Public service motivation and organizational performance: Catalyzing effects of altruism, perceived social impact and political support

Abstract

With the increasing pressures and demands from the public sector to be more efficient and effective and accountable, the idea of Public Service Motivation (PSM) and Organization Performance (OP) has become more relevant and critical. This quantitative research hypothesizes that PSM leads towards higher level of organizational performance among public sector officials and also explores the intervening effects of Altruism (ALT), Perceived Social Impact (PSI) and Political Support (PS) in this context. Based on self-administered questionnaire, data was collected from 405 public officials using random sampling strategy. Covariance Based Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the hypothesized model. Following the validation of the measurement model, structural model was developed to test the various paths predicted in the hypotheses. Analysis revealed that PSM, PS and ALT have a positive relationship with OP whereas PSM relationship with PS could not be established.