Examining the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational differences between scholars and non-scholars public servants in Singapore

Abstract

Seemingly counterintuitive, could it possible for public servants to serve public interests and yet, be extrinsically motivated at the same time? Using concepts such as public service motivation (PSM), love of money (LOM) and other motivation theories such as self-determination theory (SDT), we examined the differences in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of 100 scholars public servants and 100 non-scholars public servants in Singapore. Our findings suggest that scholars and non-scholars public servants differ in their intrinsic and extrinsic motivational constructs. Theoretically, PSM and LOM is thought be incompatible, this was true for the non-scholars group but we found them to be compatible for the scholars group. Both groups were driven by identified motivation. In the conclusion, we discussed how our findings shed light on future research in the Singapore context, and possible administrative reforms that the Singapore government can take.