Organizational commitment across different institutional settings: how perceived procedural constraints frustrate self-sacrifice

Abstract

The positive impact of public service motivation on several individual work outcomes of public sector employees has been documented. Recent research into the ‘dark side’ of such an individual trait, however, has led some scholars to suggest that organizational conditions such as procedural constraints could affect one’s motivation, thus leading to the resignation of other-oriented employees. This study explores the relationships between one of the dimensions of public service motivation – namely, self-sacrifice – procedural constraints and organizational commitment by expanding the job demands–resources model of organizational commitment to different institutional settings. The study employs a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative (structural equation modelling) and qualitative (focus groups and in-depth interviews) data from three industries in Italy (health, local public administration and non-profit organizations). Our findings show that self-sacrifice positively moderates the negative relationship between procedural constraints and organizational commitment. The findings also highlight some of the undesirable effects of self-sacrifice that organizations have to deal with. Points for practitioners Selflessly motivated employees tend to be more sensitive to burdensome procedures, and are hence likely to experience tougher effects of such conditions on their commitment. Given the evidence of the public sector being a highly bureaucratic working context, the sources and remedies for this issue deserve attention from both public administration scholars and practitioners. The findings of the study support the development of practices aimed at warding selflessly motivated employees from the risk of entering a loss cycle of psychological impairment.

Public service motivation and job satisfaction: The role of social support during crisis

“…Following the research of other scholars, Giacomelli et al (2020) highlighted self-sacrifice as a dimension of PSM, which essentially argues for the altruistic value of PSM. On the other hand, Zarychta et al (2020) argued that some scholars insist on the distinctive dimensions of PSM and mainly focus on self-sacrifice in their studies, but also support self-sacrifice as a dimension to a large extent like altruism.…”

“…Research on self-sacrifice in the health, local public administration and non-profit organizations in Italy registered a positive effect of self-sacrifice on organizational commitment. The relationship between these constructs also depends on procedural constraints that increase the sense of separation from the organization even when self-sacrifice is at a high level (Giacomelli et al, 2020).…”

The ontology, origin, and impact of divisive public sector rules: A meta‐narrative review of the red tape and administrative burden literatures

“…Nine studies include public service motivation either as a covariate, outcome, or moderator of red tape. Given the diversity of outcomes studied, no single theoretical framework unifies the literature, though recent trends suggest that the job demands‐resources perspective is gaining traction (Borst et al, 2019; Cooke et al, 2019; Giacomelli et al, 2020; Giauque et al, 2019; Mussagulova, 2021).…”

Pushing yourself to the edge: The relationship of worker self‐sacrifice behaviour with perceived role performance, emotional exhaustion, and partner self‐sacrifice

“…Self‐sacrifice behaviour is of interest to social scientists because, rather than conforming to models of hedonistic rational behaviour (Meglino & Korsgaard, 2004) or offering arguably false expectations of monotonic relationships with outcomes (Pierce & Aguinis, 2013), it is inherently divergent in its nature, producing both positive and negative outcomes simultaneously. Despite this, and while extant organizational research has examined self‐sacrifice as a leadership style (Choi & Mai‐Dalton, 1998; Yorges et al, 1999) and as a dimension of public service motivation (e.g., Giacomelli et al, 2020), there has been limited focused attention on this behaviour by workers within the mainstream organizational literature. Accordingly, the role of self‐sacrifice behaviour in accounting for both work outcomes that may be beneficial or desirable to the worker and outcomes that reflect substantive costs for the worker and their families is yet to be fully understood.…”