Experimental Evidence on the Relationship between Public Service Motivation and Job Performance

Th is article responds to recent calls for experimental research into the relationship between public service motivation (PSM) and job performance. Th e author conducted a fi eld experiment with a sample of nurses at a public hospital in Italy to investigate the interplay between job performance, PSM, and two conditions: exposure to contact with benefi ciaries and self-persuasion interventions. Both treatments had positive eff ects on participants’ persistence, output, productivity, and vigilance. Baseline PSM strengthened these positive eff ects. Moreover, both conditions caused an increase in PSM that partially mediated the positive eff ects of benefi ciary contact and self-persuasion on job performance. Th e implications of the experimental fi ndings for theory and practice are discussed.