ABSTRACT

Although the term public service motivation (PSM) was coined 30 years ago, its theoretical development is still ongoing. One of these debates examines how to differentiate it from likeminded concepts. Recent theoretical development related to PSM focus on the salience of giving back to society, or non-identified beneficiaries, in contrast to individual users. To assess this distinction, empirical research is essential. Using a between-subjects vignette experiment among a representative sample of 1512 citizens in Catalonia (Spain), we test whether PSM can predict task preferences depending on the extent to which they are oriented to non-identified and identified beneficiaries. This article demonstrates that PSM is mainly oriented to society at large rather than individual users. The findings present evidence to confirm emerging PSM conceptualisations as well as highlight important implications for research and practice – especially with respect to public service job design.

摘要

尽管公共服务动机 (PSM) 一词是在 30 年前创造的，但其理论发展仍在进行中。其中一场辩论探讨了如何将其与志同道合的概念区分开来。与个人用户相比，与 PSM 相关的最新理论发展侧重于回馈社会或未确定受益人的重要性。为了评估这种区别，实证研究是必不可少的。使用在加泰罗尼亚（西班牙）的 1512 名公民的代表性样本中进行的主题间小插曲实验，我们测试 PSM 是否可以根据他们面向未识别和已识别受益人的程度来预测任务偏好。本文表明 PSM 主要面向整个社会而非个人用户。