Public Service Motivation and Organizational Identification: The Roles of Identity Salience and Organizational Prestige

Based on research gap presented in the extant public administration literature, we examined the interrelationship among public service motivation, perceived organizational prestige, identity salience, and organizational identification. Results obtained from analysis of survey data from 275 public servants, confirmed the significant indirect effect of identity salience and a significantly positive interaction effect of perceived organizational prestige on public service motivation and organizational identification. These findings explain a unique relationship among various behavioral and psychological constructs to explain the behavior of a public administrator, with several important implications for theory and practice. The paper also identifies various avenues for future research.