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Public Service Motivation Concepts and Theory: A Critique
Author(s) -
Bozeman Barry,
Su Xuhong
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/puar.12248
Subject(s) - scrutiny , popularity , explanatory power , service (business) , focus (optics) , public service , power (physics) , public service motivation , sociology , psychology , positive economics , epistemology , public relations , marketing , political science , economics , social psychology , business , law , public sector , quantum mechanics , philosophy , physics , optics
With its growth in popularity, public service motivation ( PSM ) research has been subjected to increasing critical scrutiny, but with more focus on measurement and models than on concepts. The authors examine PSM against standard criteria for judging the strength of concepts (e.g., resonance, parsimony, differentiation, and depth). After providing a critique of PSM concepts, they conclude with suggestions for research programs that could improve the explanatory power of PSM theory .