DOES A PUBLIC SERVICE ETHIC ENCOURAGE ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR? PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION, ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND THE WILLINGNESS TO REPORT ETHICAL PROBLEMS
| Author | SHAHIDUL HASSAN,BRADLEY E. WRIGHT,JONGSOO PARK |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12248 |
| Date | 01 September 2016 |
| Published date | 01 September 2016 |
doi: 10.1111/padm.12248
DOES A PUBLIC SERVICE ETHIC ENCOURAGE ETHICAL
BEHAVIOUR? PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION, ETHICAL
LEADERSHIP AND THE WILLINGNESS TO REPORT
ETHICAL PROBLEMS
BRADLEY E. WRIGHT, SHAHIDUL HASSAN AND JONGSOO PARK
This article aims to advance our understanding of and condence in the relationship between
employee public service motivation (PSM) and ethical behaviour by testing the degree to which
PSM predicts the ethical behaviour or behavioural intention of government employees. Building on
previous research, we argue that government employees with higher PSM are not only more likely
to internalize values that support public interests, they also are likely to be concerned less about
the potential consequences that they may experience by reporting unethical conduct within their
agencies. Using data collected through a survey from 477 employees working in a large state agency,
we nd that supervisors with higher PSM are more likely to be perceived by their subordinates
as exhibiting ethical leadership, supervisors exhibiting higher ethical leadership are more likely
to have subordinates with higher levels of PSM and that subordinates with higher PSM express a
higher willingness to report unethical behaviour within their agency. We discuss implications of
these ndings for research on PSM.
INTRODUCTION
Withtrust in government declining in many countries (Edelman 2014) and nearing all-time
lows in the United States (Pew 2013), concerns regarding government accountability are
widespread. In addition to concerns about whether we can hold government accountable
for desired policy outcomes, decreasing trust levels also reect concerns that the actions of
public administrators during policy implementation are driven by self-interest rather than
the interests of the larger public or community (Vigoda-Gadot 2007; Villoria et al. 2013).
Such concerns are mirrored by government employee surveys that suggest that unethical
behaviour remains widespread in government (Kaptein et al. 2005; Ethics Resource Center
2008; Kolthoff et al. 2010; OPM 2012) and that government employees do not feel they can
report suspected ethical violations without retribution or even that appropriate actions
to address their concerns would be taken even if they were reported (Kaptein et al. 2005;
Near and Miceli 2008; Caillier 2012; OPM 2012). Research is needed to identify the pro-
cesses by which ethical behaviour can be encouraged and strengthened in government
organizations.
Given the importance of ethical behaviour to government accountability, trust and ef-
ciency, a number of recent studies have focused on identifying ways to inuence ethi-
cal behaviour within government agencies. Beeri et al. (2013), for example, examined the
inuence of an ethics training programme on Israeli public employees’ perceptions, atti-
tudes and behaviours. Hassan et al. (2014) examined the inuence of ethical leadership
on public employee absenteeism, commitment, and willingness to report problems and,
more recently, Hassan (2015) investigated the extent to which ethical leadership increases
Bradley E. Wrightis at the School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia, USA. Shahidul Hassan and
Jongsoo Park are at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University,USA.
Public Administration Vol.94, No. 3, 2016 (647–663)
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
648 BRADLEY E. WRIGHT ET AL.
employee voice aimed at improving performance of their workgroup.1Moreover, Cal-
lier (2015) examined the inuence of transformational leadership on willingness of public
employees to discuss ethical issues with their manager. In addition to looking at the inu-
ence of managerial practices, there is a longstanding tradition of looking at ethics as it
relates to public employees’ personal characteristics including their values, education and
experiences (Hart 1974, 1984; Rohr 1989; Cooper 2004). In this latter vein, the potential link
between a public service ethic (Rainey 1982), now more commonly referred to as public
service motivation (PSM), and ethical behaviour has been noted by many public admin-
istration (PA) scholars (Brewer and Selden 1998; Lim Choi 2004; Svara 2007; Maesschalck
et al. 2008; Near and Miceli 2008; Kwon 2014; Caillier 2015; Stazyk and Davis 2015). Yet,
empirical evidence of this relationship is still limited.
The purpose of this article is to advance our understanding of and condence in the
connection between PSM and ethical conduct in the public sector by investigating the
relationship between PSM and ethical leadership. Although there is a growing literature
investigating the role of PSM in ethical behaviour (Lim Choi 2004; Kwon 2014; Caillier
2015; Stazyk and Davis 2015) and another focused on ethical leadership in public organi-
zations (Kaptein et al. 2005; Kolthoff et al. 2010; Hassan et al. 2014; Hassan 2015), this study
is the rst to directly connect these literatures by investigating the relationship between
ethical leadership and PSM. Building on these literatures and using data collected through
a survey from employees working in a state agency,we develop and nd support for three
hypotheses: rst, supervisors with higher self-reported PSM are more likely to be per-
ceived by their subordinates as exhibiting ethical leadership; second, supervisors exhibit-
ing higher ethical leadership are more likely to have subordinates with higher levels of
PSM; and third, subordinates with higher PSM express a higher willingness to report
unethical behaviour of others within their agency.
ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR AND PSM
The potential link between employee PSM and ethical behaviour has been suggested
by many PA scholars. One argument for such a connection is that PSM and ethical
behaviour/disposition share many of the same underlying values (Maasschalck et al.
2008). These shared values can be thought of broadly as the desire or need to act in
ways that promote the public interest. The recently revised American Society for Public
Administration (ASPA) ethics code lists ‘Advancing the Public Interest’ as the rst of
eight guidelines to promote ethical behaviour. A commitment to advancing the public
interest is also one of the four key dimensions in Perry’s (1996) original conceptualization
of PSM, and PSM is often studied by specically asking individuals about the importance
they place on opportunities to help others and benet society (Crewson 1997; Alonso
and Lewis 2001; Lewis and Frank 2002). Thus a dening characteristic of both ethical
behaviour and PSM is whether the individual is driven to act with the intention of help-
ing others and beneting society. In other words, the public interest serves as the moral
compass, driving administrators and employees to look beyond their own self-interest or
the interests of any single client or constituency (even the agency itself) to act on behalf of
broader interests shared by the larger society (Frederickson 1996; Cooper 2004).
Of course, it is easier to agree on the importance of public interest broadly dened than
on what specic actions or outcomes are in the public’s interest. Just as there can be consid-
erable disagreement about what is or is not ethical (Brousseau 1995; Cohen and Eimicke
1995), individuals can and often do disagree on what is in the public’s interest or even the
Public Administration Vol.94, No. 3, 2016 (647–663)
© 2016 John Wiley& Sons Ltd.
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