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Public Service Motivation

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  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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Synonyms

Altruism; Ethic of human caring; Prosocial motivation; PSM; Public service ethic (By the way, these concepts are closely related, but to what extent they are synonyms is debated within the literature)

Definition

There are several definitions in the field, but the most widely used is the classic definition of Perry and Wise (1990: 368): “motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions and organizations.” Another classic definition (although actually of the related concept of public service ethic) is by Brewer and Selden (1998: 417): “the motivational force that induces individuals to perform meaningful public service.” However, probably the most widely used definition has been developed by Vandenabeele (2007: 547): “belief, values and attitudes that go beyond self-interest and organizational interest, that concern the interest of a larger political entity”

Introduction

Public Service Motivation or PSM has in recent decades become a very popular concept within...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Bram Steijn

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  1. Bram Steijn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bram Steijn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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Steijn, B. (2018). Public Service Motivation. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20928-9_43

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