Public-Sector Work Motivation: A Review of the Current Literature and a Revised Conceptual Model

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory

Volumn 11, Issue 4, 2001, Pages 559-586

  Wright, Bradley E ^a  

^a STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0242484825     PISSN: 10531858     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a003515     Document Type: Article

References (122)

1. Alonso, Pablo, and Lewis, Gregory. 1999 "Public Service Motivation and Job Performance: Evidence from the Federal Sector." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Public Administration. Orlando, Fla.
2. Baldwin, J. Norman. 1984 "Are We Really Lazy?" Review of Public Personnel Administration 4:2:80-89.
3. 1987 "Public versus Private: Not That Different, Not That Consequential." Public Personnel Management 16:2:181-93.
4. 1990 "Perceptions of Public versus Private Sector Personnel and Informal Red Tape: Their Impact on Motivation." American Review of Public Administration 20:7-28.
5. 1991 "Public versus Private Employees: Debunking Stereotypes." Review of Public Personnel Administration 11:2:1-27.
6. Baldwin, J. Norman, and Parley, Quinton A. 1991 "Comparing the Public and Private Sectors in the United States: A Review of the Empirical Literature." In A. Farazmand, ed. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. New York: Marcel Dekker.
7. Balk, Walter L. 1974 "Why Don't Public Administrators Take Productivity More Seriously?" Public Personnel Management 3:3:318-24.
8. Bandura, Albert. 1986 Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
9. 1988 "Organizational Applications of Social Cognitive Theory." Australian Journal of Management 13:2:275-302.
10. Bandura, Albert, and Cervone, Daniel. 1983 "Self-evaluation and Self-efficacy Mechanisms Governing the Motivational Effects of Goal Systems." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45:1017-28.
11. 1986 "Differential Engagement of Self-reactive Influences in Cognitive Motivation." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 38:91-113.
12. Bandura, Albert, and Wood, Robert, 1989 "Effect of Perceived Controllability and Performance Standards on Self-regulation of Complex Decision Making." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56:5:805-14.
13. Barnard, Chester. I. 1938 The Functions of the Executive. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
14. Behn, Robert D. 1995 "The Big Questions of Public Management." Public Administration Review 55:4:313-24.
15. Blank, Rebecca M. 1985 "An Analysis of Workers' Choice between Employment in the Public and Private Sectors." Industrial and Labor Relations Review 38:2:211-24.
16. Blunt, Barrie E., and Spring, Kris A. 1991 "MPA Graduates and the Dilemma of Job Satisfaction: Does Crossing the Sector Line Make a Difference?" Public Personnel Management 20:4:449-55.
17. Bozeman, Barry. 1987 All Organizations Are Public: Bridging Public and Private Orgnizational Theories. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
18. Bozeman, Barry; Reed, Pamela; and Scott, Patrick. 1992 "The Presence of Red Tape in Public and Private Organizations." Administration and Society 24:290-322.
19. Buchanan, Bruce. 1974 "Building Organizational Commitment: The Socialization of Managers in Work Organizations." Administrative Science Quarterly 22:533-46.
20. 1975 "Government Managers, Business Executives, and Organizational Commitment." Public Administration Review 34:4:339-47.
21. Cacioppe, Ron, and Mock, Philip. 1984 "A Comparison of the Quality of Work Experience in Government and Private Organizations." Human Relations 37:11:923-40.
22. Cherniss, Gary, and Kane, Jeffrey S. 1987 "Public Sector Professionals: Job Characteristics, Satisfaction, and Aspirations for Intrinsic Fulfillment through Work." Human Relations 40:3:125-36.
23. Cooper, Gary L., and Robertson, Ivan T. 1986 "Editorial Forward." In Cary L. Cooper and Ivan T. Robertson, eds. International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Chichester, England: Wiley.
24. Crewson, Philip E. 1997 "Public-Service Motivation: Building Empirical Evidence of Incidence and Effect." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 7:499-518.
25. DeSantis, Victor S., and Durst, Samantha L. 1996 "Comparing Job Satisfaction among Public and Private Sector Employees." American Review of Public Administration 26:3:327-13.
26. Barley, P. Christopher. 1986 "Supervisors and Shop Stewards as Sources of Contextual Information in Goal Setting: A Comparison of U.S. with England." Journal of Applied Psychology 71:111-17.
27. Earley, P. Christopher, and Lituchy, Terri R. 1991 "Delineating Goal and Efficacy Effects: A Test of Three Models." Journal of Applied Psychology 76:81-88.
28. Earley, W.N. 1986 "An Examination of the Mechanisms Underlying the Relation of Feedback to Performance." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management.
29. Eden, Don. 1988 "Pygmalion, Goal Setting, and Expectancy: Compatible Ways to Boost Productivity." Academy of Management Review 13:639-52.
30. Edwards, J. Terry; Nalbandian, John; and Wedel, Kenneth R. 1981 "Individual Values and Professional Education: Implications for Practice and Education." Administration and Society 13:2:123-43.
31. Emmert, Mark A., and Taher, Walied A. 1992 "Public Sector Professionals: The Effects of Public Sector Jobs on Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Work Involvement." American Review of Public Administration 22:1:37-48.
32. Erez, Miriam; Earley, P. Christopher; and Hulin, Charles L. 1985 "The Impact of Participation on Goal Acceptance and Performance: A Two Step Model." Academy of Management Journal 28:50-66.
33. Fogel, W., and Lewin, D. 1974 "Wage Determination in the Public Sector." Industrialand Labor Relations Review 27:411-22.
34. Fouler, Myron D. 1981 "Is Management Really Generic?" Academy of Management Review 6:1:1-12.
35. Frayne, Colette A., and Latham, Gary P. 1987 "Application of Social Learning Theory to Employee Self-Management of Attendance." Journal of Applied Psychology 72:3:387-92.
36. Fried, Yitzhak, and Ferris, Gerald R. 1987 "The Validity of the Job Characteristics Model: A Review and Meta-Analysis." Personnel Psychology 40:287-322.
37. Gabris, Gerald T., and Simo, Gloria. 1995 "Public Sector Motivation as an Independent Variable Affecting Career Decisions." Public Personnel Management 24:1:33-51.
38. Gibson, Frank K., and Teasley, Clyde E. 1973 "The Humanistic Model of Organizational Motivation: A Review of Research Support." Public Administration Review 23:1:89-96.
39. Graham, William K., and Renwick, Patricia A. 1972 "Expected Need Deficiency and Preferences for Three Types of Organizations." Journal of Psychology 82:21-26.
40. Guyot, James F. 1960 "Government Bureaucrats Are Different." Public Administration Review 29:3:195-202.
41. Hackman, J. Richard, and Lawler, Edward E. 1971 "Employee Reactions to Job Characteristics." Journal of Applied Psychology 55:259-86.
42. Hall, Douglas T.; Schneider, Benjamin; and Nygren, Harold T. 1975 "Personal Factors in Organizational Identification." Administrative Science Quarterly 15:176-90.
43. Heneman, Herbert G.I.; Schwab, Donald P.; Possum, John A.; and Dyer, L.D. 1983 Personnel/Human Resource Management. Homewood, 111.: Irwin.
44. Herzberg, Frederick A.; Mausner, Barnard; and Snyderman, Barbara. 1959 The Motivation to Work. New York: Wiley.
45. Hinrichs, J.R. 1964 "The Attitudes of Research Chemists." Journal of Applied Psychology 48:287-93.
46. Iaffaldano, Michelle T., and Muchinsky, Paul M. 1985 "Job Satisfaction and Job Performance: A Meta-Analysis." Psychological Bulletin 97:2:251-73.
47. Jones, M.R. 1955 Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
48. Jurkiewicz, Carole L.; Massey, Tom K.; and Brown, Roger G. 1998 "Motivation in Public and Private Organizations: A Comparative Study." Public Productivity and Management Review 21:3:230-50.
49. Kahn, Robert L., and Morse, Nancy C. 1951 "The Relationship of Productivity to Morale." Journal of Social Issues 7:8-17.
50. Kanfer, Ruth. 1990 "Motivation Theory and Industrial and Organizational Psychology." In Marvin D. Dunnette and Leatta M. Hough, eds. Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2d ed., vol. 1.
51. 1992 "Work Motivation: New Directions in Theory and Research." International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology 7:1-53.
52. Katz, D., and Kahn, Robert. 1978 The Social Psychology of Organizations. New York: Wiley.
53. Katzell, Raymond A., and Thompson, Donna E. 1990 "Work Motivation: Theory and Practice." American Psychologist 45:2:144-53.
54. Kernan, Mary G., and Lord, Robert C. 1990 "Effects of Valence, Expectancies, and Goal Performance Discrepancies in Single and Multiple Goal Environments." Journal of Applied Psychology 75:194-303.
55. Kettl, Donald. 1995 "Building Lasting Reform: Enduring Questions, Missing Answers." In Donald F. Kettl and J.J. Dilulio, eds. Inside the Reinvention Machine. Washington, D.C.: Brookings.
56. Khojasteh, Mak. 1993 "Motivating the Private vs. Public Sector Managers." Public Personnel Management 22:3:391-401.
57. Kilpatrick, F.P.; Cummings, M.C.; and Jennings, M.K. 1964 The Image of the Federal Service. Washington, D.C.: Brookings.
58. Klein, Howard J. 1991 "Further Evidence on the Relationship between Goal Setting and Expectancy Theories." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 49:230-57.
59. Latham, Gary P., and Frayne, Colette A. 1989 "Self-management Training for Increasing Job Attendance: A Follow-up and a Replication." Journal of Applied Psychology 74:3:411-16.
60. Latham, Gary P., and Lee, T.W. 1986 "Goal Setting." In Edwin A. Locke, ed. Generalizing from Laboratory to Field Settings, pp. 101-18. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.
61. Lawler, Edward E. 1971 Pay and Organizational Effectiveness: A Psychological View. New York: McGraw-Hill.
62. 1981 Pay and Organizational Development. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
63. 1986 High-Involvement Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
64. 1994 Motivation in Work Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
65. Lewis, Gregory B. 1991 "Pay and Job Satisfaction in the Federal Civil Service." Review of Public Personnel Administration 11:3:17-31.
66. Locke, E.A.; Chah, D.O.; Harrison, S.; and Lustgarten, N. 1989 "Separating the Effects of Goal Specificity from Goal Level." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 43:270-87.
67. Locke, Edwin A., and Latham, Gary P. 1990 A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
68. Maidani, Ebrahim A. 1991 "Comparative Study of Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of Job Satisfaction Among Public and Private Sectors." Public Personnel Management 20:4:441-48.
69. Maslow, Abraham H. 1954 Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper & Row.
70. McClelland, D.C. 1961 The Achieving Society. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand.
71. Memo, Anthony J.; Locke, Edwin A.; and Klein, Howard J. 1992 "Relationship of Goal Level to Valence and Instrumentality." Journal of Applied Psychology 77:395-405.
72. Mento, Anthony J.; Steel, Robert P.; and Karren, Ronald J. 1987 "A Meta-Analytic Study of the Effects of Goal Setting on Task Performance: 1966-1984." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 39:1:52-83.
73. Meyer, John P., and Gellatly, Ian R. 1988 "Perceived Performance Norm as a Mediator in the Effect of Assigned Goal on Personal Goal and Task Performance." Journal of Applied Psychology 75:410-20.
74. Meyer, Marshall W. 1982 "Bureaucratic vs. Profit Organization." In Barry M. Staw and L.L. Cummings, eds. Research in Organizational Behavior. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI.
75. Mitchell, Terrence R. 1979 "Organizational Behavior." Annual Review of Psychology 30:243-81.
76. Mitchell, Terrence R. 1997 "Matching Motivation Strategies with Organizational Contexts." In L.L. Cummings and Barry M. Staw, eds. Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 19. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI.
77. Mowen, John C.; Middlemist, R. Dennis; and Luther, David. 1981 "Joint Effects of Assigned Goal Levels and Incentive Structure on Task Performance." Journal of Applied Psychology 66:598-603.
78. Nalbandian, John, and Edwards, J. Terry. 1983 "The Values of Public Administrators: A Comparison with Lawyers, Social Workers and Business Administrators." Review of Public Personnel Administration 4:1:114-27.
79. Newstrom, John W.; Reif, William E.; and Monczka, Robert M. 1976 "Motivating the Public Employee: Fact vs. Fiction." Public Personnel Management 5:67-72.
80. Osborne, D., and Gaebler, T. 1992 Reinventing Government. New York: Addison-Wesley.
81. Paine, Frank T.; Carroll, Stephen J.; and Leete, Burt A. 1966 "Need Satisfactions of Managerial Level Personnel in a Government Agency." Journal of Applied Psychology 50:3:247-49.
82. Perry, James L. 1996 "Measuring Public Service Motivation: An Assessment of Construct Reliability and Validity." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 6:1:5-22.
83. 1997 "Antecedents of Public Service Motivation." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 7:2:181-97.
84. Perry, James L., and Porter, Lyman W. 1982 "Factors Affecting the Context for Motivation in Public Organizations." Academy of Management Review 7:1:89-98.
85. Perry, James L., and Rainey, Hal G. 1988 "The Public-Private Distinction in Organizational Theory: A Critique and Research Strategy." Academy of Management Review 13:2:182-201.
86. Perry, James L., and Wise, Lois R. 1990 "The Motivational Bases of Public Service." Public Administration Review 50:3:367-73.
87. Podsakoff, Philip M., and Fahr, Jiing-Lih. 1989 "Effects of Feedback Sign and Credibility on Goal Setting and Task Performance." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 44:45-67.
88. Porter, Lyman W., and Lawler, Edward E. 1968 Managerial Attitudes and Performance. Homewood, Ill.: Irwin-Dorsey.
89. Porter, Lyman W., and Mitchell, Vance F. 1967 "Comparative Study of Need Satisfactions in Military and Business Hierarchies." Journal of Applied Psychology 51:2:139-44.
90. Posner, Barry Z., and Schmidt, Warren H. 1982 "Determining Managerial Strategies in the Public Sector: What Kinds of People Enter the Public and Private Sectors? An Updated Comparison of Perceptions, Stereotypes, and Values." Human Resource Management 21:2:35-43.
91. 1996 "The Values of Business and Federal Government Executives: More Different Than Alike." Public Personnel Management 25:3:277-89.
92. Pugh, Derek S.; Hickson, David J.; Minings, C. Robin; and Turner, C. 1969 "The Context of Organization Structures." Administrative Science Quarterly 14:1:91-114.
93. Raia, A.P. 1965 "Goal Setting and Self-Control." Journal of Management Studies 2:34-53.
94. Rainey, Hal G. 1979 "Perceptions of Incentives in Business and Government: Implications for Civil Service Reform." Public Administration Review 39:5:440-48.
95. 1982 "Reward Preferences among Public and Private Managers: In Search of the Service Ethic." American Review of Public Administration 16:4:288-302.
96. 1983 "Private Agencies and Private Firms: Incentive Structures, Goals and Individual Roles." Administration and Society 15:2:207-42.
97. 1989 "Public Management: Recent Research on the Political Context and Managerial Roles, Structures and Behaviors." Journal of Management 15:2:229-50.
98. 1993 "Work Motivation." In R.T. Golembiewski, ed. Handbook of Organizational Behavior, pp. 19-39. New York: Marcel Dekker.
99. Rainey, Hal G.; Backoff, Robert W.; and Levine, Charles H. 1976 "Comparing Public and Private Organizations." Public Administration Review 36:2:182-201.
100. Rainey, Hal G.; Pandey, Sanjay; and Bozeman, Barry. 1995 "Research Note: Public and Private Managers' Perceptions of Red Tape." Public Administration Review 55:6:567-74.
101. Rainey, Hal G., and Steinbauer, P. 1999 "Galloping Elephants: Developing Elements of a Theory of Effective Government Organizations." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 9:1:1-32.
102. Rainey, Hal G.; Traut, Carol; and Blunt, Berrie. 1986 "Reward Expectancies and Other Work-Related Attitudes in Public and Private Organizations: A Review and Extension." Review of Public Personnel Administration 6:3:50-72.
103. Rawls, James R., and Nelson, Oscar T. 1975 "Characteristics Associated with Preferences for Certain Managerial Positions." Psychological Reports 36:911-18.
104. Rawls, James R.; Ullrich, Robert A.; and Nelson, Oscar T. 1975 "A Comparison of Managers Entering or Reentering the Profit and Nonprofit Sectors." Academy of Management Journal 18:3:616-23.
105. Rhinehart, J.B.; Barrell, R.P.; DeWolfe, A.S.; Griffin, J.E.; and Spaner, F.E. 1969 "Comparative Study of Need Satisfactions in Governmental and Business Hierarchies." Journal of Applied Psychology 53:3:230-35.
106. Rodgers, Robert, and Hunter, John E. 1992 "A Foundation of Good Management Practice in Government: Management by Objectives." Public Administration Review 52:1:27-39.
107. Rosenberg, Morris. 1957 Occupations and Values. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press.
108. Rousseau, Denise. M. 1997 "Organizational Behavior in the New Organizational Era." Annual Review of Psychology 48:515-16.
109. Salancik, Gerald R. 1977 "Commitment and the Control of Organizational Behavior and Belief." In Barry M. Staw and Gerald R. Salancik, eds. New Directions in Organizational Behavior. Chicago: St. Clair.
110. Schneider, Benjamin. 1987 "The People Make the Place." Personnel Psychology 40:3:437-53.
111. Schuster, Jay R. 1974 "Management-Compensation Policy and the Public Interest." Public Personnel Management 3:510-23.
112. Solomon, Esther E. 1986 "Private and Public Sector Managers: An Empirical Investigation of Job Characteristics and Organizational Climate." Journal of Applied Psychology 71:2:247-59.
113. Steel, Brent S., and Warner, Rebecca L. 1990 "Job Satisfaction among Early Labor Force Participants: Unexpected Outcomes in Public and Private Sector Comparisons." Review of Public Personnel Administration 10:3:4-22.
114. Tosi, Henry L., and Carroll, Stephen J. Jr. 1968 "Managerial Reaction to Management by Objectives." Academy of Management Journal 11:415-26.
115. Tubbs, Mark E. 1986 "Goal Setting: A Meta-Analytic Examination of the Empirical Evidence." Journal of Applied Psychology 71:474-83.
116. Vroom, Victor H. 1964 Work and Motivation. New York: Wiley.
117. Wagenheim, George D., and Reurink, John H., 1991 "Customer Service in Public Administration." Public Administration Review 51:3:263-70.
118. Wechsler, Irving R.; Kahane, Murray; and Tannenbaum, Robert. 1952 "Job Satisfaction, Productivity and Morale: A Case Study." Occupational Psychology 26:1-14.
119. Whorton, Joseph W., and Worthley, John A. 1981 "A Perspective on the Challenge of Public Management: Environmental Paradox and Organizational Culture." Academy of Management Review 6:3:357-61.
120. Wilk, Leslie A., and Redmon, William K. 1990 "A Daily-Adjusted Goal-Setting and Feedback Procedure for Improving Productivity in a University Admissions Office." Journal of Organizational Behavior Management 11:55-75.
121. Wittmer, Dennis. 1991 "Serving the People or Serving for Pay: Reward Preferences among Government, Hybrid Sector and Business Managers." Public Productivity and Management Review 14:4:369-83.
122. Wright, Patrick M. 1989 "Test of the Mediating Role of Goals in the Incentive-Performance Relationship." Journal of Applied Psychology 74:699-705.