Working 9 to 5? A cross-national analysis of public sector worker stereotypes

Figures & data

Figure 1. Overview of the procedures of the 2-step approach.

Table 1. Sample descriptives of study 1.

		U.S. (N=215)	Canada (N=282)	Netherlands (N=216)	South Korea (N=205)
% of sample (% of population, OECD 2020)
Sex	Female	55.35 (50.75)	52.13 (50.31)	45.37 (50.37)	44.39 (49.89)
	Male	44.65 (49.25)	47.52 (49.69)	54.63 (49.63)	54.15 (50.11)
	Prefer not to say	0.00	0.35	0.00	1.46
Age	16–24	12.56 (16.21)	16.67 (14.54)	15.74 (14.68)	15.61 (12.81)
	25–34	15.81 (17.03)	17.73 (16.56)	18.06 (14.97)	19.02 (15.30)
	35–44	12.56 (15.58)	14.18 (15.84)	13.89 (14.31)	22.44 (17.09)
	45–54	15.35 (15.62)	15.25 (15.52)	20.83 (17.68)	27.80 (19.23)
	55+	43.72 (35.56)	36.17 (37.54)	31.48 (38.36)	15.12 (35.57)
Level of Education	Low (No formal education, grade school)	7.44 (9.20)	7.80 (8.40)	19.44 (21.00)	2.44 (11.80)
	Mid (High school, vocational school, no college degree)	58.14 (43.40)	32.98 (33.70)	41.20 (40.70)	45.85 (39.20)
	High (With college degree)	34.42 (47.40)	59.22 (57.90)	38.89 (38.30)	50.73 (49.00)

Note. Sampling quotas were used to ensure the sample was comparable to population margins, in terms of age, sex, and level of education. Numbers between parentheses indicate population margins.

Table 2. Master list of thirty-six traits.

Arrogant	Go home on time	Knowledgeable
Authoritative	Friendly	Lazy
Boring	Good	Loyal
Calm	Hardworking	Patient
Caring	Helpful	Responsible
Conservative	Honest	Serious
Corrupt	Impartial	Serving
Courageous	Independent	Stable
Difficult	Inflexible	Strict
Educated	Integrity	Strong
Empathetic	Intelligent	Trustworthy
Fair	Job security	Well paid

Table 3. Sample descriptives of study 2.

		U.S. (N=610)	Canada (N=632)	Netherlands (N=1176)	South Korea (N=633)
% of sample (% of population, OECD 2020)
Sex	Female	50.98 (50.75)	49.44 (50.31)	50.17 (50.37)	47.24 (49.89)
	Male	48.69 (49.25)	50.40 (49.69)	49.15 (49.63)	50.71 (50.11)
	Prefer not to say	0.33	0.16	0.68	2.05
Age	16–24	10.82 (16.21)	11.88 (14.54)	15.48 (14.68)	9.48 (12.81)
	25–34	15.90 (17.03)	17.34 (16.56)	17.09 (14.97)	16.27 (15.30)
	35–44	16.89 (15.58)	16.37 (15.84)	16.41 (14.31)	16.90 (17.09)
	45–54	17.70 (15.62)	15.73 (15.52)	12.5 (17.68)	19.27 (19.23)
	55+	38.69 (35.56)	38.68 (37.54)	38.52 (38.36)	38.07 (35.57)
Level of Education	Low (No formal education, grade school)	7.70 (9.20)	5.78 (8.40)	23.89 (21.00)	4.58 (11.80)
	Mid (High school, vocational school, no college degree)	41.48 (43.40)	33.39 (33.70)	36.56 (40.70)	45.97 (39.20)
	High (With college degree)	50.82 (47.40)	60.83 (57.90)	39.54 (38.30)	48.03 (49.00)

Note. Sampling quotas were used to ensure the sample was comparable to population margins, in terms of age, sex, and level of education. Numbers between parentheses indicate population margins.

Figure 2. Stereotype profile of public sector workers across countries.

Note. The words show the top ten most frequently selected traits as typical of public sector workers. The grey bars in the left panel show the percentage of participants that selected the trait as one of their top five most typical of public sector workers. The right panel shows the mean valence scores for each trait.

Figure 3. Stereotype profiles of public sector workers in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and South Korea.

Note. The grey bars in the left panel show the percentage of participants that selected the trait as one of their top five most typical of public sector workers. The right panel shows the mean valence scores for each trait. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals of the mean valence scores.

Table 4. Post-hoc pairwise country comparisons.

		Mean Difference	Std. Error	Significance		95% Confidence Interval for Difference
				p-value	Adjusted p-value	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
United States	Canada	0.00	0.07	0.93	1.00	−0.14	0.13
	The Netherlands	0.49	0.06	1.33e^−15	7.99e^−15*	−0.60	−0.37
	South Korea	0.33	0.07	2.47e^−6	1.48e^−5*	−0.47	−0.20
Canada	The Netherlands	0.48	0.06	2.82e^−16	1.69e^−15*	0.37	0.59
	South Korea	0.33	0.07	1.30e^−6	7.78e^−6*	0.20	0.46
The Netherlands	South Korea	0.15	0.06	0.01	0.06	−0.27	−0.04

Note. Asterisks indicate a significant difference, after Bonferroni p-value adjustments, at α = .05.

*= p < .05.

Table S1. Stereotypes for public sector workers in all countries combined (n = 3,042).

	Trait	Selection frequency	% of participants	Mean stereotype valence	Lower 95% CI	Upper 95% CI
1	Job security	963	31.66	3.66	3.59	3.73
2	Go home on time	812	26.69	2.91	2.83	2.99
3	Serving	658	21.63	4.47	4.41	4.54
4	Inflexible	600	19.72	1.91	1.82	2.00
5	Responsible	530	17.42	4.55	4.47	4.63
6	Well paid	529	17.39	3.30	3.21	3.39
7	Helpful	421	13.84	4.56	4.47	4.64
8	Hardworking	419	13.77	4.42	4.33	4.51
9	Knowledgeable	356	11.70	4.42	4.32	4.52
10	Serious	327	10.75	4.13	4.02	4.24
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					3.71 (SD=0.85)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					3.83 (SD=0.84)
11	Boring	325	10.68	2.20	2.09	2.32
12	Authoritative	322	10.59	2.50	2.36	2.65
13	Stable	321	10.55	4.19	4.09	4.28
14	Arrogant	320	10.52	1.78	1.64	1.91
15	Friendly	301	9.89	4.39	4.28	4.49
16	Corrupt	295	9.70	1.69	1.55	1.83
17	Lazy	292	9.60	1.61	1.49	1.73
18	Conservative	280	9.20	2.87	2.72	3.02
19	Educated	280	9.20	4.23	4.12	4.35
20	Trustworthy	261	8.58	4.63	4.53	4.73
21	Difficult	223	7.33	2.11	1.94	2.28
22	Intelligent	213	7.00	4.32	4.19	4.45
23	Patient	204	6.71	4.14	4.00	4.28
24	Good	203	6.67	4.12	3.98	4.27
25	Loyal	184	6.05	4.24	4.10	4.39
26	Fair	183	6.02	4.20	4.04	4.36
27	Caring	178	5.85	4.17	4.00	4.35
28	Honest	178	5.85	4.34	4.18	4.49
29	Integrity	178	5.85	4.46	4.31	4.60
30	Calm	163	5.36	4.17	4.01	4.32
31	Strong	136	4.47	3.83	3.63	4.04
32	Strict	135	4.44	2.73	2.53	2.94
33	Impartial	117	3.85	4.16	3.96	4.36
34	Independent	106	3.48	3.85	3.64	4.06
35	Empathetic	103	3.39	4.04	3.80	4.28
36	Courageous	96	3.16	4.07	3.88	4.27
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.56 (SD=0.95)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.65 (SD=0.95)

Table S2. Stereotypes for public sector workers in the United States (n = 610).

	Trait	Selection frequency	% of participants	Mean stereotype valence	Lower 95% CI	Upper 95% CI
1	Hardworking	187	30.66	4.45	4.31	4.60
2	Responsible	146	23.93	4.48	4.31	4.64
3	Serving	145	23.77	4.46	4.31	4.61
4	Helpful	123	20.16	4.46	4.27	4.65
5	Job security	108	17.70	3.61	3.35	3.87
6	Knowledgeable	106	17.38	4.46	4.28	4.64
7	Go home on time	94	15.41	3.10	2.84	3.36
8	Friendly	90	14.75	4.38	4.18	4.58
9	Educated	81	13.28	4.36	4.13	4.58
10	Trustworthy	73	11.97	4.45	4.22	4.68
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					4.26 (SD=0.45)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					4.22 (SD=0.45)
11	Caring	72	11.80	4.28	4.02	4.54
12	Good	72	11.80	4.06	3.76	4.36
13	Serious	70	11.48	3.81	3.52	4.11
14	Stable	62	10.16	4.34	4.10	4.58
15	Honest	61	10.00	4.26	3.97	4.56
16	Well paid	61	10.00	3.48	3.14	3.81
17	Intelligent	58	9.51	4.33	4.05	4.61
18	Strong	58	9.51	4.03	3.73	4.34
19	Lazy	56	9.18	1.77	1.44	2.10
20	Inflexible	55	9.02	2.05	1.74	2.37
21	Loyal	54	8.85	4.07	3.76	4.39
22	Authoritative	53	8.69	3.02	2.65	3.39
23	Arrogant	48	7.87	1.60	1.31	1.90
24	Patient	48	7.87	3.98	3.67	4.29
25	Fair	44	7.21	3.77	3.40	4.14
26	Integrity	44	7.21	4.43	4.12	4.74
27	Difficult	40	6.56	2.05	1.63	2.47
28	Independent	40	6.56	3.83	3.47	4.18
29	Corrupt	39	6.39	1.49	1.17	1.80
30	Conservative	38	6.23	3.76	3.36	4.16
31	Strict	38	6.23	3.03	2.60	3.45
32	Boring	34	5.57	2.15	1.74	2.55
33	Calm	32	5.25	4.25	3.91	4.59
34	Courageous	29	4.75	4.34	4.05	4.64
35	Empathetic	26	4.26	3.85	3.25	4.44
36	Impartial	19	3.11	3.74	3.12	4.35
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.86 (SD=0.93)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.67 (SD=0.91)

Table S3. Stereotypes for public sector workers in Canada (n = 623).

	Trait	Selection frequency	% of participants	Mean stereotype valence	Lower 95% CI	Upper 95% CI
1	Go home on time	144	23.11	3.27	3.08	3.47
2	Helpful	136	21.83	4.66	4.53	4.79
3	Serving	132	21.19	4.36	4.20	4.52
4	Responsible	124	19.90	4.56	4.39	4.73
5	Hardworking	112	17.98	4.45	4.26	4.63
6	Job security	111	17.82	3.84	3.64	4.04
7	Knowledgeable	102	16.37	4.43	4.22	4.64
8	Stable	96	15.41	4.20	4.00	4.39
9	Well paid	94	15.09	3.49	3.27	3.71
10	Educated	89	14.29	4.28	4.09	4.47
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					4.15 (SD=0.44)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					4.15 (SD=0.44)
11	Friendly	82	13.16	4.51	4.33	4.70
12	Patient	71	11.40	4.42	4.20	4.64
13	Inflexible	68	10.91	1.99	1.72	2.25
14	Caring	63	10.11	4.27	3.98	4.56
15	Lazy	61	9.79	1.43	1.22	1.63
16	Serious	59	9.47	4.02	3.76	4.28
17	Good	57	9.15	4.23	3.98	4.48
18	Intelligent	55	8.83	4.27	3.99	4.56
19	Authoritative	46	7.38	2.89	2.52	3.26
20	Calm	46	7.38	4.20	3.90	4.49
21	Trustworthy	46	7.38	4.78	4.63	4.93
22	Integrity	44	7.06	4.45	4.13	4.78
23	Arrogant	42	6.74	1.90	1.52	2.29
24	Loyal	42	6.74	4.07	3.73	4.41
25	Fair	41	6.58	4.00	3.60	4.40
26	Conservative	38	6.10	3.26	2.85	3.67
27	Empathetic	37	5.94	4.27	3.94	4.60
28	Difficult	34	5.46	1.56	1.25	1.87
29	Boring	33	5.30	1.88	1.54	2.22
30	Corrupt	31	4.98	1.58	1.20	1.96
31	Strong	30	4.82	3.90	3.42	4.38
32	Courageous	29	4.65	4.21	3.81	4.60
33	Honest	28	4.49	4.50	4.09	4.91
34	Impartial	24	3.85	3.88	3.32	4.43
35	Independent	23	3.69	3.52	2.99	4.06
36	Strict	20	3.21	2.65	2.27	3.03
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.85 (SD=1.01)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.67 (SD=0.99)

Table S4. Stereotypes for public sector workers in the Netherlands (n = 1,176).

	Trait	Selection frequency	% of participants	Mean stereotype valence	Lower 95% CI	Upper 95% CI
1	Go home on time	474	40.31	2.60	2.51	2.69
2	Job security	406	34.52	3.25	3.15	3.36
3	Well paid	347	29.51	3.16	3.06	3.27
4	Inflexible	301	25.60	1.68	1.57	1.79
5	Serving	265	22.53	4.55	4.47	4.64
6	Boring	235	19.98	2.21	2.09	2.34
7	Responsible	230	19.56	4.67	4.58	4.75
8	Serious	192	16.33	4.30	4.17	4.43
9	Authoritative	170	14.46	2.30	2.11	2.49
10	Lazy	154	13.10	1.55	1.40	1.71
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					3.03 (SD=1.10)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					3.03 (SD=1.10)
11	Conservative	147	12.50	2.50	2.30	2.69
12	Arrogant	144	12.24	1.55	1.39	1.70
13	Helpful	134	11.39	4.60	4.47	4.73
14	Trustworthy	131	11.14	4.71	4.58	4.84
15	Knowledgeable	124	10.54	4.45	4.30	4.60
16	Difficult	113	9.61	1.88	1.67	2.09
17	Friendly	107	9.10	4.31	4.13	4.49
18	Hardworking	97	8.25	4.35	4.18	4.52
19	Educated	95	8.08	4.05	3.86	4.25
20	Corrupt	82	6.97	1.55	1.31	1.78
21	Honest	82	6.97	4.35	4.14	4.57
22	Stable	80	6.80	4.15	3.98	4.32
23	Intelligent	79	6.72	4.37	4.19	4.54
24	Fair	77	6.55	4.60	4.42	4.77
25	Loyal	75	6.38	4.47	4.27	4.66
26	Calm	73	6.21	4.14	3.90	4.37
27	Integrity	73	6.21	4.58	4.41	4.74
28	Patient	71	6.04	4.00	3.77	4.23
29	Impartial	68	5.78	4.38	4.17	4.60
30	Strict	64	5.44	2.48	2.21	2.76
31	Good	59	5.02	4.12	3.91	4.33
32	Independent	39	3.32	4.05	3.75	4.35
33	Caring	38	3.23	3.82	3.37	4.26
34	Strong	37	3.15	3.59	3.24	3.95
35	Empathetic	35	2.98	4.06	3.66	4.46
36	Courageous	32	2.72	3.88	3.56	4.19
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.33 (SD=1.08)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.59 (SD=1.05)

Table S5. Stereotypes for public sector workers in South Korea (n = 633).

	Trait	Selection frequency	% of participants	Mean stereotype valence	Lower 95% CI	Upper 95% CI
1	Job security	338	53.40	4.10	4.00	4.20
2	Inflexible	176	27.80	2.23	2.06	2.41
3	Corrupt	143	22.59	1.85	1.63	2.08
4	Serving	116	18.33	4.41	4.24	4.59
5	Go home on time	100	15.80	3.69	3.49	3.89
6	Arrogant	86	13.59	2.19	1.88	2.50
7	Stable	83	13.11	4.10	3.93	4.26
8	Conservative	57	9.00	2.98	2.71	3.26
9	Authoritative	53	8.37	2.30	1.92	2.68
10	Difficult	36	5.69	3.42	3.04	3.79
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					3.26 (SD=0.90)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (top 10 traits only)					3.13 (SD=0.89)
11	Responsible	30	4.74	3.97	3.57	4.36
12	Helpful	28	4.42	4.29	3.91	4.66
13	Well paid	27	4.27	3.96	3.64	4.29
14	Knowledgeable	24	3.79	4.00	3.59	4.41
15	Boring	23	3.63	2.65	2.14	3.17
16	Hardworking	23	3.63	4.30	4.08	4.53
17	Friendly	22	3.48	4.36	4.01	4.72
18	Fair	21	3.32	4.05	3.59	4.51
19	Intelligent	21	3.32	4.24	3.88	4.59
20	Lazy	21	3.32	2.19	1.61	2.77
21	Integrity	17	2.69	4.00	3.39	4.61
22	Educated	15	2.37	4.40	4.08	4.72
23	Good	15	2.37	4.07	3.45	4.69
24	Patient	14	2.21	4.00	3.35	4.65
25	Loyal	13	2.05	4.23	3.84	4.62
26	Strict	13	2.05	3.23	2.46	4.00
27	Calm	12	1.90	4.00	3.46	4.54
28	Strong	11	1.74	3.36	2.52	4.21
29	Trustworthy	11	1.74	4.18	3.67	4.70
30	Honest	7	1.11	4.14	3.63	4.65
31	Courageous	6	0.95	3.17	2.23	4.10
32	Impartial	6	0.95	4.17	3.56	4.77
33	Serious	6	0.95	3.50	2.66	4.34
34	Caring	5	0.79	4.20	3.47	4.93
35	Empathetic	5	0.79	3.20	1.90	4.50
36	Independent	4	0.63	4.00	2.87	5.13
	Weighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.41 (SD=0.77)
	Unweighted mean valence of stereotype profile (all 36 traits)					3.64 (SD=0.73)