This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Vandenabeele, W. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The mediating effect of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on self-reported performance: more robust evidence of the PSM—performance relationship

Public Management Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Public service motivation (PSM) has been linked to various outcome variables, but as more and more public administration research is devoted to improving performance, the possible link between PSM and performance is increasingly of interest. The current study contributes to this literature by investigating whether this relationship is present in a dataset of Belgian civil servants. The results corroborate the general thesis and demonstrate a mediation effect (to some extent) of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on this relationship. By doing so, the present study partly unveils the mechanisms upon which the PSM—performance relationship is based.

Points for practitioners The findings of this study should urge public managers and decision-makers to value the effect of PSM in a public sector environment. First, as individual PSM apparently correlates with performance, this might provide some ideas about how to manage human resources in an effectiveness and efficiency driven public sector. Considering PSM in recruitment, retention and training may engender better individual performance. Next to this, the mediating role of job satisfaction and organizational commitment should enable public managers to find more openings to harness PSM effectively. After all, it embeds PSM better into vested theory and practices, with which practitioners may be more familiar.

Key Words: employee performance • mediation effect • public service motivation

International Review of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 75, No. 1, 11-34 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0020852308099504


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?