The chess player: Public Service Motivation as a moral intuition

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the processes by which Public Service Motivation (PSM) leads to ethical outcomes. Combining ethics, motivational, institutional and psychological theories through the concept of... [ view full abstract ]

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the processes by which Public Service Motivation (PSM) leads to ethical outcomes. Combining ethics, motivational, institutional and psychological theories through the concept of identity, the study clarifies to what extent PSM individuals are able to offer a quick, intuitive and effortless response to ethical issues. The main hypothesis is that if PSM is autonomously regulated, individuals are more likely to provide an automatic response. By contrast, when the regulation of PSM is controlled, individuals are more prone to balance different principles and therefore give a slow and effortful response. The empirical analysis draws on a series of survey experiments. Implications of the findings are discussed.