We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected]
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Practitioners, policymakers, and scholars across fields and disciplines seek to understand factors that shape public opinion and public service values, especially in today's polarized context. Yet we know little about how the two relate. Research on public service motivation (PSM), a drive to help others grounded in public institutions, has grown to examine career decisions and behaviors within and outside the workplace, but does the influence of PSM extend to individual values? Using data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study surrounding the 2016 US presidential election, we first examine the antecedents of PSM; how do individual characteristics as well as socioeconomic and sociocultural factors influence levels of PSM? Second, we describe the role PSM plays in shaping public opinion on policy preferences, budget priorities, and political behaviors. Findings have implications for both understanding who has PSM as well as how PSM shapes public preferences, attitudes, and behaviors.
The chapter adds to the discussion from chapter two by analyzing the roles of leaders and their ability to unleash the power of public service. The theoretical foundation for the role of leaders as visionaries and architects is examined and is complemented by a discussion of relevant empirical research. The chapter then follows two general paths to enhancing pubic service motivation through leadership. First, leaders should clearly articulate mission and vision, strengthening employee mission valence and helping them to achieve their aspirations. Further, leaders should develop leadership styles that inspire followers. Leadership styles should be authentic, but leaders can also develop their personal capacities to embrace optimal leadership strategies. Incorporating the principles of servant leadership by putting followers first and developing charisma are discussed as ways to build means-ends awareness. Leadership styles should be based around effective communication – communication that acknowledges the worth and collective efficacy of followers.
The chapter introduces core concepts to be explored throughout the book. The chapter begins by discussing the recent growth in public service motivation research and growth in related intellectual capital. In addition to a growth in research, more practical applications for examining public service values and motivations have emerged. The chapter subsequently addresses the continuing pressure being placed on traditional service systems. In the face of warnings about long-term mismanagement of human capital, governments around the world are under pressure. The chapter then outlines factors that tend to allow civil service systems to persist. Operating rules, which have rational origins as solutions to perceived problems, sensitize actors to values. The evolution of motivation is then discussed, with special attention towards New Public Management, contracting out, agentification, and high-powered incentives. Public service motivation is then proposed to be a foundation for reform. A comprehensive, coherent, evidence-based argument is outlined. The chapter concludes with a description of the organization of the book.
The chapter synthesizes research on compensation and motivation, identifying compensation strategies to optimize outcomes in public organizations. While public service motivation is most closely linked with performance-based pay in research, other facets of compensation policy are relevant to public service motivation. The chapter outlines these other facets and discusses specific strategies to improve outcomes through compensation. First, the chapter argues for the use of total compensation for benchmark comparisons to control the extrinsic-to-intrinsic reward ratio. The chapter subsequently discusses base pay, different base pay schemes like alternative wages and efficiency wages, and strategies to maximize the value of these schemes. Next, mobility systems, like pay for ability, skills, and performance, are discussed. The chapter discusses the viability of the contest and tournament models and makes other recommendations for mobility systems. Penultimately, the chapter discusses incentives, motivation crowding and recommends that governments avoid high-power incentives that crowd-out public service motivation. The chapter concludes with a discussion of position classification.
The chapter examines key theories driving public service motivation research. After discussing the origins of public service motivation, the discussion in chapter 2 is broken into three broad categories: theories related to predisposition-opportunity theory, theories related to self-determination theory, and theories related to goal-setting theory. First, the discussion related to predisposition-opportunity theory aims to answer the question of why people contribute different levels of personal resources to organizations. Predisposition-opportunity theory is then compared to attraction-selection-attrition theory and person-fit theory, and empirical research is examined. Second, self-determination theory adds to the discussion by positing that resource contributions can be explained by psychological needs and motivations. Commonalities between self-determination theory and public service motivation are analyzed before empirical research on motivation-crowding theory is discussed. Third, goal theory contends that differences in motivation and performance can be explained by differences in goals. Chapter 2 concludes with a discussion of the use of mission valence as a proxy for goals.
The chapter concludes the book by synthesizing key arguments from previous chapters and making comprehensive arguments about redesigning civil service systems. Previous chapters are examined to question if prior analysis was too optimistic. The chapter discusses processes for advancing the civil service reform agenda, including leveraging small wins to achieve incremental change and aiming for comprehensive reforms. Two examples of navigating comprehensive change, Georgia and South Africa, are discussed. Finally, research surrounding the integration of public service motivation and civil service reform is reviewed. An analysis of systematic programs of field experiments and macro-research about variations in national performance precedes a discussion of the dark side of public service motivation. The chapter concludes with a call for further scholarly scrutiny of public service motivation-related policies to be supplemented with real-world experimentation.
The chapter examines attributes of public work environments that lead employees to develop ties to an organization's values. Empirical research indicates a supportive work environment is critical to sustaining public service motivation. Institutional arrangements promote employees’ basic psychological needs and create conditions for common pool resources. The chapter discusses two strategies for reinforcing supportive work environments: creating learning and growth opportunities and balancing job security and performance. Possibly the biggest key to promoting personal growth is creating opportunities for employee growth and learning throughout a career. Leadership development programs could also be offered to employees up and down the hierarchy. Finally, organizations should pay attention to subjective career success, ensuring that employees feel they are fulfilling their purpose in life. The chapter then examines strategies for developing organizational norms that balance job security with performance, including balancing performance and property rights, improving performance management systems and performance appraisals, and utilizing performance-based reductions in force.
To determine whether dietetic students would report a change in their public service motivation (PSM) following a community nutrition service learning (SL) course, and whether the SL model (charity v. project) influences this change differently.
Design:
Using a pretest–posttest, nonequivalent groups quasi-experimental design, this study compared students’ PSM at the beginning and end of a 15-week college-level course. PSM and four component dimensions (attraction to public policy, commitment to public interest, compassion and self-sacrifice) were measured via electronic survey using the PSM scale. Average PSM scores were compared between and within the charity and project groups using independent samples and paired sample t tests, respectively. ANCOVA assessed the effect of SL model on post-survey scores, controlling for pre-survey scores.
Setting:
Public university in northeastern United States.
Participants:
Dietetic students enrolled in six sections of the same undergraduate community nutrition SL course. Students were placed by section in either charity (n 59) or project (n 52) SL experiences and required to complete 14 h in this role.
Results:
Mean PSM total scores increased between pre-survey and post-survey (3·50 v. 3·58; P = 0·001). Students reported small increases in three PSM dimensions: commitment to public interest, compassion and self-sacrifice (all P ≤ 0·01). Holding pre-scores constant, the charity group reported a higher attraction to public policy post-score, while the project group reported a higher self-sacrifice post-score (both P < 0·05).
Conclusions:
Educators should consider adopting SL methods into curricular offerings to enhance students’ motivation for public service.
Recommend this
Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this to your organisation's collection.