How does employees' public service motivation get affected? a conditional process analysis of the effects of person-job fit and work pressure

Organizational experiences can affect employees’ public service motivation (PSM) in a myriad of ways. Drawing on the institutional perspective of PSM theory, we argue that an individual’s PSM gets affected due to feelings of personal fit with the job requirements and indirect effects of perceived fit on job satisfaction is mediated through PSM. We expect that the direct effect of job fit on job satisfaction is contingent on the experience of work pressure, such that the effect would be stronger in low pressure conditions. Similarly, the indirect effect of personal job fit on job satisfaction is also contingent on the experience of work pressures. In conditions of high workload, the strength of the effect of job fit on job satisfaction through PSM may be weaker as compared with low work pressure conditions. Analysis of a survey of 213 respondents supports our hypotheses. Implications of these findings and future research directions are also discussed.