Disentangling the Relationship Between Public Service Motivation and Ethics: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Ripoll, Guillem

doi:10.1093/ppmgov/gvy008

Cited by 27 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…In consequence, organizational public values will be more likely to be internalized, and individuals will be more likely to be more committed to achieve and respect them. Since PSM is a concept imbued with public values (Kim and Vandenabeele, 2010; Ripoll, 2019), goal clarity nurtures PSM when the organizational values are public 1 (i.e. not private).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This argument can be further developed by inspecting it from a social identity perspective. According to Ripoll (2019), individuals with higher levels of PSM consistently regulate their ethical behaviour and attitudes in line with the set of public values, norms and rules (i.e. ethical frameworks) forming their public service moral identity.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brewer and Selden, 1998; Maesschalck et al., 2008), and this association has been explained in detail by recent theoretical and empirical works (cf. Ripoll, 2019; Wright et al., 2016). In particular, it is suggested that PSM (being a moral identity) enables individuals to consistently regulate their ethical behaviours and attitudes in line with the ethical frameworks (norms, values and rules) internalized from the public institution (Ripoll, 2019; Ripoll and Breaugh, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ripoll, 2019; Wright et al., 2016). In particular, it is suggested that PSM (being a moral identity) enables individuals to consistently regulate their ethical behaviours and attitudes in line with the ethical frameworks (norms, values and rules) internalized from the public institution (Ripoll, 2019; Ripoll and Breaugh, 2019). However, there is a need to confirm these arguments by using different professional sectors and organizations (Ripoll and Ballart, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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In charge of safeguarding the public interest: the role of goal clarity in shaping public service motivation and the acceptance of unethical behaviours

Ripoll

2019

International Review of Administrative Sciences

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Ethics are important for personal, organizational and societal development. Although the literature has isolated some remedies and causes of unethical attitudes and behaviours, there is a still a need for further research. When focusing on the public context, it has been suggested that the motivation to serve the public interest has a negative relationship with different unethical outcomes. Thus, one interesting avenue of research is to explain how public service motivation can be enhanced by the outcome of certain managerial practices, which may also lead to ethical benefits indirectly. Using data collected from social workers in Catalonia (Spain), this article confirms that goal clarity directly increases the levels of public service motivation and indirectly reduces the acceptance of unethical behaviours by eliciting public service motivation. Research and practical implications of the findings are discussed. Points for practitioners This study highlights the importance of public service-oriented institutional contexts in indirectly shaping unethical outcomes. The findings recommend to public managers and practitioners to provide goal clarity (through certain human-resource management practices such as appraisal or job design) because it increases public service motivation and indirectly reduces the acceptance of unethical behaviour.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

In charge of safeguarding the public interest: the role of goal clarity in shaping public service motivation and the acceptance of unethical behaviours

Ripoll

2019

International Review of Administrative Sciences

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“…Yet, students' decision on whether or not to engage in unethical behavior-even if they suffer from burnout-might be influences by other, value-related motivations nested within the individual, especially their commitment to the public interest. A large body of scholarship grounded in the theory of planned behavior argues that personal values, ethics, and pro-social motives play an important role in guiding individual behavior especially when being faced with tough decisions (De Waele et al, 2021;Eisenberg, 2000;Moore et al, 2012;Ripoll, 2019). Developing a strong moral code directed toward the immediate and long-term interests of society as a whole assists individuals in self-regulating their actions toward honest and socially desirable behavior so that they become less likely to engage in bribery and other forms of corrupt behavior (Ajzen, 1991;Davis & Welton, 1991;Glover et al, 1997;Olsen et al, 2019).…”

Section: Commitment To the Public Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Would you Bribe your Lecturer? A Quasi-experimental Study on Burnout and Bribery in Higher Education

Weißmüller

Waele

2021

Res High Educ

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Bribery is a complex and critical issue in higher education (HE), causing severe economic and societal harm. Traditionally, most scholarship on HE corruption has focused on institutional factors in developing countries and insights into the psychological and motivational factors that drive HE bribery on the micro-level mechanisms are virtually non-existent. To close this research gap, this study investigates the connection between study-related burnout and university students’ willingness to offer bribes to their lecturers to pass important exams. Conducting a vignette-based quasi-experimental replication study with 624 university students in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands we find that university students in three countries differentiate sharply between different shades of bribery and that a majority accept using emotional influence tactics to pass (failed) exams. In contrast, offering a helping hand or money (i.e., darker shades of bribery) to their lecturer was less acceptable. Study-related burnout is associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in these darker shades of bribery and students’ commitment to the public interest is but a weak factor in preventing unethical behavior. In summary, this study provides solid empirical evidence that university students are likely to use emotional influence tactics violating both the ethical codes of conduct and the formalized bureaucratic procedures of HE examination, particularly if they suffer from study-related burnout. However, the accelerating effect of burnout on bribery is conditional in that it only holds for darker shades of bribery. HE institutions may benefit from implementing the four-eye principle and from launching awareness campaigns that enable lecturers to better recognize these tactics and engage students in creating a transparent environment for testing, grading, and collaboration that is resistant to bribery.

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Public Service Motivation and Public Opinion

Piatak

Holt

2021

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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.

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Disentangling the Relationship Between Public Service Motivation and Ethics: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Cited by 27 publications

References 85 publications

In charge of safeguarding the public interest: the role of goal clarity in shaping public service motivation and the acceptance of unethical behaviours

In charge of safeguarding the public interest: the role of goal clarity in shaping public service motivation and the acceptance of unethical behaviours

Would you Bribe your Lecturer? A Quasi-experimental Study on Burnout and Bribery in Higher Education

Public Service Motivation and Public Opinion

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