Exploring the foundational origins of public service motivation through the lens of behavioral genetics

Despite the proliferation of research on public service motivation (PSM), fundamental questions about its origins continue to evade scholars: Is PSM driven by genetics, socialized through experiences, or both? If is socialized, when does socialization occur? Answering these critical for reconciling state vs trait debate, and assessing validity practical implications prescribed studies. Utilizing “nature's own experiment”, we adopt a classical twin-design with 1035 twin pairs identify how genetic heritability, common environment, unique environment experiences can explain variation in PSM. Results show that heavily influenced individuals' environments experiences; not genetics. This lends strong evidence PSM's uniqueness as motivational construct related “other-regarding” concepts sizeable components. Finally, our results corroborate human resource dynamic properties organizations cultivate enhance productivity workforces. article protected copyright. All rights reserved.