Public Service Motivation: PSM
PSM focuses motives linked to public institutions and
organizations. Perry and Wise (1990) defined public service motivation
as “an individual’s predisposition to respond to motives grounded
primarily or uniquely in public institutions and organizations”. As
Brewer et al. (2000) note, PSM is important not just to motivate but
also to produce, improve management practices, accountability, and trust
in a government; making this concept as a one of the major topics of
investigation in public administration. Public service motivation can be
characterized as a reliance on intrinsic over extrinsic rewards. Intrinsic
rewards are derived from the satisfaction an individual receives from
performing a task. Public sector employees place a higher value on
helping others, serving society and the public interest, and performing
work that is worthwhile to society (Houston, 2000).