2013/12/16 by Anne Mette Kjeldsen · 129 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Attraction #Business #Computer science #Dynamics (music) #Economics #Marketing #Microeconomics #Political science #Production (economics) #Psychology #Public Policy and Administration Research #Public relations #Public service #Selection (genetic algorithm) #Service (business) #Social production #Social psychology #Social science #Socialization #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1111/puar.12154
published in Public Administration Review 74(1), 101-112 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2013/12/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The literature on public service motivation ( PSM ) has typically focused on the relationship between motivation and public/private sector of employment, while the character of the work being performed has been neglected. Using panel surveys with pre‐ and postentry measures of PSM among certified Danish social workers, this article provides a unique design for investigating PSM ‐based attraction‒selection and socialization effects with respect to the choice between work related to service production or service regulation (controlled for public/private sector of employment). The article shows that the PSM profiles of social work students predict their preference for one of the two types of work tasks but do not predict first employment in the preferred job. Conversely, postentry shifts in social workers’ PSM profiles result from a complex interplay between influences from both work task and sector .