The Effects of Public Service Motivation on Job Choice Decisions: Disentangling the Contributions of Person-Organization Fit and Person-Job Fit
01 Oct 2011-Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (Oxford University Press)-Vol. 21, Iss: 4, pp 723-743
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the independent effects of both person-organization fit and person-job fit using a policy capturing research design and a sample of first-year law students.
Abstract: Although most research focuses on person-organization fit to explain public service motivation (PSM)’s influence on job choice, this study investigates the independent effects of both person-organization fit and person-job fit using a policy capturing research design and a sample of first-year law students. Our findings suggest that PSM may play a more important role in person-job fit than person-organization fit. Consistent across three sectors of employment, individuals with stronger PSM were more likely to accept jobs that emphasize service to others—whether that be pro bono work (private sector), client interaction (public sector), or client representation (nonprofit sector). After controlling for characteristics that influence person-job fit, PSM neither increased the likelihood that individuals would accept a public sector job nor decreased the likelihood that they would accept a private sector job. Among other things, our findings suggest that sector may be an inaccurate proxy for values that are often taken for granted in PSM studies.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate ways in which organizational leaders can reinforce and even augment the potential effects of public service motivation on employees' attraction to the organization's mission (mission valence).
Abstract: This article contributes to our understanding of public service motivation and leadership by investigating ways in which organizational leaders can reinforce and even augment the potential effects of public service motivation on employees’ attraction to the organization’s mission (mission valence). The results contribute to two research questions. First, the findings provide new evidence on the sources of public service motivation. The authors find that transformational leadership is an organizational factor associated with higher public service motivation. Second, the article examines the relationship between transformational leadership and mission valence. The authors find that transformational leadership has an important indirect effect on mission valence through its influence on clarifying organizational goals and fostering public service motivation.
501 citations
497 citations
TL;DR: The authors provided a systematic literature review of 323 publications that examines six key aspects of the literature on public service motivation: the growth of research on the concept, most prominent studies based on a referencing network analysis, the most frequent publication outlets, research designs and methods, lines of inquiry and patterns of empirical findings, and implications for practice drawn from the publications in the study sample.
Abstract: Over the past two decades, research on public service motivation has seen rapid growth. Despite the relatively large number of publications to date, no systematic research overview has been created, leaving the body of literature somewhat unstructured and possibly hampering future research. This article fills this void by providing a systematic literature review of 323 publications that examines six key aspects of the literature on public service motivation: the growth of research on the concept, the most prominent studies based on a referencing network analysis, the most frequent publication outlets, research designs and methods, lines of inquiry and patterns of empirical findings, and implications for practice drawn from the publications in the study sample. Strengths and weaknesses of the existing literature are identified, and future research directions are proposed.
449 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted an experiment with a sample of nurses at a public hospital in Italy to investigate the interplay between job performance, PSM, and two conditions: exposure to contact with benefi ciaries and self-persuasion interventions.
Abstract: Th is article responds to recent calls for experimental research into the relationship between public service motivation (PSM) and job performance. Th e author conducted a fi eld experiment with a sample of nurses at a public hospital in Italy to investigate the interplay between job performance, PSM, and two conditions: exposure to contact with benefi ciaries and self-persuasion interventions. Both treatments had positive eff ects on participants’ persistence, output, productivity, and vigilance. Baseline PSM strengthened these positive eff ects. Moreover, both conditions caused an increase in PSM that partially mediated the positive eff ects of benefi ciary contact and self-persuasion on job performance. Th e implications of the experimental fi ndings for theory and practice are discussed.
302 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate whether intrinsic motivation affects the sorting of employees between the private and the public sectors, paying particular attention to whether extrinsic rewards crowd out intrinsic motivation.
Abstract: Employing intrinsically motivated individuals has been proposed as a means of improving public sector performance. In this article, we investigate whether intrinsic motivation affects the sorting of employees between the private and the public sectors, paying particular attention to whether extrinsic rewards crowd out intrinsic motivation. Using British longitudinal data, we find that individuals are attracted to the public sector by the intrinsic rather than the extrinsic rewards that the sector offers. We also find evidence supporting the intrinsic motivation crowding out hypothesis, in that, higher extrinsic rewards reduce the propensity of intrinsically motivated individuals to accept public sector employment. This is, however, only true for two segments of the UK public sector: the higher education sector and the National Health Service. Although our findings inform the literature on public service motivation, they also pose the question whether lower extrinsic rewards could increase the average quality of job matches in the public sector, thus improving performance without the need for high-powered incentives.
279 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a survey of the existing literature on the analysis of moderated relationships involving continuous variables, focusing on analyzing interaction effects in the context of multiple regression and structural equation analyses.
Abstract: This monograph is concerned primarily with the statistical analysis of moderated relationships or as they are more commonly known interaction effects where all variables involved are continuous in nature. The focus is on analyzing interaction effects in the context of multiple regression and structural equation analyses. There currently exists a great deal of confusion about the analysis of moderated relationships involving continuous variables. The statistical and substantive literatures are replete with contradictory advice and admonitions about the best way to test models involving moderated relationships. Further the relevant statistical literature is scattered throughout a range of disciplines including sociology psychology political science economics biology and statistics. The major purpose of this monograph is to bring together this rather diverse literature and to explicate the central issues involved in conducting analyses of moderated relationships involving continuous variables. The principal finding is that interaction analysis is most straightforward when it is theoretically motivated; theory guides the specification of appropriate interaction models using multiple regression analysis. Traditional product terms with continuous variables assess interaction of a specific form namely bilinear interactions. The authors organize their analysis around 3 principal questions: 1) given the sample data can it be inferred that an interaction effect exists in the population; 2) if so what is the strength of the effect; and 3) if so what is the nature of the effect? When formulating research to test for interaction effects one should consider issues related to sample size (for purposes of power analysis) levels of measurement measurement error potential multicollinearity and other methodological/substantive issues discussed above. The monograph concludes with 10 empirical applications that have used multiple regression analysis for the analysis of moderated relationships.
3,193 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors conceptualized the emotional labor construct in terms of four dimensions: frequency of appropriate emotional display, attentiveness to required display rules, variety of emotions to be displayed, and emotional dissonance generated by having to express organizationally desired emotions not genuinely felt.
Abstract: This article conceptualizes the emotional labor construct in terms of four dimensions: frequency of appropriate emotional display, attentiveness to required display rules, variety of emotions to be displayed, and emotional dissonance generated by having to express organizationally desired emotions not genuinely felt. Through this framework, the article then presents a series of propositions about the organizational-, job-, and individual-level characteristics that are antecedents of each of these four dimensions. Frequency of emotional display, attentiveness to display rules, variety of emotions to be displayed, and emotional dissonance are hypothesized to lead to greater emotional exhaustion, but only emotional dissonance is hypothesized to lead to lower job satisfaction. Implications for future theory development and empirical research on emotional labor are discussed as well.
2,139 citations
TL;DR: Buchanan et al. as mentioned in this paper conducted a survey of 279 business and government managers to identify several commitment-relevant experiences and suggest that the influence potential of particular experiences varies significantly with tenure.
Abstract: Bruce Buchanan 11 Based on a questionnaire survey of 279 business and government managers, this study sheds light on two questions: (a) which organizational experiences have the greatest impact on managers' organizational commitment attitudes and (b) how does the significance of such experience vary with organizational tenure, particularly at early career stages? The results identify several commitment-relevant experiences and suggest that the influence potential of particular experiences varies significantly with tenure
2,039 citations
"The Effects of Public Service Motiv..." refers background in this paper
...…studies that have found that public employment will not always provide opportunities that satisfy the public service motives of their employees (Buchanan 1974, 1975; Vinzant 1998) and that PSM’s effect on public employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment was stronger when…...
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