment of public service personnel and substantiates the possibility of introducing the competence-based approach to the system of assessing public servants. Particular attention is paid to the definition of the "professional competence" concept. It is recommended to assess professional competence in the public administration system by measuring the specific ability: effectively carry out specific activities in the public service; use knowledge and skills in the workplace at the level of established standards; apply knowledge and skills in the uncertain and dynamic conditions of the public administration system; responsibly perform duties and achieve planned results; demonstrate the ethical and business qualities of a public servant. It is concluded that the introduction of a competency-based approach to the assessment system of public servants should be based on the use of innovative technologies in higher education, in the direction of introducing a new generation of standards. This approach is the basis for the development of a passport for a public servant position with a clear definition of professional competencies for each of the positions in the public service.

Public Service Motivation in Public Administrations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter Vandenabeele ◽  
Carina Schott
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Public Performance ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

Public service motivation (PSM) refers to an individual’s motivation to contribute to society. It relates to ideas about society, and about what public servants are and how they should behave, that have persisted for more than 2,500 years. Despite this heritage, PSM was only formally conceptualized in the 1990s. The concept of PSM has traditionally been linked to several beneficial outcomes, such as public performance and public servants’ satisfaction, but recently also to negative outcomes, such as burnout and rule-breaking. While PSM is an individual-level concept, the role of the social environment is crucial to understanding PSM. On the one hand, social institutions play an important role in creating individual-level PSM through socializing mechanisms. Institutions such as the family and workplace, and other structured value-based interaction patterns, correlate with the prevalence of individual PSM. On the other hand, to render outcomes, interaction with the environment—in terms of fit—is necessary, because PSM cannot exert influence outside a context where public values are prominent. As most research focuses on public servants in their work environment, this fit mostly entails a match of the individual public servant with the organization or the job. If this fit is lacking, little or no PSM occurs. Although PSM research was initially a theoretical and psychometric exercise, it is increasingly put to practical use.

Professional and Communicative Proficiency of a Mentor as a Tool of Image Building in Public Service

Communicology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-88
Author(s):  
D.A. Kemenev
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
Professional Business ◽  
Image Building

The article investigates the imageological aspect of mentor’s communicative competence in public service and reveals the communicative functions of mentor’s image in relation to the mentees. The author determines the communicative skills necessary for the mentor in all processes and stages of this personnel technology. Based on the analysis of scientific publications, the author discloses and justifies the role models of mentor’s behavior in relation to the mentees from the perspective of the mentor’s image, authority, and communicative competence. The author has conducted an expert survey among public servants, which allowed identify the main professional, business, moral, psychological, and integral qualities that are the most effectively developed by the public servant in the process of performing mentor’s functions. As a result, the author suggests a structural-logical model of the communicative competence of a mentor in the public service in the process of perceiving its communicative knowledge, skills, and competencies for achieving the effectiveness of mentoring.

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.

scholarly journals The motivation as the main way to increase the efficiency of public servants (sociological analysis)

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
С. М. Серьогін ◽  
Н. Г. Сорокіна ◽  
О. М. Шеломовська
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
The State ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
High Staff Turnover ◽  
Qualified Personnel ◽  
Main Motive

The article is devoted to the study of the motivation of the civil servants and local government officials’work. The concept of the motivation was revealed. The elements of moral and psychological methods ofthe motivation were analyzed. The importance of material and immaterial stimulation in public service wasexplained. The main motives and peculiarities of stimulation of a public servant in the modern conditionsof public service development in Ukraine were studied on the basis of empirical data. In particular, ithas been found out that the main motive for joining the public service is a stable salary and the desire ofpublic servants to work for the benefit of the state and society. So, mercantile aspirations in financial termsdominate - stable payment for work, as well as patriotic, valuable, moral and ethical desire to work forthe benefit of the state are in the minds of the citizens. The results of the study show that the prestige ofpublic service remains quite low. The main problems which negatively influence the image of the publicservice and make it unattractive to the public are high staff turnover, incomplete implementation of socialguarantees, poor financial support, and partial satisfaction of the basic needs of public servants, whichreduce the effectiveness of public administration in Ukraine.It is determined that the main way to increase the efficiency of public servants and in general publicadministration is to develop effective methods of the motivation and the stimulation, both economic andnon-economic. It was proven, that effective motivation in the public service depends to a large extent notonly on its filling of highly qualified personnel and efficiency, but also on trust and respect of the population.

scholarly journals How Does Public Service Motivation Contribute to Service Orientation? Testing Mediation Models

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-178
Author(s):  
Wayu Eko Yudiatmaja
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
City Government ◽  
Service Orientation ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
The City

Public service motivation is an emerging topic in the study of public administration, but no study has adequately investigated how it affects employee service orientation through job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The present study is ultimately aimed to fill the research gap by examing whether public service motivation influences service orientation and if so, whether the effect is mediated by job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Data were analyzed by using WarpPLS 6.0. Using a sample of 160 public servants in the city government of Tanjungpinang, the results indicate that employee service orientation is directly and positively affected by PSM. In addition, public service motivation also has an indirect impact on employee service orientation through job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Furthermore, the theoretical and practical implications of the study for human resources management in the public sector are discussed.

Innovative Behavior in Public Sector Services Public Service Motivation and Private Sector Experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Jonghwan Eun
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Organizations ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Innovative Behavior ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Individual

The demand for innovation in public organizations is increasing. In this study, I explore factors that contribute to the innovative behavior of civil servants at the individual level. The theoretical distinction between public and private organizations has long been a subject of debate, and certain characteristics of innovation in public organizations mimic innovation in the private sector, even though the purpose of innovation in public organizations is to secure public goods. In order to examine the innovative behavior of public employees who face such contradictory circumstances, I parameterized the characteristics of each sector, using whether or not the employee had worked in the private sector prior to entering the public service as the characteristic for the private sector and the effect of public service motivation on innovative behavior as the characteristic for the public sector and found that at the individual level, the two are not mutually exclusive.

Standardization of the Involvement of Relatives in Public Service: Fighting Corruption or Interfering with Privacy?

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 985
Author(s):  
Tetiana KOLOMOIETS ◽  
Yevhen KURINNYI ◽  
Serhii KUSHNIR ◽  
Petro DIKHTIIEVSKYI ◽  
Petro DIKHTIIEVSKYI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Her Family ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
Depth Study

The search of effective ways of preventing corruption in all its manifestations in the public service should be directly related to the in-depth study and formation of common standards of legal regulation of "involvement" of close persons of public servants in his professional activity, the special nature of personal relations which creates preconditions for possible use (as well as his or her relatives) of public service for his private interests. The purpose of the work is to highlight the problematic aspects of the legal regulation of the principles of "involvement" of close persons in public service relations and to formulate proposals for the formation of uniform standards for the regulation of such relations. The research methodology of this article is a combination of general scientific and specific methods of scientific knowledge. The dialectical method was chosen as the basic method, and the methods of semantic analysis, logical-legal and comparative-legal, forecasting, modeling were additionally used. Justifying the different degree of "attachment" of close persons to the professional activity of a public servant to find out the possible prerequisites and manifestations of the use of the latter benefits and advantages of the public service to satisfy private interests, it is proposed to regulate the relations of lifestyle monitoring, full verification of the finance declaration with taking into his or her family, and "gift" relationships of relatives, normalizing patterns of their possible behavior.  

scholarly journals Does PSM matter among innovative government managers?

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-279
Author(s):  
Ellysson Fernandes Rosa ◽  
Estela Najberg ◽  
Marcos de Moraes Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Multiple Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Hierarchical Cluster ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
High Level ◽  
Innovation Competition ◽  
Innovation Practices

PurposeThe need to improve the efficiency and quality of public services has increased the interest in innovation. This study seeks to understand the relationship between the Public Service Motivation (PSM) index and the profile of strategic-level public servants who are considered innovative.Design/methodolog/approachQuestionnaires were applied to the group of government managers who registered their projects in an innovation competition. Data were analyzed using t-test, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA).FindingsThis paper concluded that the PSM level of these innovative public servants is significantly greater than public servants overall. In terms of the profile of these innovative government managers, it was found that the majority were female, with a high level of education and a background in Information Technology.Practical implicationsThe discovery that innovative government managers have a significantly higher PSM (p < 0.05) than public servants overall may be relevant, because it confirms a statistical tendency that it would be advantageous for policy-makers to invest in actions that increase public servant PSM since these servants with high PSM are more innovative.Originality/valueThis article has sought to fill a gap in studies that associate the level of PSM with the innovation practices in the public sector, as well as verify the profile of public servants with high levels of motivation in public service (PSM).

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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