Exploring the relationship between motivation, economic stress, and the acceptance of unethical behavior of public sector workers across Europe

Many have argued that people who are motivated by the desire to provide public services, or PSM, are often focused on the common good and supporting society and this focus supersedes individual needs (Esteve et al. 2015).... [ view full abstract ]

Many have argued that people who are motivated by the desire to provide public services, or PSM, are often focused on the common good and supporting society and this focus supersedes individual needs (Esteve et al. 2015). Various scholars (e.g. Brewer & Selden 1998; Houston 2006) provide evidence that PSM is a type of motivation that is not constrained within the context of public sector work. In addition, research has suggested that more self-determined forms of motivation are linked to prosocial behavioral outcomes (Gagne 2003). Although some empirical studies disentangle the connection between motivations and individual’s tolerance of unethical behavior at work, the literature linking motivations to acceptance of unethical dealings outside work is scarce. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the extent to work motivation and economic strain, impact a person’s acceptance of unethical behavior outside the workplace. We argue that the more PSM a person possess, the more likely they will be adverse to unethical behaviors as it challenges the building blocks of PSM. Using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) we hypothesize that the more self-determined the source of motivation is, the more it will translate into a consistent ethical behavior. We further predict that public servants with high-perceived economic stress are more likely to accept unethical dealings outside the workplace as they become more self-interested and less self-determined. Using data from 23 countries from the 2010/2011 European Social Survey, we develop a path model to test the hypotheses. We highlight that the work motivation type in the public sector may transcend the work context and influence the acceptance of unethical behavior in the public square. Also, perceived economic stress play an indirect role by pulling the levels up and down of the work motivations.