Does Person‐Organization Fit Matter in the Public ‐Sector? Testing the Mediating Effect of Person‐Organization Fit in the Relationship between Public Service Motivation and Work Attitudes

• Published date: 01 November 2012
• Author: Sangmook Kim
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2012.02572.x
• Date: 01 November 2012

Sangmook Kim is professor of

public administration at Seoul National

University of Science and Technology,

Korea. His research interests are public

service motivation, organizational behavior,

human resources management, public

management reform, and gender-related

issues. His research has been published

in numerous journals, including the

American Review of Public

Administration, International Journal

of Manpower, International Review

of Administrative Sciences, Journal

of Public Administration Research

and Theory, and Public Administration

Review.

E-mail: smook@seoultech.ac.kr

830 Public Administration Review • November | December 2012

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 72, Iss. 6, pp. 830–840. © 2012 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.111/j.1540-6210.2012.02572.x.

Does Person-Organization Fit Matter in the Public Sector?

Testing the Mediating Ef‌f ect of Person-Organization Fit

in the Relationship between Public Service Motivation

and Work Attitudes

Public service motivation theory suggests that public

service motivation is positively related to work attitudes,

but person-organization f‌i t theory assumes that person-

organization f‌i t completely mediates the relationship

between public service motivation and work attitudes of

public employees.  is article investigates which theory

better predicts attitudes toward work, such as job

satisfaction and organizational commitment of public

employees, by testing hypotheses on (1) whether public

service motivation directly inf‌l uences work attitudes,

or (2) whether person-organization f‌i t mediates the

relationship between public service motivation and work

attitudes, or (3) whether both hypotheses are true. Using

survey data on civil servants in Korea, this article shows

that public service motivation has not only a direct ef‌f ect

on but also an indirect ef‌f ect on job satisfaction and

organizational commitment through its inf‌l uence on

person- organization f‌i t.

Public service motivation (PSM) theory suggests

that PSM is positively related to work attitudes

and behaviors (Perry and Hondeghem 2008;

Perry and Wise 1990). Public service motives are at

the root of the behaviors and actions taken to achieve

outcomes that serve the public interest. Advocates of

PSM theory argue that individuals with greater PSM

are more satisf‌i ed with their public sector jobs and are

committed to the organization that imposes that role

on them (Pandey and Stazyk

2008; Perry and Wise 1990).

 us, it is assumed that PSM is

an important individual predis-

position that explains the work

attitudes of public employees

(Castaing 2006; Kim 2011).

On the other hand, advocates

of person-organization f‌i t (P-O

f‌i t) theory assume that atti-

tudes, behaviors, and other individual-level outcomes

result not from the person or organization sepa-

rately, but rather from the relationship between the

two (Chatman 1989; Kristof 1996; Kristof-Brown,

Zimmerman, and Johnson 2005; O’Reilly, Chatman,

and Caldwell 1991). P-O f‌i t theory argues that PSM

has no direct relationship with work attitudes and

performance when P-O f‌i t is taken into account

(Bright 2007, 2008; Wright and Pandey 2008).  us,

it assumes that P-O f‌i t will completely mediate the

relationship between PSM and work attitudes of

public employees.

Work attitudes (i.e., approach to one’s job, includ-

ing job satisfaction and organizational commitment)

are among the criteria most frequently examined in

both PSM studies (Naf‌f and Crum 1999; Pandey and

Stazyk 2008) and P-O f‌i t studies (Kristof-Brown,

Zimmerman, and Johnson 2005; Verquer, Beehr,

and Wagner 2003).  ere may be a tendency to view

PSM as automatically increasing public employees’

satisfaction with and commitment to their work in

public organizations (Crewson 1997; Kim 2011; Naf‌f

and Crum 1999; Taylor 2008; Vandenabeele 2009).

However, others have shown that PSM has only an

indirect, positive ef‌f ect on work attitudes through its

inf‌l uence on P-O f‌i t (Bright 2008; Wright and Pandey

2008).  us, there is a need to clarify the relation-

ships between PSM and work attitudes when P-O f‌i t

occurs simultaneously.  e purpose of this article is

to investigate which of the opposing theories—PSM

and P-O f‌i t theory—performs better in predicting

attitudes to work such as job

satisfaction and organizational

commitment of public employ-

ees by testing hypotheses on

(1) whether PSM directly

inf‌l uences work attitudes, or

(2) whether P-O f‌i t mediates the

relationship between PSM and

work attitudes or, (3) whether

both hypotheses are true.

Model Development

Figure 1 shows the theoretical framework of this

study. PSM and P-O f‌i t are assumed to inf‌l uence

job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Sangmook Kim

Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Korea

 e purpose of this article is to

investigate which of the oppos-

ing theories - [Public service

motivation] and [person-

organization] f‌i t theory -

performs better in predicting

attitudes to work...