Institutional correlates of public service motivation: family, religion, and high school education

The purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence of the extent to which social institutions play a role in the development of public service motivation (PSM). This study investigates institutional factors affecting first-year undergraduate students’ PSM, focusing on family, religion, and high school education in Korea. It uses two-wave survey data collected from first-year undergraduate students at a public university in Korea (n = 202). The test results show that parental teaching and participation in extracurricular activities (creative experiential learning activities) are positively associated with overall PSM and most of its individual dimensions, and religion is positively associated with the dimension of commitment to public values. This study provides support for the process theory holding that PSM is influenced by social institutions throughout an individual’s childhood and adolescence. The implications and limitations of this study are also discussed.