The Role of Organizations in Fostering Public Service Motivation
2007/01/01 by Donald P. Moynihan, Sanjay K. Pandey · 890 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Accounting and Organizational Management #Business #Context (archaeology) #Formative assessment #Government (linguistics) #Marketing #Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering #Pedagogy #Political science #Public Policy and Administration Research #Public relations #Public sector #Public service #Public service motivation #Service (business) #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00695.x
published in Public Administration Review 67(1), 40-53 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2007/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract
In seeking to explain the antecedents of public service motivation, James Perry focuses on the formative role of sociohistorical context. This study tests Perry’s theory and examines the role that organizational factors play in shaping public service motivation, based on responses from a national survey of state government health and human service managers. The findings support the role of sociohistorical context, showing that public service motivation is strongly and positively related to level of education and membership in professional organizations. The results also underscore the significant influence of organizational institutions, indicating that red tape and length of organizational membership are negatively related to public service motivation, whereas hierarchical authority and reform efforts have a positive relationship. Therefore, public organizations have both an opportunity and a responsibility to create an environment that allows employees to feel they are contributing to the public good.
Citations
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