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GOVERNMENT CALLING: PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION AS AN ELEMENT IN SELECTING GOVERNMENT AS AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE
Author(s) -
VANDENABEELE WOUTER
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9299.2008.00728.x
Subject(s) - public service motivation , preference , attractiveness , government (linguistics) , public service , sample (material) , element (criminal law) , service (business) , public relations , business , set (abstract data type) , marketing , public sector , economics , psychology , political science , microeconomics , computer science , linguistics , philosophy , chemistry , programming language , chromatography , psychoanalysis , law , economy
The article assesses public service motivation as a possible influence in the attractiveness of government as an employer by embedding it into a person‐organization fit framework. First, a theoretical framework is developed and all relevant concepts are discussed. In addition, a set of hypotheses concerning the research question is developed. A sample of 1714 final year masters students demonstrates that the presence of public service motivation positively correlates with the preference for prospective public employers. For government organizations that display a high degree of publicness, the effect of public service motivation as a predictor for employer preference is stronger. Next to building a middle range theory on public service motivation, the article also reveals that public service motivation is present at a pre‐entry level.