Public service motivation
View article
How Leadership and Public Service Motivation Enhance Innovative Behavior Open
Prior research has linked the innovative behavior of public sector employees to desirable outcomes such as improved efficiency and higher public service quality. However, questions regarding the drivers of innovative behavior among employe…
View article
Public Service Motivation Research: Achievements, Challenges, and Future Directions Open
This article takes stock of public service motivation research to identify achievements, challenges, and an agenda for research to build on progress made since 1990. After enumerating achievements and challenges, the authors take stock of …
View article
Unconscious Bias in Citizens’ Evaluations of Public Sector Performance Open
The premise of our article is that repeated exposure to antipublic sector messages affects the way people evaluate the performance of public sector organizations. More specifically, we argue that individuals' implicit attitudes regarding p…
View article
Exploring the Job Demands–Resources Model of Work Engagement in Government: Bringing in a Psychological Perspective Open
Work engagement refers to an active energetic state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Despite practitioner’s attention for work engagement, few public administration scholars have studied public servants’ …
View article
A Meta‐Analysis of the Relationship between Public Service Motivation and Job Satisfaction Open
In recent years, much research has been conducted on the relationship between public service motivation ( PSM ) and various outcomes, including job satisfaction. This article presents a meta‐analysis aggregating the effects of PSM on job s…
View article
Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Public Sector: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda Open
This article presents a systematic literature review of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the public sector. The findings show that although OCB is gaining more attention in the public sector, research often does not take specif…
View article
High‐Performance Human Resource Practices and Employee Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Public Service Motivation Open
This article responds to recent calls for research examining the mechanisms through which high‐performance human resource practices ( HPHRPs ) affect employee outcomes. Using the theoretical lens of social exchange and process theories, th…
View article
On the bright and dark side of public service motivation: the relationship between PSM and employee wellbeing Open
This paper reveals that the relationship between public service motivation (PSM) and employee wellbeing depends on the societal impact potential (SIP) through the job and organizational type. In people-changing organizations, PSM relates t…
View article
Can Public Leadership Increase Public Service Motivation and Job Performance? Open
To advance understanding of leadership in the public sector, this article examines the link between accountability, rule‐following, political loyalty, and network governance approaches to leadership and employees' public service motivation…
View article
Prosocial Behavior and Public Service Motivation Open
Although research on public service motivation ( PSM ) is vast, there is little evidence regarding the effects of PSM on observable behavior. This article contributes to the understanding of the behavioral implications of PSM by investigat…
View article
Public service motivation and performance: The role of organizational identification Open
Although the association between public service motivation (PSM) and job performance has received increased attention, there is limited knowledge of the mechanisms underlying its effects. Utilizing data from Chinese civil servants and thei…
View article
Collaborative public management: coordinated value propositions among public service organizations Open
Drawing from collaborative public management, this article seeks to contribute to public service logic by focusing on what precedes the public service user’s realization of value: the value proposition. A new care model for elderly people …
View article
Public Service Motivation, Prosocial Motivation and Altruism: Towards Disentanglement and Conceptual Clarity Open
Research on public service motivation (PSM) has made great strides in terms of study output. Given the enormous scholarly attention on PSM, it is surprising that considerable conceptual ambiguities and overlaps with related concepts such a…
View article
Responses to Decline in Marketized Public Services: An Experimental Evaluation of Choice Overload Open
The choice-overload hypothesis states that increasing the number of alternatives reduces people’s motivation to choose. Possible adverse effects of choice overload in liberalized public service markets have been discussed repeatedly, howev…
View article
The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behaviours: The Contingent Role of Public Service Motivation Open
In this paper we examine whether the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) is contingent on public service motivation (PSM). We propose that PSM may reduce the motivational influe…
View article
The Impact of Management Control on Employee Motivation and Performance in the Public Sector Open
This study examines the relations among various types of management control, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and performance in the public sector. We draw on motivation crowding theory and self-determination theory to argue that four d…
View article
Only When the Societal Impact Potential Is High? A Panel Study of the Relationship Between Public Service Motivation and Perceived Performance Open
Many studies find positive associations between public service motivation (PSM) and performance, but much of this literature is based on cross-sectional data prone to endogeneity and common method bias. Moreover, we know little about poten…
View article
Comparing Work Engagement in People-Changing and People-Processing Service Providers: A Mediation Model With Red Tape, Autonomy, Dimensions of PSM, and Performance Open
Due to the increasing demanding work environment, public managers need their employees to be proactive and dedicated and feel energetic in their work to reach high performance—that is, public organizations need engaged workers. However, th…
View article
Public Service Motivation: State of the Art and Conceptual Cleanup Open
Public service motivation is an increasingly researched and, at the same time, hotly debated concept in the field of public management and public administration. It refers to the motivation people have to contribute to society. This chapte…
View article
Sector Differences in the Public Service Motivation–Job Satisfaction Relationship: Exploring the Role of Organizational Characteristics Open
Public service motivation (PSM) has a documented, positive effect on job satisfaction—especially in the public sector. However, organizational characteristics such as red tape, hierarchical authority, and the absence of organizational goal…
View article
The Causal Effect of Public Service Motivation on Ethical Behavior in the Public Sector: Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey Experiment Open
Public service motivation (PSM) and ethical behavior are central concerns in public administration. Yet, experimental evidence on the causes of ethical behavior and the causal effects of PSM remains scarce, curtailing our understanding of …
View article
Clarifying the Relationship Between Public Service Motivation and In-Role and Extra-Role Behaviors: The Relative Contributions of Person-Job and Person-Organization Fit Open
A core proposition of public service motivation (PSM) theory is that PSM is positively related to individual performance. Some studies, however, suggest that this relationship is mediated by person-job or person-organization fit. This stud…
View article
Public service motivation and continuous organizational change: Taking charge behaviour at police services Open
Building change capabilities into public organizations is a challenge for strategic management. This study focuses on the micro‐level of extra‐role behaviours that contribute to continuous improvements in working procedures at the front‐en…
View article
<i>Only When We Agree!</i>How Value Congruence Moderates the Impact of Goal‐Oriented Leadership on Public Service Motivation Open
Questions of how and when managers can motivate the workforce of public organizations are fundamental for scholars and practitioners alike. A dominant assertion is that goal‐oriented leadership strategies, such as transformational leadersh…
View article
Leadership and motivation: a qualitative study of transformational leadership and public service motivation Open
Transformational leaders work to clarify a vision, share it with their employees and sustain it in the long run, and this is expected to result in increased employee public service motivation (PSM), that is, orientation towards doing good …
View article
Explaining a Dark Side: Public Service Motivation, Presenteeism, and Absenteeism Open
Public service motivation (PSM) has many bright sides, but recent studies also find dark sides, connected to, for instance, higher stress and burnout. However, results on the PSM–absenteeism association are inconclusive. One reason could b…
View article
Prosocial Behaviors: A Matter of Altruism or Public Service Motivation? Open
In recent years, public service motivation (PSM) research has grown substantially, but is still largely limited to the field of public administration. To be able to export the theory and measures of PSM to other disciplines, we need more c…
View article
Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Public and Private Sectors: A Multilevel Test of Public Service Motivation and Traditional Antecedents Open
Scholarly knowledge of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has developed significantly in the private and public sectors. However, comparisons between sectors have not been advanced. This article aims to address the gap with hierarch…
View article
Resilience through digitalisation: How individual and organisational resources affect public employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic Open
This article examines public service resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and studies the switch to telework due to social distancing measures. We argue that the pandemic and related policies led to increasing demands on public organisa…
View article
Integrating public service motivation and self-determination theory Open
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a framework integrating theoretical insights, empirical research and practical advice emerging from public service motivation (PSM) and self-determination theory (SDT). It aims at demonstra…