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Does Person-Organization Fit Mediate the Relationship Between Public Service Motivation and the Job Performance of Public Employees?

University of Louisville, dr.bright{at}louisville.edu

Public service motivation (PSM) is argued to be a meaningful predictor of the performance of employees in public organizations. Many scholars predict that as the level of PSM increases, the performance of public employees will also increase. Unfortunately, existing research has yet to fully support this hypothesis. Two published studies that tested this hypothesis have come to different conclusions. This study investigated whether Person—Organization Fit (P—O Fit) mediates the relationship between PSM and the self-reported performance of public employees, using structural equation modeling. Using a sample of 205 public employees randomly drawn from three public organizations, this study found that PSM had no significant direct impact on the performance of public employees, when P—O Fit was taken into account. The implications of this study and areas of future research are discussed.

Key Words: performance • person—organization fit • public service motivation

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Review of Public Personnel Administration, Vol. 27, No. 4, 361-379 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0734371X07307149


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free 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 HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Bright, L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?