Public Service Motivation: A Test of the Job Attraction–Selection–Attrition Model

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley E. Wright ◽  
Robert K. Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Job Attraction

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.

Volunteerism in Times of Crisis: An Unconventional Response to Processing Unemployment Insurance Claims

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 214-225
Author(s):  
ChiaKo Hung ◽  
Morgen S. Johansen ◽  
Jennifer Kagan ◽  
David Lee ◽  
Helen H. Yu
Keyword(s):  
Unemployment Insurance ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Insurance Claims ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Public Agency ◽  
The Relationship

This essay provides a reflective commentary outlining Hawai’i’s unconventional response for employing a volunteer workforce of public servants when faced with the task of processing an unprecedented backlog of unemployment insurance claims triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although efforts are still ongoing, this essay applies volunteerism and public service motivation as a framework to explain why public servants would serve in a voluntary capacity at another public agency. The intent of this essay is to spur conversation on how public servants are further stepping up to the frontlines during times of crisis, as well as expand knowledge on the relationship between volunteerism and public service motivation.

scholarly journals Does Person Organization Fit and Person-Job Fit Mediate the Relationship between Public Service Motivation and Work Stress among U.S. Federal Employees?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Leonard Bright
Keyword(s):  
Work Stress ◽  
Public Service ◽  
High Stress ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Organizations ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Public Employees ◽  
Federal Employees ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Indirect Relationship

A plethora of research has extolled the benefits of public service motivation (PSM) in public organizations. However, much less empirical attention has focused on its relationship to work stress. Even though it has been theorized that high levels of PSM causes individuals to be more resilient in stressful public service work environments, empirical research has failed to provide support. Only one study has been conducted which has revealed that high levels of PSM is directly associated with high levels of job stress among public employees, but that its beneficial effects are partially mediated by person-organization (PO) fit. That is, employees with high levels of PSM and high levels of fit to their organizations did not appear to suffer from high stress. This study sought to add to this limited body of research and explore the extent to which person-job (PJ) improves the field’s understanding of the relationships among PSM, PO fit, and work stress. Based on a sample of federal employees in the United States, this study challenged and confirmed the findings of existing research. For instance, PSM had no direct relationship to work stress. However, PSM maintained an indirect relationship to stress through PO fit. The respondents with high levels of PSM reported that they had high levels of fit to their organizations which was associated with significantly lower levels of work stress. Similarly, PSM was not directly related to PJ fit, but was indirectly related through its association with PO fit. PSM was associated with high levels of fit between employees and public organizations, which was subsequently associated with high levels of fit with public service jobs and lower work stress. Above all, this research clarifies the process of how PSM influences work stress among public employees, through PO fit and PJ fit.

Does psychological empowerment condition the impact of public service motivation on perceived organizational performance? Evidence from the US federal government

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232110089
Author(s):  
Jae Young Lim ◽  
Kuk-Kyoung Moon ◽  
Robert K. Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Psychological Empowerment ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
Work Related ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Federal Government ◽  
The Impact

Although the relationships between public service motivation and work-related outcomes are contingent on an employee’s psychological state, little empirical evidence exists on whether psychological empowerment conditions the relationship between public service motivation and perceived organizational performance in public organizations. This study addresses this gap by examining data from the 2010 US Merit Principles Survey on psychological empowerment’s moderating role between public service motivation and the perceived achievement of organizational goals, as well as the perceived quality of work-unit products and services in the US federal government. First, the findings indicate that public service motivation and psychological empowerment improve both of these perceived organizational performance measures. Second, the findings indicate that the link between public service motivation and perceived organizational performance is slightly enhanced when public employees feel more psychologically empowered. Points for practitioners This article offers practical lessons for practitioners who are concerned about improving organizational performance. Emphasizing the importance of psychological empowerment in strengthening the link between public service motivation and perceived organizational performance, the article suggests a critical need to cultivate psychological empowerment in the public sector, which has been under heavy pressure to do more with less in a rapidly changing environment.

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