Public Administration In The Time Of Regional Change (ICPM 2013)

Public Service Motivation Measurement: A Test for Perry's Proposed

Scale in China

Gan Kaipeng1, Li Linghua2, Wang Qiu3

1School of Public Administration, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics
2Marx's College, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics
3Yunnan Vocational College of Scientific Technology and Information, Yunnan , P. R. China, 650221
(E-mail: 937618678@qq.com)

Abstract
This article proposes and tests a shortened instrument for public service motivation based on Perrys
(1996) exploratory 24-item scale according to the investigation of Chinese civil servant in Kunming
city. Results show good support for the shortened scale compared to Perrys original work through
investigating the PSM of Chinese civil servant in Kunming city. We got a 14-item scale for three
factors, but the CIP dimension has not been emerged in the present study. At the same time, the results
show that the total level of PSM for Chinese civil servant who was drew from the basic level of city
government in Kunming, Yunnan is higher. Of three dimensions, the Mean of compassion is highest
with a M=4.0871, the Mean of self-sacrifice is relatively low with a M=3.7328.

Keywords: public service motivation, Perry; confirmatory factor analysis, Chinese civil servant

1. Introduction (PSM), which includes four dimensions:

attraction to policy making (APM), commitment
Government employee motivation is one of the to public interest (CPI), compassion (COM), and
most important issues in the theory and practice self-sacrifice (SS). Basing the dimensions of
of public administration. Traditionally, many Perrys (1996) scale, a lot of researchers have
scholars asserted that government emoloyees tested the antecedents and effects of PSM over
should be and are strongly motivated by the the past ten years (Camilleri, 2006; Castaing,
desire to help the general public, especially in 2006; Choi, 2004; DeHart- Davis, Marlowe, &
comparison to private sector employees Pandey, 2006). Kim has tested whether the
(Houston, 2005; Mosher, 1982). The previous structure of PSM observed in the United States
research has generally supported such claims, by Perry (1996) can be generalized to Korea. It
especially in comparison to extrinsic rewards was found that although the four-factor structure
and with the results sometimes varying by such of PSM can be generalized to the Korean context,
factors as level of management (Crewson, 1995) it is doubtful whether APM in the second-order
and employee age. Whether called public service model is indeed a valid dimension of PSM in
ethic (Brewer & Selden, 1998) or motivation, the Korea because its standardized factor loadings
concept of PSM is typically considered by Perry are too low. So in order to test the Perrys scale
and Wise who defined the PSM as an further, the author of this paper would like to
individuals predisposition to respond to motives discuss and test the scale in the Chinese context
grounded primarily or uniquely in public through investigate the PSM of civil servants in
institutions and organizations. Kunming.
Many scholars view that the public
employees are motivated by a sense of service
which has not found among private employees
2. Perrys PSM Measures: A
(Houston, 2000; Perry & Wise, 1990). Proposed Shortened Scale
Individuals who are strongly motivated to do
A lot of scholars have researched whether there
public service are supposed to work for public
are special motivation for public service which is
organizations, to perform better on the job, and
different from those for the private sector. What
to be more sensitive to intrinsic rewards (Perry
motivates people to work for public service?
& Wise, 1990). Perry (1996) constructed a
Perry and other scholars view that civil servants
measure scale to study public service motivation
are characterized by an motivation to serve the

2013. The authors - Published by Atlantis Press 8

public interests. They are committed to the Scheepers, and Hondeghem (2006) defined it as
public interest and have a strong desire to serve the belief, values and attitudes that go beyond
the society and others (Houston, 2006). PSM self-interest or organizational interest, that
provides a useful basis for understanding public concern the interest of a larger political entity
employee motivation (Perry, 2000). According to and that induce, through public interaction,
Perry and Wise (1990), PSM is defined as an motivation for targeted action. Even though the
individuals predisposition to respond to motives definitions of PSM itself vary slightly by author,
grounded primarily or uniquely in public a commitment to the public interest, service to
institutions and organizations. Brewer and others, and self-sacrifice underlie an
Selden (1998) describe it as the motivational understanding of PSM (Houston, 2006).
force that induces individuals to perform Perrys (1996) scale of PSM provided
meaningful public service. Rainey and support for a four-dimension PSM construct. See
Steinbauer (1999) define it as a general table 1. In order to develop a shortened scale
altruistic motivation to serve the interests of a based on Perrys construction, the paper aims to
community of people, a state, a nation or eliminate the self-sacrifice dimension.
mankind (p. 23). Recently,Vandenabeele,

Perry (1996) Designation

Attraction to policy making
PSM1: I am interested in making public programs that are beneficial for my country or the community I
belong to.
PSM2: Sharing my views on public policies with others is attractive to me.
PSM3: Seeing people get benefits from the public program I have been deeply involved in brings me a
great deal of satisfaction.
Commitment to the public interest
PSM4: I consider public service my civic duty.
PSM5: Meaningful public service is very important to me.
PSM6: I would prefer seeing public officials do what is best for the whole community even if it harmed my
interests.
Compassion
PSM7: It is difficult for me to contain my feelings when I see people in distress.
PSM8: I am often reminded by daily events how dependent we are on one another.
PSM9: I feel sympathetic to the plight of the underprivileged.
PSM10: To me, patriotism includes seeing to the welfare of others.
Self-sacrifice
PSM11: Serving other citizens would give me a good feeling even if no one paid me for it.
PSM12: Making a difference in society means more to me than personal achievements.
PSM13: I am prepared to make enormous sacrifices for the good of society.
PSM14: I believe in putting duty before self.

Table 1 Public Service Motivation (PSM) Items by Dimensions

However, it is important to note that the peer-reviewed on request by several prominent

dimension of self-sacrifice has been included as public management researchers familiar with the
part of related PSM research and theory. Brewer PSM literature. Table 1 lists the chosen
and Selden (1998), Brewer et al. (2000), and indicators along with Perrys (1996) original
Houston (2000) have tested its viability. Toward item designations, which we use here to be the
the goal of a shorter scale, the paper chose to use scale of this paper. The three policy dimension
14 items. For each dimension, we needed at least items and one compassion indicator are reverse
three indicators for reliable testing, which meant worded; that is, higher values indicate lower
all the original items from Perrys attraction to PSM. These items were reversed coded to aid
public policymaking dimension were preserved comparison to the other indicators.
with 3 items. Commitment to public
interest/civic duty has five items and
3. Method
compassion eight items in the original scale.
There are 3 from the first dimension and 4 from
3.1 Measures
compassion which is selected by us for the
research aim. The standard for item selection Perry (1996) developed a list of 24 items
was a mix of the original validity and reliability measuring four subscales of PSM, and Kim
results reported by Perry and a subjective reduced it to a 14-item scale and confirmed that
assessment of the face validity, distinctiveness, the four-factor structure of PSM can be
and clarity of the items. These judgments were generalized to the Korean context. This study is

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based on the 14-item PSM scale which was civil service.
developed by Kim. According to Kim, the APM
items in Perrys (1996) scale may not be
4. Result
appropriate to represent the rational base of PSM.
The items are not asking whether the The four-correlated-factor model was tested,
respondents are attracted to public policy which hypothesized a priori that (a) responses to
making but whether they like or dislike politics, the 14-item PSM scale could be explained by
politicians, and political phenomena. All of the four factors; (b) each item would have a nonzero
scales are responded to on a 5-point Likert-type loading on the PSM factor it was designed to
scale (1 = strong disagreement; 5 = strong measure and zero loadings on all other factors;
agreement). To ensure equivalence of the (c) the four factors, consistent with the theory,
measures in the Chinese versions, all the scales would be correlated; and (d) measurement error
used in this study were translated into Chinese. terms would be uncorrelated. However, the
To increase the accuracy of the response, each present study shows that only three factors are
survey was distributed with a cover sheet produced through data reduction, namely,
guaranteeing anonymity. Self-sacrifice, Attraction to policy making and
3.2 Samples Compassion. Compared to Perrys PSM
Measures, the dimension of commitment to the
The data for this study were collected through public interest has not been emerged in the
investing 465 civil servants who were working present study, which is a different result from
in the basic level government in Kunming. Perrys. The Alpha of three factors
About 500 permanent full-time civil servants of are .666, .7525 and 7653 respectively (see table
Kunming City in Yunnan province were given 2). So we can conclude that the PSM for Chinese
surveys to complete during regular working civil servants maybe consist of three dimension
hours; 471 surveys were returned, yielding a including Self-sacrifice, Attraction to policy
response rate of 94.2%. Of the respondents, men making and Compassion and the dimension of
were 37.4% and women were 62.6%. Turning to commitment to the public interest can be
educational background, 34.4% had at least a integrated into other three dimensions
bachelors degree; 65.6% had a junior college respectively.
diploma. The mean of age is 37.3; About
36.1.9% respondents had worked for more than
10 years and fewer (13.1%) than 20 years in the

Component
Factors and Items
1 2 3
Self-sacrifice (Alpha=.6660)
PSM13: I am prepared to make enormous sacrifices for the good of society. .759
PSM14: I believe in putting duty before self. .716
PSM11: Serving other citizens would give me a good feeling even if no one paid
.664
me for it.
PSM6: I would prefer seeing public officials do what is best for the whole
.604
community even if it harmed my interests.
PSM10: To me, patriotism includes seeing to the welfare of others. .471

Attraction to policy making (Alpha=.7525)

PSM2: Sharing my views on public policies with others is attractive to me. .732

PSM3: Seeing people get benefits from the public program I have been deeply
.650
involved in brings me a great deal of satisfaction.
PSM1: I am interested in making public programs that are beneficial for my
.642
country or the community I belong to.
PSM4: I consider public service my civic duty. .590

PSM5: Meaningful public service is very important to me. .586

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 Table 2 Rotated Component Matrix(a) for the 14-Item PSM Scale (n = 465)
Component
Factors and Items
1 2 3
Compassion (Alpha=.7653)

PSM8: I am often reminded by daily events how dependent we are on one another. .789

PSM9: I feel sympathetic to the plight of the underprivileged. .724

PSM7: It is difficult for me to contain my feelings when I see people in distress. .707

PSM12: Making a difference in society means more to me than personal

.527
achievements.

Table 2 (Continued)

In order to analyze the score of three government in Kunming, Yunnan is higher. Of

dimensions of PSM, the paper explores the three dimensions, the Mean of compassion is
Mean and Std. Deviation. Table 3 show that the highest with a M=4.0871, the Mean of
total level of PSM for Chinese civil servant who self-sacrifice is relatively low with a M=3.7328.
was drew from the basic level of city

Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Attraction to policy making 1.00 5.00 3.9964 .53805
Compassion 1.50 5.00 4.0871 .50902
Self-sacrifice 1.25 5.00 3.7328 .68207

Table 3 Descriptive Statistics (n = 465)

5. Conclusion Perry measurement scale as so to deeply explore

the motivation of civil servants in China.
The paper aims to confirm whether the
dimension of Perry measurement scale is a valid
measure for Chinese civil servant. In Kims
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