The Relationship Between Islamic Work Ethic and Public Service Motivation

• Author: Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad,Hemin Ali Hassan
• Date: 01 October 2021
• Published date: 01 October 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/0095399721998335
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399721998335

Administration & Society

2021, Vol. 53(9) 1390 –1417

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0095399721998335

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Article

The Relationship

Between Islamic Work

Ethic and Public Service

Motivation

Hemin Ali Hassan1

and Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad2,3

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the differences between public and

private sector employees’ public service motivation (PSM) levels and also

examine the impact of Islamic work ethic (IWE) as a potential antecedent

of PSM in a non-Western setting. This quantitative investigation is based

on a sample of 419 employees in 13 public and private organizations in

the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Independent t test results reveal

no statistically significant differences in PSM level between public and

private sector employees. The analysis of the data also reveals that PSM

is significantly influenced by IWE. Implications and avenues for future

research are discussed.

Keywords

public service motivation, Islamic work ethic, public and private sector,

Kurdistan Region of Iraq

1University of Raparin, Rania, Iraq

2Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

3University of Kurdistan Hewler, Hawler, Iraq

Corresponding Author:

Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad, School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,

1954 HuaShang Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200030, China.

Email: ahmad.bayiz@sjtu.edu.cn

998335AASXXX10.1177/0095399721998335Administration & SocietyHassan and Ahmad

research-article2021

Hassan and Ahmad 1391

Introduction

The notion of public service motivation (PSM) is old (Horton, 2008); how-

ever, Rainey (1982) is widely credited as one of the earliest scholars to lay the

foundation for the concept of PSM. Following Rainey’s work, Perry and

Wise (1990) revised and extended the PSM concept and defined it as “an

individual’s predisposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or

uniquely in public institutions and organizations” (p. 368). They also sug-

gested that public sector employees have various motives to do good for soci-

ety. Perry and Wise refer to “motive” as the psychological desire that needs

to be fulfilled. Since then, PSM has become an interesting topic for many

researchers in the field of public administration (Perry et al., 2010).

To date, a large number of studies have examined motivational differences

between public and private sector employees, and the results are conflicting

(Ritz et al., 2016). Some studies reported that, compared to their private

counterparts, public servants report higher levels of PSM (Crewson, 1997;

Frank & Lewis, 2004; Houston, 2000; Liu et al., 2012; Steijn, 2008; Wittmer,

1991). However, others, Steen (2008) for instance, reported that PSM also

exists in the private sector. Andersen et al. (2011) reported no significant dif-

ference in the PSM level in public and private health professionals. Moreover,

Karl and Peat (2004) showed that public service major students rated oppor-

tunities for advancement and good wages higher than helping others. Such

conflicting results require further investigation of differences between public

and private sector employees’ PSM in different settings.

Another shortcoming in the existing literature is that although a large

number of studies related to PSM have been conducted, the majority of them

are in the United States and Western countries. Only recently researchers

have started to focus on PSM in other parts of the world (Kim, 2009; Taylor,

2007). For instance, a recent literature review showed that more than 80% of

all the studies on PSM conducted between 1990 and 2013 were with data

from the United States and Europe (Ritz et al., 2013), and in the remaining

part, there is scant PSM research on Muslim employees. Those few studies

that have focused on PSM in the Muslim world have mainly investigated its

outcomes, not its antecedents. Besides, no study has compared the PSM level

of Muslim employees in the public and private sectors.

Furthermore, it is argued that religion has a significant impact on the atti-

tudes and behaviors of individuals. Such a notion is in line with Perry (1997)

who acknowledged religious socialization as a possible norm-based motive

for PSM. Perry also argued that religion could have more merits as an ante-

cedent of PSM. Several studies have investigated the role of religious activi-

ties and religiosity in the United States and Switzerland (Anderfuhren-Biget,