A Moral Theory of Public Service Motivation

Wang, Tse Min; Witteloostuijn, A. van; Heine, Florian

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.517763

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 146 publications

(224 reference statements)

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“…This indicates that the quality of human relationships in carrying out work is more important than distress about work volume or having special tasks. There is a theory that public service motivation defines the attitude that is characteristic of public servants [ 23 , 24 ]. This is a concept that expresses the wish to “help public and society”, and this altruism and the disposition to serve public interest are also assumed to be behind the fact that workload was not related to job satisfaction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational Difficulties of Disaster-Affected Local Government Employees in the Long-Term Recovery Phase after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Modeling Analysis

Kashiwazaki

Matsunaga

Orita

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Local government officials play a central role in post-disaster community reconstruction. However, few studies have reported on the actual difficulties during a complex disaster involving a nuclear accident. A self-rated questionnaire survey was administered to a total of 583 public employees in four municipalities around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The relationship between universal occupational factors and radiation disaster-specific factors on job satisfaction and intention to leave the job due to radiation anxiety was evaluated using structural equation modeling. The results showed that interpersonal problems (β = −0.246) and service years (β = −0.127) were related to job satisfaction, whereas radiation-specific factors were not related to job satisfaction, and only to the intention to leave work due to radiation anxiety. A sense of coherence was associated with job satisfaction (β = 0.373) and intention to leave work due to radiation anxiety (β = −0.182), and it served as a moderator of the universal occupational factors and the radiation disaster-specific factors. Therefore, it is suggested that outcomes could be improved through increased stress coping capacity by providing support for relationships and radiation risk communication to public employees during the disaster recovery period.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational Difficulties of Disaster-Affected Local Government Employees in the Long-Term Recovery Phase after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Modeling Analysis

Kashiwazaki

Matsunaga

Orita

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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show abstract

“…In other words, state agents who have internalized a highly client service-oriented concept of their professional self may exhibit deviant behaviors (e.g., rule breaking and lying) because they derive moral to act inappropriately to reach the higher goal of contributing to the public interest and doing good for society. From the perspective of moral identity and moral licensing theory, client-oriented deviant behavior is the result of an often implicit moral evaluation process within bureaucrats who conclude that, for instance, breaking a bureaucratic rule is the morally more justified choice option -compared to following the red-tape ridden rules -providing moral license to act inappropriately to reach the higher goal of their organization, i.e., contributing to the public interest (Schott and Ritz 2018;Wang, van Witteloostuijn, and Heine 2020). In this, deviant behavior in state agents has both deontic and ethical components in that the preceding…”

Section: State Agents: Helpers or Bureaucrats?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Implicit Dimensions of Moral Licensing in Citizen-State Interactions

Weißmüller¹

2022

Preprint

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Moral licensing refers to the paradoxical effect that individuals derive moral justification for deviant behavior from prior moral actions. As a form of moral disengagement, moral licensing is one of the psychological micro-foundations of deviant behavior in the public sector that manifests in various forms, such as rule violation, corruption, and discrimination in citizen-state interactions, causing severe harm by undermining efficiency, equity, and trust in citizen-state interactions. Research on moral identity and motivational psychology suggests that implicit components of cognition – such as implicit associations and latent moral or stereotypical concepts of self and others – may influence moral licensing behavior but, to date, this connection has not yet been explored. This conceptual study discusses the implicit dimensions of moral licensing in citizen-state interaction by synthesizing previously unconsolidated streams of scholarship into one refined framework covering both citizens’ and state agents’ perspectives to inspire future empirical research to understand the phenomenon in its entirety. With this novel conceptual contribution, this study significantly advances the theoretical understanding of the implicit dimensions of moral justification in citizen-state interaction as a precursor for deviant behavior. Its framework culminates in five prepositions and an agenda for future research.

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“…Thompson and Christensen (2018) position PSM as organization‐independent in contrast to a “calling” to the public sector (Thompson and Christensen 2018). Wang et al (2020: 3) describe PSM as “… a mix of motives that drive an individual—regardless of being employed in the public sector or not—to take social responsibility, supress selfishness, and benefit society.” As such, we expect that PSM can manifest at all stages of a person’s life/career, including during their education.…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender and public sector careers: The motivations of Master of Public Administration students

DeRiviere¹,

Wranik²,

Grace³

2021

Can Public Adm

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Why are graduate school applicants interested in public service? Who are these individuals and how do they convey their preference for a career in the public sector? We present an exploratory qualitative study on gender differences in deciding to undertake a master’s degree in public administration with the intent of seeking public sector employment. Our findings reveal that female applicants are particularly interested in influencing policy changes around social justice causes, while male applicants exhibit a strong desire to understand how the public policy process and government bureaucracies work. This research has important practical implications because understanding graduate students’ motivations for pursuing a career in public administration is critical for human resources recruitment, retention, and employee management.

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A Moral Theory of Public Service Motivation

Cited by 25 publications

References 146 publications

Occupational Difficulties of Disaster-Affected Local Government Employees in the Long-Term Recovery Phase after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Modeling Analysis

Occupational Difficulties of Disaster-Affected Local Government Employees in the Long-Term Recovery Phase after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Modeling Analysis

Implicit Dimensions of Moral Licensing in Citizen-State Interactions

Gender and public sector careers: The motivations of Master of Public Administration students

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