Suchergebnisse

To investigate how generalizable public service motivation (PSM) observed in Western society is to China and examine the instrumentality of public service motivation, two studies were conducted independently. In Study 1, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is implemented to test the existence of PSM based on 99 social workers in Region A of one city located in Eastern China. In Study 2, another CFA process is implemented to confirm the construct validity of PSM, based on 474 social workers in Region B of the same city. In Study 2, we evaluated the instrumentality of PSM. These studies not only provide evidence for the construct validity of PSM, but also produce interesting results that relate to the history and institutional background of Chinese social work. Points for practitioners Results of the study have confirmed the generalizability of public service motivation (PSM) observed in Western society in China and examined the instrumentality of the construct in China. The results identify several key implications for professionals working in social work management and administration: (1) PSM can be used as an additional tool to recruit and select individuals who are best suited for social work; (2) For management in social work or other public sectors, PSM could be as a direction in training and development; (3) More importantly, PSM could provide additional view of incentives in social work or other public sectors.

Résumé Afin d'examiner la mesure dans laquelle la motivation de service public (MSP) observée dans la société occidentale peut être généralisable en Chine et d'examiner l'instrumentalité de la motivation de service public, deux études ont été réalisées de façon indépendante. Dans la première étude, une analyse factorielle confirmatoire (AFC) a été effectuée afin de vérifier l'existence de MSP sur la base de 99 travailleurs sociaux dans la région A d'une ville située en Chine orientale. Dans la seconde étude, nous avons effectué un autre processus d'AFC afin de confirmer la validité conceptuelle de la MSP, sur la base de 474 travailleurs sociaux dans la région B de la même ville. Dans cette seconde étude, nous avons évalué l'instrumentalité de la MSP. Ces études mettent non seulement en avant la validité conceptuelle de la MSP, mais produisent aussi des résultats intéressants qui concernent l'histoire et le contexte institutionnel du travail social en Chine. Remarques à l'intention des praticiens Notre étude visait à confirmer la généralisabilité de la motivation de service public (MSP) observée dans la société occidentale en Chine et à examiner l'instrumentalité de cette notion en Chine. Les résultats font apparaître plusieurs implications essentielles pour les professionnels qui travaillent dans la gestion et l'administration du travail social : (1) la MSP peut constituer un moyen supplémentaire de recruter et de sélectionner les individus les mieux adaptés au travail social ; (2) en ce qui concerne la gestion dans le travail social ou d'autres secteurs publics, la MSP peut donner une orientation dans les domaines de la formation et du développement ; (3) plus important, la MSP peut permettre de mieux comprendre les incitants à appliquer dans le travail social ou d'autres secteurs publics.

Extant research has demonstrated that public service motivation (PSM) might have a dark side on public employees. However, empirical research on this assumption remains unclear. Based on Job Demands-Resources Model, this study explores the psychological mechanism of PSM on burnout and examines the relationship from both positive and negative aspects by classifying work stress into challenge stress and hindrance stress. A study with 255 street-level public employees shows that PSM has significant negative effects on burnout. Specifically, perceived hindrance stress mediates a negative relationship between PSM and burnout, and perceived challenge stress mediates a positive relationship between PSM and burnout. This study not only contributes to the development of theories on the doubled-edged nature and psychological mechanism of PSM in relation to burnout but also provides management enlightenment for improving employees' well-being and mitigating burnout.

Does public sector employees' public service motivation (PSM) affect their psychological reactions to organizational change? We examined the effects of PSM on public sector employees' commitment to a specific organizational change. Participants were 231 public sector employees
from a city in eastern China, who completed surveys assessing commitment to change and PSM. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between PSM and employees' commitment to organizational change. That is, individuals with high (vs. low) PSM were more likely to have
high levels of continuance and normative commitment, whereas PSM was not significantly correlated with affective commitment to organizational change. Practical implications are discussed of a successful planned change in the public sector, including staffing, communication, and discipline
during the change process.

Many researchers have shown that a transactive memory system (TMS) improves a team's performance. However, the relationship between TMS and team performance remains unexplored. In this longitudinal study of team efficacy, with 31 course teams, the results demonstrate that team efficacy
fully mediates TMS and team performance. These findings have implications for improving team performance.

To explore the psychological mechanism of public service motivation (PSM), we used a time-lagged design to examine the mediating effects of organizational identification on the relationship between PSM and work attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction) and behavior (i.e., community citizenship behavior). A two-wave study of 241 public servants from District A of a large metropolitan city in Eastern China was conducted. Controlling job security and demographic variables, results from a structural equation modeling showed the relationship between public service motivation and job satisfaction and the relationship between public service motivation and community citizenship behavior were partially mediated by organizational identification. Results also demonstrated that in comparison with job security, public service motivation contributed more to community citizenship behavior than job satisfaction. The study contributes to our understanding of public service motivation by illuminating a mechanism through which public service motivation influences work attitudes and behavior.

Although role overload in public organizations has become a prominently observed research phenomenon, insufficient attention has been given to the influence of public service motivation (PSM) on role overload. We surveyed 335 Chinese public employees to investigate the relationship
between PSM and role overload, and the moderating effect of psychological empowerment on this link. Results showed that PSM and role overload had an inverted U-shaped relationship. Specifically, public employees with midlevel (vs. low-level or highlevel) PSM were more likely to feel role overload.
Furthermore, higher psychological empowerment reinforced the relationship between PSM and role overload. This research adds to the advancement of role stress theory, reveals the dark side of PSM, and illustrates the importance of managers providing adequate resources and fully empowering employees.

We investigated the generalizability of compassion as the affective dimension of public service motivation (PSM) as observed in Western society to the context of social workers in China. We also examined the effects of compassion on job satisfaction. We found that the affective
dimension of PSM was present in the Chinese social workers. However, we split the factorial structure of Perry's (1996) original 8-item scale into 2 subgroups of negatively and positively phrased items (4 items in each subgroup). Further analysis indicated that the shortened scale of 4 negative
items had the best fit. We also found that compassion had a marginally positive relationship with job satisfaction of the social workers.

While business and psychology researchers have strived to identify effective strategies to reduce occupational stress, public administration scholars have paid insufficient attention to this issue. This article examines the role of motivational bases in the stressor–wellbeing relationship, a nascent research area in business and psychology, focusing on a particular type of motivation that is salient in public organizations: public service motivation (PSM). Based on a survey of 412 police officers from a large metropolitan city in eastern China, this study finds that PSM moderates the relationship between work stressors and individual wellbeing. Respondents with higher levels of PSM can better handle the increase of stressors so that their physical and mental wellbeing will decrease more slowly. Overall, respondents with higher levels of PSM tend to experience higher mental wellbeing but lower physical wellbeing than their low-PSM colleagues.

Based on a survey of 259 full-time employees in the public sector who were also part-time students for the Master of Public Administration program at a prestigious university in eastern China, it was found that person-organization (P-O) fit is a good predictor of job satisfaction and
turnover intention in a Chinese context. In contrast to previous findings, the results of competition model analysis indicate that job satisfaction does work as a full mediator between P-O fit and turnover intention. In fact, P-O fit affects turnover intention through job satisfaction as a
mediator.

This study examined the generalizability of servant leadership constructs observed in Western society to China. Using a sample of 659 Chinese public employees, we observed the servant leadership in China, but the generalizability of the construct is limited, in that some of the dimensions of the construct were violated. This study also tested the relationships between supervisors' servant leadership and the public service motivation (PSM) of their immediate subordinates. This empirical study concluded that servant leadership is positively associated with public service motivation. The authors discussed the implications of the results for the administrative practices in Chinese public sector and raised issues for future research.