1,066
Views
18
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

At their wits’ end? Economic stress, motivation and unethical judgement of public servants

ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon

References

  • Agnew, R. 2015. “Strain, Economic Status, and Crime.” In The Handbook of Criminological Theory, edited by A. Piquero, 209–229. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.
  • Aquino, K., and A. Reed. 2002. “The Self-Importance of Moral Identity.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83 (6): 1423–1440. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1423.
  • Armitage, C., and M. Conner. 2001. “Efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behaviour.” British Journal of Social Psychology 40: 471–499. doi:10.1348/014466601164939.
  • Asparouhov, T., and B. Muthén. 2010. “Weighted Least Squares Estimation with Missing Data.” Mplus Technical Appendix 1–10. http://www.statmodel.com/download/GstrucMissingRevision.pdf
  • Bandura, A. 1999. “Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanties.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 3 (3): 193–209. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0303_3.
  • Belle, N., and P. Cantarelli. 2017. “What Causes Unethical Behavior? A Meta-Analysis to Set an Agenda for Public Administration Research.” Public Administration Review 77 (3): 327–339. doi:10.1111/puar.12714.
  • Blasi, A. 1984. “Moral Identity: Its Role in Moral Functioning.” In Morality, Moral Behavior and Moral Development, edited by G. G. Naom and T. E. Wren, 128–139. New York: Wiley Blackwell.
  • Breaugh, J., A. Ritz, and K. Alfes. 2018. “Work Motivation and Public Service Motivation: Disentangling Varieties of Motivation and Job Satisfaction.” Public Management Review 20 (10): 1423–1443. doi:10.1080/14719037.2017.1400580.
  • Brewer, G., and S. Selden. 1998. “Whistle Blowers in the Federal Civil Service : New Evidence of the Public Service Ethic.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 8 (3): 413–439. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a024390.
  • Burke, R. 2003. “Survivors and Victims of Hospital Restructuring and Downsizing: Who are the Real Victims?” Nternational Journal of Nursing Studies 40: 903–909. doi:10.1016/S0020-7489(03)00039-7.
  • Caillier, J. G. 2015. “Transformational Leadership and Whistle-Blowing Attitudes: Is This Relationship Mediated by Organizational Commitment and Public Service Motivation?” The American Review of Public Administration 45 (4): 458–475. doi:10.1177/0275074013515299.
  • Caron, D., and D. Giauque. 2006. “Civil Servant Identity at the Crossroads: New Challenges for Public Administrations.” International Journal of Public Sector Management 19 (6): 543–555. doi:10.1108/09513550610685989.
  • Choi, D. L. 2004. “Public Service Motivation and Ethical Conduct.” International Review of Public Administration 8 (2): 99–106. doi:10.1080/12294659.2004.10805032.
  • Clerkin, R., S. Paynter, and J. Taylor. 2009. “Public Service Motivation in Undergraduate Giving and: Volunteering Decisions.” The American Review of Public Administration 39 (6): 675–698. doi:10.1177/0275074008327512.
  • Cole, D., and K. Preacher. 2014. “Manifest Variable Path Analysis: Potentially Serious and Misleading Consequences Due to Uncorrected Measurement Error.” Psychological Methods 19 (2): 300–315. doi:10.1037/a0033805.
  • Cooper, T. 2001. “The Emergence of Administrative Ethics as a Field of Study in the United States.” In Handbook of Administrative Ethics, 2nd ed., edited by T. Cooper, 1–36. New York: Marcel Dekker.
  • Curran, P., S. West, and J. Finch. 1996. “The Robustness of Test Statistics to Nonnormality and Specification Error in Confirmatory Factor Analysis.” Psychology Methods 1: 26–29. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.1.1.16.
  • De Clercq, D., and M. Dakhli. 2009. “Personal Strain and Ethical Standards of the Self-Employed.” Journal of Business Venturing 24 (5): 477–490. doi:10.1016/j.jbusvent.2008.04.008.
  • De Cuyper, N., and D. W. Hans. 2006. “The Impact of Job Insecurity and Contract Type on Attitudes, Well-Being and Behavioural Reports: A Psychological Contract Perspective.” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 79 (3): 395–409. doi:10.1348/096317905X53660.
  • Deci, E., and R. Ryan. 2000. “The ‘What’ and ‘Why’ of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior.” Psychological Inquiry 11 (4): 227–268. doi:10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01.
  • Eikemo, T., C. Bambra, K. Joyce, and E. Dahl. 2008. “Welfare State Regimes and Income-Related Health Inequalities: A Comparison of 23 European Countries.” The European Journal of Public Health 18 (6): 593–599. doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckn092.
  • Elst, T., A. Broeck, H. Witte, and N. Cuyper. 2012. “The Mediating Role of Frustration of Psychological Needs in the Relationship between Job Insecurity and Work-Related Well-Being.” Work & Stress 26 (3): 252–271. doi:10.1080/02678373.2012.703900.
  • Erdil, F., and F. Korkmaz. 2009. “Ethical Problems Observed by Student Nurses.” Nursing Ethics 16 (5): 589–598. doi:10.1177/0969733009106651.
  • European Social Survey. 2018. ESS Round 5: European Social Survey: ESS-5 2010 Documentation Report. Edition 4.2. Bergen, European Social Survey Data Archive, NSD – Norwegian Centre for Research Data for ESS ERIC.
  • Farazmand, A. 1999. “Administrative Ethics and Professional Competence : Accountability and Performance under Globalization.” International Review of Administrative Sciences 68 (1): 127–143. doi:10.1177/0020852302681007.
  • Feldman, G., M. M. Chao, J. L. Farh, and A. Bardi. 2015. “The Motivation and Inhibition of Breaking the Rules: Personal Values Structures Predict Unethicality.” Journal of Research in Personality 59: 69–80. Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2015.09.003.
  • Festinger, L. 1957. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
  • Fornell, C., and D. F. Larcker. 1981. “Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error: Algebra and Statistics.” Journal of Marketing Research 18 (3): 382–388. doi: 10.2307/3150980.
  • Frederickson, H. G., and D. K. Hart. 1985. “The Public Service and the Patriotism of Benevolence.” Public Administration Review 45 (5): 547–553. doi: 10.2307/3109929.
  • Gagné, M., and E. Deci. 2005. “Self-Determination Theory and Work Motivation.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 26: 331–362. doi:10.1002/job.v26:4.
  • Gagné, M., J. Forest, M. Vansteenkiste, L. Crevier-Braud, A. Van Den Broeck, A. Aspeli, J. Bellerose et al. 2014. “The Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale: Validation Evidence in Seven Languages and Nine Countries.” European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 24 (2): 178–196. DOI:10.1080/1359432X.2013.877892.
  • Gagne, M. 2003. “The Role of Autonomy Support and Autonomy Orientation in the Internalization of Autonomous Regulation for Prosocial Behavior.” Motivation and Emotion 27 (3): 199–223. doi:10.1023/A:1025007614869.
  • Gardner, D., L. Cummins, R. Dunham, and J. Pierce. 1998. “Single-Item versus Multiple Item Measurement Scales: An Empirical Comparison.” Educational and Psychological Measurement 58 (6): 898–915. doi:10.1177/0013164498058006003.
  • Ghosh, S. 2017. “He Direct and Interactive Effects of Job Insecurity and Job Embeddedness on Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: An Empirical Examination.” Personnel Review 46 (6): 1182–1198. doi:10.1108/PR-05-2015-0126.
  • Heinemann, F. 2011. “Economic Crisis and Morale.” European Journal of Law and Economics 32 (1): 35–49. doi:10.1007/s10657-010-9165-z.
  • Houston, D. 2000. “Public-Service Motivation: A Multivariate Test.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 10 (4): 713–728. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a024288.
  • Houston, D. 2006. “‘Walking the Walk’ of Public Service Motivation : Public Employees and Charitable Gifts of Time, Blood, and Money.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 16 (1): 67–86. doi:10.1093/jopart/mui028.
  • Houston, D. 2008. “Behavior in the Public Square.” In Motivation in Public Management: The Call of Public Service, edited by J. Perry and A. Hondeghem, 177–179. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press.
  • Houston, D. 2011. “Implications of Occupational Locus and Focus for Public Service Motivation: Attitudes toward Work Motives across Nations.” Public Administration Review 71 (5): 761–771. doi:10.1111/puar.2011.71.issue-5.
  • Hu, L., and P. Bentler. 1999. “Cutoff Criteria for Fit Indexes in Covariance Structure Analysis: Conventional Criteria versus New Alternatives.” Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal 6 (1): 1–55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118.
  • Jackson, A. P., J. Brooks-Gunn, C. Huang, and M. Glassman. 2000. “Single Mothers in Low-wage Jobs: Financial Strain, Parenting, and Preschoolers’ Outcomes.” Child Development 71 (5): 1409–1423. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00236.
  • Kenny, D. 2015. Measuring Model Fit. Structural Equation Modelling. http://davidakenny.net/cm/fit.htm
  • Kinnunen, U., and L. Pulkkinen. 1998. “Linking Economic Stress to Marital Quality among Finnish Marital Couples.” Journal of Family Issues 19: 705–724. doi:10.1177/019251398019006003.
  • Kline, R. 2015. Principles and Practices of Structural Equation Modeling. 4th ed. New York: Guilford Press.
  • Klockars, C. 1999. “Some Really Cheap Ways of Measuring What Really Matters.” In Measuring What Matters: Proceedings from the Policing Research Institute Meetings, edited by R. Langworthy, 195–214. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
  • Kwon, I. 2014. “Motivation, Discretion, and Corruption.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 24 (3): 765–794. doi:10.1093/jopart/mus062.
  • Langford, J. 2004. “Acting on Values: An Ethical Dead End for Public Servants.” Canadian Public Administration 47 (4): 429–450. doi:10.1111/j.1754-7121.2004.tb01187.x.
  • Lasthuizen, K., L. Huberts, and L. Heres. 2011. “How to Measure Integrity Violations.” Public Management Review 13 (3): 383–408. doi:10.1080/14719037.2011.553267.
  • Lawton, A., K. Lasthuizen, and J. Rayner. 2013. Ethics and Management in the Public Sector. Oxon: Routledge.
  • Maesschalck, J., Z. Van De Wal, and L. Huberts. 2008. “Public Service Motivation and Ethical Conduct.” In Motivation in Public Management: The Call of Public Service, edited by J. Perry and A. Hondeghem, 157–176. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press.
  • Maesschalk, J. 2004. “The Impact of New Public Management Reforms on Public Servants’ethics : Toward a Theory.” Public Administration 82 (2): 465–489. doi:10.1111/j.0033-3298.2004.00403.x.
  • Makrydemetres, A. 2002. “Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas in Public Administration: The ‘Alir’ Imperatives of Ethical Reasoning.” International Review of Administrative Sciences 68 (2): 251–266. doi:10.1177/0020852302682006.
  • Merton, R. 1968. Social Theory and Social Structure. Crime and the American Dream. New York: Free Press.
  • Messner, S. F., and R. Rosenfeld. 2001. Crime and the American Dream. Belmont: Wadsworth.
  • Morris, M., M. Schinderhutte, and J. Walton. 2002. “The Ethical Context of Entrepreneurship: Proposing and Testing a Developmental Framework.” Journal of Business Ethics 40: 331–361. doi:10.1023/A:1020822329030.
  • Nguyen, N., and M. Biderman. 2008. “Studying Ethical Judgments and Behavioral Intentions Using Structural Equations: Evidence from the Multidimensional Ethics Scale.” Journal of Business Ethics 83 (4): 627–640. doi:10.1007/s10551-007-9644-5.
  • Ntayi, J. 2013. “Leadership Styles, Workplace Politics and Moral Identity of Ugandan Public Procurement Staff.” International Journal of Public Administration 36 (1): 35–44. doi:10.1080/01900692.2012.713288.
  • O’Kelly, C., and M. Dubnick. 2006. “Taking Tough Choices Seriously: Public Administration and Individual Moral Agency.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 16 (3): 393–415. doi:10.1093/jopart/mui050.
  • Pande, S., and N. Jain. 2014. “Relation between Personal Values and Corruption Permissiveness of Government Servants in India and the Moderating Role of Dissatisfaction with the Financial Condition of the Family.” International Review of Public Administration 19 (2): 126–142. doi:10.1080/12294659.2014.915475.
  • Pedersen, M. 2015. “Activating the Forces of Public Service Motivation: Evidence from a Low-Intensity Randomized Survey Experiment.” Public Administration 75 (5): 734–746. doi:10.1111/puar.12325.
  • Pelletier, L., S. Dion, K. Tuson, and I. Green-Demers. 1999. “Why Do People Fail to Adopt Environmental Protective Behaviors? Toward a Taxonomy of Environmental Amotivation.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 29 (12): 2481–2504. doi:10.1111/jasp.1999.29.issue-12.
  • Perry, J., and W. Vandenabeele. 2008. “Behavioral Dynamics: Institutions, Identities and Self-Regulation.” In Motivation in Public Management: The Call of Public Service, 1st ed., edited by J. Perry and A. Hondeghem, 56–79. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Perry, J., and A. Hondeghem. 2008. “Building Theory and Empirical Evidence about Public Service Motivation.” International Public Management Journal 11 (1): 3–12. doi:10.1080/10967490801887673.
  • Perry, J., and L. Porter. 1982. “Factors Affecting the Context for Motivation in Public Organizations.” The Academy of Management 7 (1): 89–98.
  • Perry, J., and L. Wise. 1990. “The Motivational Bases of Public Service.” Public Administration Review 50 (3): 367–373. doi:10.2307/976618.
  • Podsakoff, P., S. MacKenzie, J. Lee, and N. Podsakoff. 2003. “Common Method Biases in Behavioral Research: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommended Remedies.” The Journal of Applied Psychology 88 (5): 879–903. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879.
  • Pops, G. 2000. “A Teleological Approach to Administrative Ethics. In Handbook of Administrative Ethics.” In In Handbook of Administrative Ethics, edited by T. Cooper, 195–206. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
  • Probst, T. 2005. “Economic Stressors.” In Handbook of Work Stress, edited by J. Barling, K. Kelloway, and M. Frone, 267–297. London: SAGE.
  • Putman, R. 1995. “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.” Journal of Democracy 6 (1): 65–78. doi:10.1353/jod.1995.0002.
  • Rest, J. 1986. Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory. New York: Praeger.
  • Ripoll, G. 2018. “Disentangling the Relationship between Public Service Motivation and Ethics: An Interdisciplinary Approach.” Perspectives on Public Management and Governance. doi:10.1093/ppmgov/gvy008
  • Ripoll, G., and X. Ballart. Forthcoming. “Judging Unethical Behavior: The Different Effects of External and Public Service Motivation.”
  • Ryan, R., and E. Deci. 2003. “On Assimilating Identities to the Self: A Self-Determination Perspective on Internalization and Integrity within Cultures.” In Handbook of Self and Identity, edited by M. Leary and J. Tagney, 253–272. New York: Guilford.
  • Salminen, A. 2006. “Accountability, Values and the Ethical Principles of Public Service: The Views of Finnish Legislators.” International Review of Administrative Sciences 72 (2): 171–185. doi:10.1177/0020852306064608.
  • Schott, C., O. Neumann, M. Baertschi, and A. Ritz. 2017. “Public Service Motivation, Prosocial Motivation, Altruism and Prosocial Behavior: Towards Disentanglement and Conceptual Clarity.” Paper presented at the IRSPM Annual Conference, Budapest, Hungary, April 19–21.
  • Schwartz, S. 1992. “Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 25: 1–65.
  • Segal, L., M. Haberfeld, and L. Gideon. 2013. “The Effects of the Recession on Attitudes toward Business Ethics: An Inter‐Temporal Study of Business Students in 2001, 2009, and 2010.” Business and Society Review 118 (1): 71–104. doi:10.1111/basr.2013.118.issue-1.
  • Selenko, E., A. Mäkikangas, and C. Stride. 2017. “Does Job Insecurity Threaten Who You Are? Introducing a Social Identity Perspective to Explain Well‐Being and Performance Consequences of Job Insecurity.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 38 (6): 856–875. doi:10.1002/job.v38.6.
  • Sharma, E., N. Mazar, A. L. Alter, and D. Ariely. 2014. “Financial Deprivation Selectively Shifts Moral Standards and Compromises Moral Decisions.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 123 (2): 90–100. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.09.001.
  • Soenens, B., and M. Vansteenkiste. 2011. “When Is Identity Congruent with the Self? A Self-Determination Theory Perspective.” In Handbook of Identity Theory and Research, edited by S. Schwartz and V. K. Luyckx, 381–402. New York: Springer.
  • Stazyk, E., and R. Davis. 2015. “Taking the ‘ High Road’: Does Public Service Motivation Alter Ethical Decision Making Processes?” Public Administration 93: 3. doi:10.1111/padm.12158.
  • Steen, T. P. S., and M. R. Rutgers. 2011. “The Double-Edged Sword: Public Service Motivation, the Oath of Office and the Backlash of an Instrumental Approach.” Public Management Review 13 (3): 343–361. doi:10.1080/14719037.2011.553262.
  • Stynen, D., A. Forrier, L. Sels, and H. De Witte. 2013. “The Relationship between Qualitative Job Insecurity and OCB: Differences across Age Groups.” Economic and Industrial Democracy 36 (3): 383–405. doi:10.1177/0143831X13510326.
  • Tang, T., and R. Chiu. 2003. “Income, Money Ethic, Pay Satisfaction, Commitment and Unethical Behavior: Is the Love of Money the Root for Evil for Hong Kong Employees?” Journal of Business Ethics 46: 13–30. doi:10.1023/A:1024731611490.
  • Tang, T., T. Sutarso, G. Davis, D. Dolinski, A. Ibrahim, and S. Wagner. 2008. “To Help or Not to Help? the Good Samaritan Effect and the Love of Money on Helping Behavior.” Journal of Business Ethics 82 (4): 865–887. doi:10.1007/s10551-007-9598-7.
  • Taylor, J., and R. Taylor. 2011. “Working Hard for More Money or Working Hard to Make a Difference? Efficiency Wages, Public Service Motivation, and Effort.” Review of Public Personnel Administration 31 (1): 67–86. doi: 10.1177/0734371X10394401.
  • Taylor, J., and R. Taylor. 2015. “Does the Economy Matter? Tough Times, Good Times, and Public Service Motivation.” Public Money & Management 35 (5): 333–340. doi:10.1080/09540962.2015.1061168.
  • Terpstra, D., E. Rozell, and R. Robinson. 1993. “The Influence of Personality and Demographic Variables on Ethical Decisions Related to Insider Trading.” The Journal of Psychology 127 (4): 375–389. doi:10.1080/00223980.1993.9915573.
  • Tremblay, M., C. Blanchard, S. Taylor, L. Pelletier, and M. Villeneuve. 2009. “Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale: Its Value for Organizational Psychology Research.” Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science 41 (4): 213–226. doi:10.1037/a0015167.
  • Vallerand, R. 1997. “Toward a Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 29: 271–360.
  • Vallerand, R., and C. Ratelle. 2002. “Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: A Hierarchial Model.” In Handbook of Self-Determination Research  edited by E. L. Deci and R. M. Ryan, 37–63. Rochester, NY: The University of Rochester Press.
  • Van de Walle, S., B. Steijn, and S. Jilke. 2015. “Extrinsic Motivation, PSM and Labour Market Characteristics: A Multilevel Model of Public Sector Employment Preference in 26 Countries.” International Review of Administrative Sciences 81 (4): 833–855. doi:10.1177/0020852314563899.
  • Vandenabeele, W. 2007. “Toward a Public Administration Theory of Public Service Motivation.” Public Management Review 9 (4): 545–556. doi:10.1080/14719030701726697.
  • Vandenabeele, W., and J. Breaugh. Forthcoming. “Further Integration of Public Service Motivation Theory and Self-Determination Theory: Concepts and Correlates.” International Public Management Journal.
  • Voydandoff, P. 1990. “Economic Distress and Family Relations: A Review of the Eighties.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 52: 1099–1115. doi:10.2307/353321.
  • Wang, L., and J. Murnighan. 2011. “On Greed.” The Academy of Management Annals 5 (1): 279–316. doi:10.5465/19416520.2011.588822.
  • Wright, B., S. Hassan, and J. Park. 2016. “Does a Public Service Ethic Encourage Ethical Behaviour? Public Service Motivation, Ethical Leadership and the Willingness to Report Ethical Problems.” Public Administration 94 (3): 647–663. doi:10.1111/padm.2016.94.issue-3.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.