The effect of Public Service Motivation and its dimensions on employment choice. New evidence on the public and nonprofit sectors, job service orientation and stability.

This study analyzes how the influence of public service motivation (PSM) and its constitutive dimensions over employment choice is affected by sector, service emphasis and job stability. It draws on a policy capturing design... [ view full abstract ]

This study analyzes how the influence of public service motivation (PSM) and its constitutive dimensions over employment choice is affected by sector, service emphasis and job stability. It draws on a policy capturing design focusing on the comparison between the public sector and the nonprofit sector, and a sample of first-year students from a Spanish university. Results show that overall PSM levels increase the appeal of the nonprofit sector over the public sector and the attraction of jobs emphasizing public service, but appear to be unrelated to job stability. Remarkably, the enhanced preference for the nonprofit sector among high-PSM individuals remains even after controlling for the service orientation of the job. When performed at the level of PSM dimensions, the analysis shows that compassion and self-sacrifice are the drivers of the preference for the nonprofit sector, while attraction to public service plays a similar role for the preference for service-oriented jobs. We also find job stability to be crowding-out the self-sacrifice dimension while crowding-in attraction to public service and commitment to public values.