Measures Of Public Service Motivation Research Articles

Dynamics of Public Service Motivation: Attraction‒Selection and Socialization in the Production and Regulation of Social Services

The literature on public service motivation (PSM) has typically focused on the relationship between motivation and public/private sector of employment, while the character of the work being performed has been neglected. Using panel surveys with pre‐ and postentry measures ofPSMamong certified Danish social workers, this article provides a unique design for investigatingPSM‐based attraction‒selection and socialization effects with respect to the choice between work related to service production or service regulation (controlled for public/private sector of employment). The article shows that thePSMprofiles of social work students predict their preference for one of the two types of work tasks but do not predict first employment in the preferred job. Conversely, postentry shifts in social workers’PSMprofiles result from a complex interplay between influences from both work task and sector.

Does Public Service Motivation Influence the College Students’ Intention to Work in the Public Sector? Evidence From Korea

Previous studies have produced significant distinctions between public- and private-sector employees with respect to public service motivation (PSM) and PSM-related variables. Little, however, is known about whether those variables are associated with employment choice at a pre-entry level. This article will address this gap in the literature by exploring the effect of PSM on college students’ sector choice in Korea. In previous research on PSM, three types of PSM measures—Perry’s PSM scale, work values, and prosocial behaviors—were utilized as a PSM variable. In exploring the association between PSM and sector choice, we employed the three measures. The empirical model showed that PSM and prosocial behaviors were not associated with public-sector choice. Only job security was found to be a main reason why college students intended to enter the public sector in Korea. We will discuss the implications of our findings in this article.

National Culture and Social Desirability Bias in Measuring Public Service Motivation

Much of what we know about public service motivation comes from self-report measures. However, self-report questionnaires are vulnerable to social desirability bias due to respondents’ tendencies to answer in a more socially acceptable way. This is a problem as social desirability bias threatens the validity of the measure. This study investigates whether characteristics of national culture influence social desirability bias during surveys on public service motivation. In particular, the impact of social desirability bias is analyzed with two concerns in mind: construct validity and inference validity of public service motivation measures. Experimental survey research (list experiment) is conducted to examine the magnitude of social desirability bias and its associations with national cultures in four countries: Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and the United States. The results show that respondents in both collectivistic countries (Japan and Korea) and individualistic countries (the Netherlands and the United States) are likely to over-report answers on items of public service motivation, although the magnitude and pattern of this bias is stronger and more consistent in collectivistic countries. This study also finds a strong possibility of a moderator effect in correlational analyses in collectivistic countries, but it is doubtful this effect is present in individualistic countries. Overall, we suggest that the effects of social desirability bias should be investigated in public service motivation research, and social desirability bias should be controlled for in future research.

Measuring Public Service Motivation: Exploring the Equivalence of Existing Global Measures

ABSTRACT Our ability to interpret, generalize, and build theory across public service motivation (PSM) studies is limited by lack of knowledge regarding the equivalence of different PSM measures that researchers frequently use. While past research has given considerable attention to validating multidimensional measures of PSM, this study investigates the psychometric properties of the global measures that have been used to provide much of the empirical evidence on PSM. Building on the lessons of other research using global and multidimensional measures, we first discuss the strengths and weaknesses of existing global measures of PSM relative to those of the multidimensional measures. After highlighting the potential merit of global scales, we then provide empirical justification for global scales. Using five different data sets to compare commonly used global measures of PSM, our findings suggest that these different measures are not only highly correlated with each other but also display a similar pattern and strength of relationships with important correlates of PSM. These findings suggest that these measures do tap into the same conceptual space and help validate our continued reliance on empirical studies that have used different measures to build our understanding of PSM.

Attracting public service motivated employees: how to design compensation packages

Public sector managers want to attract employees with high public service motivation as they are expected to perform better. The public service motivation literature rarely gives practical advice on how this can be done. Recognizing that compensation packages act as a sorting device that can be used to attract specific types of workers, we combine empirical measures of public service motivation with a newly developed approach to employees’ monetary valuation of compensation packages. This tool can be used to improve recruitment and retention of employees with high public service motivation. We find that public service motivated employees have a lower preference for bonus payments and stronger preferences for health care packages, but the associations depend on the specific context in which the employees work. This implies that the employees’ perceptions of the compatibility between the compensation package elements and societal interest should be taken into account, when the employees are motivated by doing good for society. Points for practitioners The findings of the article have implications for public managers who want to improve performance in their organizations by attracting employees with a high level of public service motivation. Our results indicate that bonuses should then be avoided, especially in administrative positions and when an emotion-based orientation towards doing good for others and society is important. Health care packages are generally a good idea, when it is important to attract employees who want to do good for the specific users of the service. Private health packages should, however, be avoided in public health care organizations.

Public Service Motivation of Public-Versus Private-Sector Employees in a Chinese Context

To investigate the public service motivation (PSM) of public- and private-sector employees in a Chinese context, comparative studies were conducted with 2 independent samples. In Study 1, confirmatory factor analysis was implemented to assess the level of PSM in 250 public employees. In Study 2, 247 respondents from private companies were evaluated. Results gained in these studies not only provided evidence supporting the construct validity of this measure of PSM in a Chinese context, but also demonstrated that, comparatively, public-sector employees' levels of PSM were relatively higher than those of private-sector employees, especially in relation to the attraction to public policymaking and commitment to public interest dimensions of PSM.

Investigating the Structure and Meaning of Public Service Motivation across Populations: Developing an International Instrument and Addressing Issues of Measurement Invariance

The growth in international research on public service motivation (PSM) raises a number of important questions about the degree to which the theory and research developed in one country can contribute to our understanding of PSM in other counties. To help address this issue, this study revisits the conceptual and operational definitions of PSM to address weaknesses previously noted in the literature. Although some important steps have been taken to both improve and internationalize the PSM scale, this work has been done incrementally. In contrast, this study takes a more systematic and comprehensive approach by combining the efforts of international PSM scholars to develop and then test a revised measurement instrument for PSM in 12 countries. Although the resulting four dimensional 16-item measure of PSM reported here provides a better theoretical and empirical foundation for the measurement of PSM, our results suggest that the exact meaning and scaling of PSM dimensions are likely to differ across cultures and languages. These results raise serious concerns regarding the ability to develop a single universal scale of PSM, or making direct comparisons of PSM across countries. Its earlier versions were delivered at the Annual Conference of the European Group for Public Administration, Toulouse, France, September 8–10, 2010, and at the 11th National Public Management Research Conference at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, June 2–4, 2011. Address correspondence to the author at smook@

Putting public service motivation into context: a balance between universalism and particularism

Research on Public Service Motivation (PSM) has increased enormously in the last 20 years. Besides the analysis of the antecedents of PSM and its impact on organizations and individuals, many open questions about the nature of PSM itself still remain. This article argues that the theoretical construct of PSM should be contextualized by integrating the political and administrative contexts of public servants when investigating their specific attitudes towards working in a public environment. It also challenges the efficacy of the classic four-dimensional structure of PSM when it is applied to a specific context. The findings of a confirmatory factor analysis from a dataset of 3754 employees of 279 Swiss municipalities support the appropriateness of contextualizing parts of the PSM construct. They also support the addition of an extra dimension called, according to previous research, Swiss democratic governance. With regard to our results, there is a need for further PSM research to set a definite measure of PSM, particularly in regard to the international diffusion of empirical research on PSM. Points for practitioners This study shows that public service motivation is a relevant construct for practitioners and may be used to better assess whether public agents are motivated by values or not. Nevertheless, it stresses also that the measurement of PSM must be adapted to the institutional context as well. Public managers interested in understanding better the degree to which their employees are motivated by public values must be aware that the measurement of this PSM construct has to be contextualized. In other words, PSM is also a function of the institutional environment in which organizations operate.

ATTRACTION TO PUBLIC POLICY‐MAKING: A QUALITATIVE INQUIRY INTO IMPROVEMENTS IN PSM MEASUREMENT

This article presents improvements for the dimension of ‘Attraction to Public Policy‐making’ within the Public Service Motivation measurement scale. The literature concerning the theory behind this and a large number of empirical studies point out the shortcomings of this dimension with regard to both the contents and the methodology employed. This article deals in depth with the aspect of ‘Attraction to Public Policy‐making’ and, in contrast to the work carried out to date, tackles the open questions using a qualitative research strategy. The analysis of 21 partially structured interviews, which were conducted with administrative employees at the local government level, demonstrates that, while the empirical findings confirm the contents of the original dimension, the items selected for this in previous research are insufficient and can lead to measurement problems. This article suggests specific items for validation and improved measurement to be applied in future research.

Organizational Goal Characteristics and Public Duty Motivation in U.S. Federal Agencies

Some authors have claimed that ambiguous goals frustrate public service motivation (PSM). This study uses data from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)1 to develop organizational goal ambiguity measures for U.S. federal agencies. These measures, from this very separate and independent source, are then significantly and negatively related to a variable measured by a questionnaire item on the U.S. Merit System Protection Board’s 2005 Merit Principles Survey. The item asks respondents about whether they are motivated to do a good job by their duty as a public employee. Responses on this item appear relevant to PSM, but because the question does not fully represent more elaborate measures of PSM, we call the variable as “public duty motivation.” Public duty motivation also relates significantly and positively to employees’ Merit Principles Survey responses about the specificity of their job goals and of their agency’s mission, and about job-goal importance and job-goal commitment.

Testing a Revised Measure of Public Service Motivation: Reflective versus Formative Specification

Public service motivation (PSM) is perceived as a multidimensional construct, as an overall, unobserved latent variable with various latent dimensions. The present study focuses on the relationships between PSM and its dimensions. The purposes in this study are to confirm a set of revised items as indicators of a rational base of PSM, to compare a four-factor model with various three-factor models, and to analyze whether PSM is defined as a formative or a reflective measurement model. Using survey data from 2,497 firefighters and a revised 12-item measure of PSM, this study shows that the revised items to measure the dimension of attraction to policy making are more appropriate for representing the rational base of PSM and that the original four-factor model is superior to any three-factor models. Based on the discussions about formative and reflective specification and the test results, this study provides theoretical and empirical evidence in support of a second-order, formative approach that PSM is an aggregate construct, meaning that it is a composite of its four dimensions. It also shows that it is necessary to develop more appropriate items for some dimensions of PSM. The practical implications are discussed.

Politics, Principal–Agent Problems, and Public Service Motivation

ABSTRACT In this essay I make two related points about public service motivation. First, despite advances in public service motivation measurement at the level of individuals, little is known about the channels by which organizations develop a workforce comprised of people with high levels of PSM. I discuss recent political science scholarship suggesting that this development is endogenous to both personnel policies and the political position of bureaucratic agencies. Second, I contend that PSM in a workforce is useful at an organizational level primarily because it helps in mitigating or “solving” specific principal–agent problems, though it can also intensify others.

Development of a Public Service Motivation Measurement Scale: Corroborating and Extending Perry's Measurement Instrument

ABSTRACT Despite the existence of multiple measurement instruments, measuring public service motivation still generates controversy. The most common cited measurement issues are the application of the measurement scale outside the United States, the dimensionality of public service motivation and the length of the original measurement scale. This article discusses these issues and evaluates a measurement instrument developed in a non-US environment, based upon empirical data. Although differences in items are noted, the factorial structure of the original measurement instrument remains in place. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that an additional dimension, “democratic governance” could supplement the other existing measurement instruments.

Public Service Motivation Measurement

This article proposes and tests a three-dimension, shortened instrument for public service motivation based on Perry's (1996) exploratory 24-item scale. A confirmatory factor analysis is used with both a diagonally weighted least squares and a modified version of maximum likelihood estimation that are more appropriate for ordinal indicators. Data from the National Administrative Studies Project, consisting of mail surveys of managers engaged in information management activities working in state-level primary health and human service agencies, is used ( n = 274; response rate = 53%). Results indicate good support for the shortened scale compared to Perry's original work. Findings corroborate Perry's theorized dimensions and items in the exploratory instrument. An exploratory analysis evaluating modifications to the tested model suggests possible improvements in two dimensions but does not undermine the overall, supportive results and suggests the importance of continued item and scale development.