The Relationship of Public Service Motivation to Job Satisfaction and Job Performance of Emergency Medical Services Professionals

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Author: Ron Morgan,Tres Stefurak,R. Burke Johnson
• Date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/0091026020917695
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026020917695

Public Personnel Management

2020, Vol. 49(4) 590 –616

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0091026020917695

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Article

The Relationship of

Public Service Motivation

to Job Satisfaction and

Job Performance of

Emergency Medical

Services Professionals

Tres Stefurak1, Ron Morgan2,

and R. Burke Johnson1

Abstract

Public service motivation (PSM) are motivational factors that are unique in

professions that serve the public. This study examined PSM’s relationship to self-

reported job satisfaction and job performance in a unique sample of emergency

medical services professionals, in which little research on the PSM construct has

been undertaken. The PSM factors that emerged in this study did not mirror the

traditional four-factor structure. The public interest and self-sacrifice factors

formed a single public service factor, and a small number of compassion factors

loaded on a second factor, with the policy-making factor being fully replicated.

All three factors were significantly related to job satisfaction, and none were

related to job performance, while controlling for the influence of demographic

and contextual factors. All of these contextual factors were significantly related to

job performance, except for the length of time in the emergency medical services

(EMS) field, but not job satisfaction.

Keywords

motivation theory, job satisfaction, workplace attitudes and behaviors

1University of South Alabama, Mobile, USA

2Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Gulfport, USA

Corresponding Author:

Tres Stefurak, Department of Counseling and Instructional Sciences, University of South Alabama, 3800

UCOM, Mobile, AL 36688-0002, USA.

Email: jstefurak@southalabama.edu

917695PPMXXX10.1177/0091026020917695Public Personnel ManagementStefurak et al.

research-article2020

Stefurak et al. 591

Introduction

There is probably no greater responsibility than to have another person’s life in your

hands. A variety of health care professionals experience this frequently, but perhaps

none more so than emergency medical services professionals (EMSPs) (Elmqvist

et al., 2009), specifically those certified as paramedics and emergency medical techni-

cians (EMTs). The pressure inherent in this lifesaving role can lead to difficulties for

EMSPs in their job performance, job satisfaction, and levels of motivation (Donnelly

& Siebert, 2009). EMSPs face high-stress work environments, are regularly asked to

put aside their own welfare to serve others, and within this work may be primarily

motivated by intrinsic concerns such as altruism and public welfare given the rela-

tively scant availability of significant material incentives.

Currently, inadequate motivation research has been done in the field of public

safety workers, specifically with EMSPs such as paramedics and EMTs. In contrast, a

robust literature focusing on the concept of public service motivation (PSM) (Perry &

Wise, 1990) among public sector employees exists. Most studies on PSM have dealt

with employees from the federal sector (Alonso & Lewis, 2001; Brewer & Maranto,

2000; Frank & Lewis, 2004; Moynihan & Pandey, 2007; Naff & Crum, 1999; Steijn,

2008; Vandenabeele, 2009). No PSM research has examined EMSPs as research par-

ticipants. Through this study, knowledge of the ways in which PSM is related to job

satisfaction and perceived job performance among EMSPs is advanced. This study

fills the gap in the literature that exists when considering both the construct validity of

PSM among EMSPs and the relationship between PSM and job satisfaction, and job

performance of EMSPs.

Literature Review

PSM Theory

The concept of PSM arises from the work of Perry and Wise (1990). Their original

formulation provided a typology of motivations associated with public service that

includes rational (Policy-Making), norm-based (Public Interest), and affective

motives (Compassion and Self-Sacrifice). The Public Interest factor is centered on

the desire to promote the common good and is fueled by loyalty and a sense of duty

to public. The two affective dimensions of Compassion and Self-Sacrifice reflect a

sincere belief in the importance public service has on the lives of others and that

serving others is a high form of loyalty and commitment to one’s country and com-

munity (Kim, 2009). The Compassion and Self-Sacrifice factors, often viewed as the

central feature of PSM, reflect an emphasis on altruism and prosocial values. The

Public Interest and Policy-Making factors reflect an emphasis on public service and

public institutions. Rainey and Steinbauer (1999) later described PSM as a general

altruistic motivation to serve some larger group of people, whether that be an orga-

nization, community, or nation. A more recent take on the construct by Vandenabeele

(2007) describes PSM as motives that transcend self-interest and involves invest-

ment and concern for larger social or political interests. Thus, PSM, regardless of