TY - JOUR
T1 - Activating the Forces of Public Service Motivation
T2 - Evidence from a Low‐Intensity Randomized Survey Experiment
AU - Pedersen, Mogens Jin
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Employees with higher public service motivation (PSM) are likely to perform better in public service jobs. However, research on how practitioners may capitalize on this knowledge is sparse. This article expands the understanding of how to activate employee PSM, which is understood as a human resource that is present in the work environment. Using a randomized survey experiment with 528 law students, this article shows how low‐intensity treatments may activate PSM and how the effect of PSM activation efforts compares with efforts to activate another, less self‐determined type of motivation (relating to the need for feelings of self‐importance). The findings are robust and suggest that low‐intensity efforts to activate PSM have a positive effect on an individual's behavioral inclinations. However, efforts toward the activation of motivation relating to feelings of self‐importance appear to engender an effect of similar size
AB - Employees with higher public service motivation (PSM) are likely to perform better in public service jobs. However, research on how practitioners may capitalize on this knowledge is sparse. This article expands the understanding of how to activate employee PSM, which is understood as a human resource that is present in the work environment. Using a randomized survey experiment with 528 law students, this article shows how low‐intensity treatments may activate PSM and how the effect of PSM activation efforts compares with efforts to activate another, less self‐determined type of motivation (relating to the need for feelings of self‐importance). The findings are robust and suggest that low‐intensity efforts to activate PSM have a positive effect on an individual's behavioral inclinations. However, efforts toward the activation of motivation relating to feelings of self‐importance appear to engender an effect of similar size
U2 - 10.1111/puar.12325
DO - 10.1111/puar.12325
M3 - Journal article
VL - 75
SP - 734
EP - 746
JO - Public Administration Review
JF - Public Administration Review
SN - 0033-3352
IS - 5
ER -