The Public Service Motivation Paradox: Why Highly Motivated Public Servants Are Vulnerable to Psychological Strain

Public Service Motivation (PSM) has been seen as a motivational resource that encourages commitment, prosocial behavior, and various positive outcomes in public organizations. However, a growing body of research shows that employees with high PSM are also prone to experiencing burnout, emotional exhaustion, presenteeism, and various forms of psychological distress. These findings raise a theoretical paradox that cannot be fully explained by the PSM literature. This article aims to reconceptualize PSM beyond traditional positive assumptions and develop a conceptual framework that is able to explain the coexistence between high PSM and low employee well-being. Using an integrative conceptual analysis approach, this article synthesizes and critiques the literature on PSM, employee welfare, Job Demands-Resources (JD-R), and Self-Determination Theory (SDT). The results of the analysis resulted in the concept of Public Service Motivation Paradox, which argues that PSM does not directly produce welfare or psychological distress. On the contrary, PSM encourages psychological investment in public services which can subsequently activate a motivational pathway or vulnerability pathway depending on the organizational conditions faced by employees. By integrating JD-R and SDT, this article explains that the paradox arises through the interaction between resource depletion and psychological need frustration. This article contributes by shifting the focus of the PSM literature from outcomes to processes and providing a new theoretical perspective to understand how public service commitment can be a source of well-being as well as psychological vulnerability.