The Impacts of Multiple Sources of Gratitude on Public Service Motivation and Job Burnout Among Community Health Volunteers in Thailand

Community health volunteers play a crucial role in advancing public health and community welfare, yet their contributions often remain invisible in policy discourse. Grounded in self-determination theory, this study examines how three sources of gratitude—citizens, supervisors, and the government—mitigate volunteers’ job burnout. Using data from 1,692 community health volunteers in Thailand, the findings reveal that citizen and supervisor gratitude enhance public service motivation (PSM), which, in turn, reduces burnout, with citizen gratitude showing the strongest influence. While government gratitude does not shape PSM directly, it amplifies the effects of both citizen and supervisor gratitude on PSM. These findings suggest that symbolic recognition from authorities, though not sufficient in isolation, can legitimize and reinforce more proximal forms of appreciation. By examining three sources of gratitude simultaneously, and their interaction, this study extends multilevel accounts of gratitude and points to a neglected but actionable lever for managing community health volunteers.