Sector Differences in the Public Service Motivation–Job Satisfaction Relationship: Exploring the Role of Organizational Characteristics

• Author: Anne Mette Kjeldsen,Jesper Rosenberg Hansen
• Date: 01 March 2018
• DOI: 10.1177/0734371X16631605
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

Review of Public Personnel Administration

2018, Vol. 38(1) 24 –48

© The Author(s) 2016

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DOI: 10.1177/0734371X16631605

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Article

Sector Differences in the

Public Service Motivation–

Job Satisfaction

Relationship: Exploring

the Role of Organizational

Characteristics

Anne Mette Kjeldsen1

and Jesper Rosenberg Hansen1

Abstract

Public service motivation (PSM) has a documented, positive effect on job satisfaction—

especially in the public sector. However, organizational characteristics such as red

tape, hierarchical authority, and the absence of organizational goal specificity, which

are often more present in public sector organizations, may have negative influences

on the PSM–job satisfaction relationship. This study explores the impact of these

organizational characteristics on sector differences in the PSM–job satisfaction

relationship in a “hard case” setting. Using survey data with low-level, white-collar

employees, we confirm a positive PSM–job satisfaction association in the public sector

compared with the private sector, where we see a negative association. Furthermore,

perceived red tape and the absence of organizational goal specificity have negative

influences on job satisfaction; nevertheless, sector differences remain in the PSM–job

satisfaction relationship when controlled for these organizational characteristics.

This suggests that public or private sector status is more important for the PSM–job

satisfaction relationship than other organizational characteristics.

Keywords

public service motivation, job satisfaction, public/private sector, red tape

1Aarhus University, Denmark

Corresponding Author:

Anne Mette Kjeldsen, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 7, Building

1341, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.

Email: annemette@ps.au.dk

631605ROPXXX10.1177/0734371X16631605Review of Public Personnel AdministrationKjeldsen and Hansen

research-article2016

Kjeldsen and Hansen 25

Introduction

Understanding the relationship between public service motivation (PSM) and

employee job satisfaction is vital for public sector management, as this relationship is

expected to be especially pronounced in public sector organizations. The literature on

PSM has already documented a positive relationship between the motivation of public

sector employees to contribute to society and job satisfaction (Bright, 2008; Kjeldsen

& Andersen, 2013; Naff & Crum, 1999; Vandenabeele, 2009). However, our knowl-

edge of whether (and which) organizational characteristics affect this association is

sparse. Is it in fact a matter of public or private employment sector? Or can other

organizational characteristics, such as perceived red tape, hierarchical authority, and

goal specificity, matter more for whether a positive association between PSM and job

satisfaction can be established?

There is a general lack of understanding of how organizational characteristics influ-

ence job satisfaction in the public and private sectors (Finlay, Martin, Roman, & Blum,

1995; Hansen & Høst, 2012), and there is a specific need to understand how organiza-

tional characteristics influence the impact of PSM on this outcome variable (Scott &

Pandey, 2005). Particularly interesting is how possible sector differences in job satis-

faction unfold when we include factors that may affect this outcome measure both

positively and negatively. In other words, do we still find a positive PSM–job satisfac-

tion relationship in the public sector when considering the potential negative impact of

organizational characteristics such as red tape, hierarchy, and a lack of goal

specificity?

Drawing on Person–Environment Fit Theory (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, &

Johnson, 2005) and the Job Demands–Resources Model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007),

we would generally expect PSM to have a stronger positive effect on job satisfaction

in the public sector than the private sector. Yet, previous research has also shown that

organizational characteristics such as red tape and hierarchical authority are important

factors for organizations’ attempts at promoting PSM (Moynihan & Pandey, 2007b).

By investigating the various organizational characteristics typically associated with

public–private differences in work outcomes in terms of how they affect the PSM–job

satisfaction relationship, we thus aim at providing new insights into how mangers can

enhance PSM—not just in the public sector but possibly also in the private sector.

Learning how PSM interacts with sector and organizational characteristics is impor-

tant both to illuminate the debate on how to foster the positive impact of PSM and

because the literature suggests that PSM has positive consequences in the public sec-

tor, whereas our knowledge about the PSM–job satisfaction relationship in the private

sector is more sparse (Perry & Hondeghem, 2008).

This article investigates whether the effect of PSM on job satisfaction differs

between sectors and according to different organizational characteristics using a sur-

vey sample consisting of 1,018 comparable, low-level, white-collar employees in pub-

lic and private sector organizations. Past studies in the PSM literature have primarily

investigated occupational groups, such as civil servants, public managers, and front-

line public service providers, where PSM is expected to be a highly important