The Relationship Between Islamic Work Ethic and Public Service Motivation

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the differences between public and private sector employees’ public service motivation (PSM) levels and also examine the impact of Islamic work ethic (IWE) as a potential antecedent of PSM in a non-Western setting. This quantitative investigation is based on a sample of 419 employees in 13 public and private organizations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Independent t test results reveal no statistically significant differences in PSM level between public and private sector employees. The analysis of the data also reveals that PSM is significantly influenced by IWE. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

Keywords

public service motivation Islamic work ethic public and private sector Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Introduction

The notion of public service motivation (PSM) is old (Horton, 2008); however, Rainey (1982) is widely credited as one of the earliest scholars to lay the foundation for the concept of PSM. Following Rainey’s work, Perry and Wise (1990) revised and extended the PSM concept and defined it as “an individual’s predisposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions and organizations” (p. 368). They also suggested that public sector employees have various motives to do good for society. Perry and Wise refer to “motive” as the psychological desire that needs to be fulfilled. Since then, PSM has become an interesting topic for many researchers in the field of public administration (Perry et al., 2010).

To date, a large number of studies have examined motivational differences between public and private sector employees, and the results are conflicting (Ritz et al., 2016). Some studies reported that, compared to their private counterparts, public servants report higher levels of PSM (Crewson, 1997; Frank & Lewis, 2004; Houston, 2000; Liu et al., 2012; Steijn, 2008; Wittmer, 1991). However, others, Steen (2008) for instance, reported that PSM also exists in the private sector. Andersen et al. (2011) reported no significant difference in the PSM level in public and private health professionals. Moreover, Karl and Peat (2004) showed that public service major students rated opportunities for advancement and good wages higher than helping others. Such conflicting results require further investigation of differences between public and private sector employees’ PSM in different settings.

Another shortcoming in the existing literature is that although a large number of studies related to PSM have been conducted, the majority of them are in the United States and Western countries. Only recently researchers have started to focus on PSM in other parts of the world (Kim, 2009; Taylor, 2007). For instance, a recent literature review showed that more than 80% of all the studies on PSM conducted between 1990 and 2013 were with data from the United States and Europe (Ritz et al., 2013), and in the remaining part, there is scant PSM research on Muslim employees. Those few studies that have focused on PSM in the Muslim world have mainly investigated its outcomes, not its antecedents. Besides, no study has compared the PSM level of Muslim employees in the public and private sectors.

Furthermore, it is argued that religion has a significant impact on the attitudes and behaviors of individuals. Such a notion is in line with Perry (1997) who acknowledged religious socialization as a possible norm-based motive for PSM. Perry also argued that religion could have more merits as an antecedent of PSM. Several studies have investigated the role of religious activities and religiosity in the United States and Switzerland (Anderfuhren-Biget, 2012; Perry et al., 2008). Research in some Islamic contexts also showed similar results (Belrhiti et al., 2019, 2020; Suluh Kusuma Dewi et al., 2020). However, no study has investigated the relationship between Islamic work ethic (IWE) and PSM.

IWE is defined as a tendency that has a great impact on people and organizations (Ali, 1996). It is also defined as a set of moral values that “distinguish what is right from what is wrong” (Beekun, 1997). IWE has been found to influence employees’ attitudes and behaviors (Alhyasat, 2012; Yousef, 2001). It has originated from the Holy Qur’an and Hadith (the teachings of the Prophet Mohamed; Ali & Al-Owaihan, 2008), both of which emphasize altruism as the virtues of Islamic ethics. Altruism in Islam is the highest level of generosity (al-Ghazali, 1967). It includes advantages for others and motivation directed toward such advantages (Van Der Steen, 1995).

On the other hand, PSM is defined as a “particular form of altruism” (Perry et al., 2010, p. 452) or “a general altruistic motivation” (Rainey & Steinbauer, 1999, p. 23). Furthermore, the majority of PSM researchers agree that the objective of public service-motivated individuals is to serve the society at large (Schott et al., 2015). Such concepts have also been emphasized in Islam. Subsequently, it is expected that Muslim employees, regardless of their employment sector, show a high level of PSM. As IWE is originated from Islamic principles, it is also expected that IWE enhances Muslim employees’ altruistic behaviors and subsequently leads to high PSM levels regardless of the sector.

In an attempt to address these gaps in the literature, this study was conducted in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) to (a) examine the generalizability of PSM construct in a predominantly Islamic society, (b) compare employees’ PSM level in both public and private sectors, and (c) test IWE as a potential antecedent of PSM. Therefore, this study contributes to the PSM research literature on the difference between public and private sector employees. Research on PSM among Muslim employees in the public and private sector will be interesting and important to be conducted in the KRI which might have a different context from those in developed countries. Thus, it adds to the generalizability of the PSM construct in a new setting and also adds to the ongoing debate regarding the differences between public and private sector employees. According to Ingrams (2020), there are not much studies of PSM in the private sector as in the public sector. Therefore, this study takes a step in filling this void.

Although the study is conducted in a specific Islamic setting, it might be generalized to other Islamic contexts and Muslims working in different parts of the world—such as the 25.77 million Muslims living in Europe (Hackett, 2017) or those 3.45 million Muslims living in the United States in 2017 (Mohamed, 2018)—as they are all expected to follow the same Qur’an and the teachings of the Prophet of Islam regardless of their work settings.

It also contributes to the process of bringing the two study fields closer together by discussing the conceptual and empirical relationships between IWE and PSM. Both IWE and PSM have many positive work outcomes. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first attempt to study the relationship between IWE and PSM, which aims to advance our understanding of PSM in a part of the world that has largely been overlooked by scholars.

Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses

PSM Among Public Versus Private Sector Employees

The concept of PSM was initially related to public sector organizations and was theorized as an attribute of public employees. This was based on Perry and Wise’s (1990) assumption that the public sector offers many opportunities to serve the public. Several studies have shown that public employees have higher PSM levels than their private counterparts. For example, Bullock et al. (2015) studied and compared employees’ PSM in 30 countries and found that in 28 countries public employees showed higher levels of public service-oriented motives. Taylor (2010) also found that public and nonprofit employees showed significantly higher PSM levels than private employees. This is in line with Perry and Wise’s (1990) assumption that individuals with a high level of PSM would seek employment in the public sector. However, some research on PSM has started to focus on the private sector (Karl & Peat, 2004; Lewis & Frank, 2002; Steen, 2008). It is stated that PSM level is related to the nature of work, rather than the sector (Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012; Lyons et al., 2006). For instance, Andersen et al. (2011) found that both public and private Danish health professionals reported the same levels of PSM. The authors argued that employees doing the same job in public and private organizations report no differences in the general level of PSM because PSM has an impact on the behaviors and attitudes of employees in the private sector as well. In the same vein, Perry et al. (2010) stated that PSM is not unique to public organizations; rather it “actually represents an individual’s predisposition to enact altruistic or prosocial behaviors regardless of setting” (Pandey et al., 2008, p. 91). Brewer and Selden (1998) also stated that PSM is an individual concept, not a sector-specific one. Moreover, Steen (2008) argued that public service-motivated people not only work in public and nonprofit organizations but also private organizations. Therefore, PSM is not only a public employees’ characteristic (Rainey & Steinbauer, 1999); or monopoly (Steen, 2008). PSM scholars also acknowledged that PSM is a behavioral predisposition of an individual regardless of where he or she is employed (Esteve et al., 2016), and could be found in any sector of employment (Wise, 2000).

Some studies have been conducted on PSM in some Islamic settings, for instance, in Egypt (Barsoum, 2015, 2016; Gould-Williams et al., 2015; Mostafa et al., 2015), Pakistan (Quratulain et al., 2017; Quratulain & Khan, 2013; Yousaf et al., 2014), and Turkey (Akilli & Cingoz, 2015). Although these studies offer interesting insights about PSM and its relationship with various outcome variables and showed that PSM and its outcomes exist in these different Islamic contexts, none of them compared PSM between public and private employees or investigated the influence of IWE on the PSM. However, Gould-Williams et al. (2015) showed that Islamic culture affects the preference for public sector jobs. The authors also assumed that due to the dominance of Islam and its impact on people and employees’ work-related values and behaviors, both public and private sector employees in Egypt will show high levels of PSM and positive work-related attitudes and behaviors. Thus, in line with this assumption, we believe that Muslims employees in the KRI, a predominantly Muslim context, show the same level of altruistic behaviors and therefore we hypothesize as follows:

Hypothesis 1 (H1): There is no significant difference between public and private sector employees’ PSM level.

Islamic Work Ethic and Public Service Motivation

Religion is among the most important factors that give structure and meaning to human values, behaviors, and experiences (Fallot, 1998). Shariff (2015) stated that religion influences an individual’s moral decision-making and behavior. Most religions of the world promote altruism and benevolence as very important ethical values (Saroglou, 2006). Freeman and Houston (2010) also stated that all main religions stress a public orientation by encouraging collective social responsibility, serving others, justice, and altruism. In recent decades, a growing body of literature has consistently found that altruistic behaviors, such as charity, volunteerism, and helping behavior, are positively associated with religiosity; and religious people perceive themselves as being more prosocial (Saroglou, 2013; Shariff, 2015). Experimental research also found that religious individuals act more altruistically than nonreligious ones (Zhao, 2012). In a meta-analysis of 31 studies (n = 30,826), Kramer (2015) also found that religiosity consistently predicted higher scores on measures of prosociality.

PSM research offers evidence of a theoretical relationship between public service and religion (Freeman & Houston, 2010). Perry (1997) was the first to study antecedents of PSM and concluded that an individual’s PSM results from exposure to different kinds of experiences that some of them are associated with religion. In another study on the theoretical approach to the antecedents of PSM, Perry (2000) argues that PSM is influenced by three major sources. Socio-historical context is one of the sources which consists of an individual’s education, socialization (including religious socialization), and life events. Later, in a mixed-methods study, Perry et al. (2008) developed this model further by suggesting antecedents of PSM and reported that religious activity was a significant predictor of PSM. Perry et al.’s (2008) quantitative result was subsequently supported by their qualitative findings, especially the significance of religion. Furthermore, Charbonneau and Van Ryzin (2017) found that growing up in a religious family is one of the three factors to be consistently correlated with overall PSM and its dimensions. In line with Perry’s (1997) theoretical claims, Anderfuhren-Biget (2012) found that there is a relationship between religious activities and PSM in Switzerland. Therefore, Perry (1997) claimed that religion could have more merits as an antecedent of PSM.

Similar results have been found in some Islamic settings. For instance, in a comparative study between two Muslim countries, van der Wal et al. (2020) found that Pakistani public employees show higher PSM than their Kazakhstani counterparts. The authors argue that Islam has been the main contributor to Pakistan’s social values, and altruistic concepts are rooted in Pakistani society at large given the status of Islam in all the spheres of life in Pakistan. The authors also argue that, on the other hand, almost 70 years of history of the Soviet dominant communist values took over Islamic values in Kazakhstan. Therefore, “Kazakhstan’s public service ethos seems less aligned with Islamic societal values” and “prosocial, non-materialistic Islamic values do not seem to have managed to take root in the Kazakhstani public service.” Furthermore, Suluh Kusuma Dewi et al. (2020) stated that religious socialization has the most impact on PSM and found that the value of religiosity is the biggest motive for PSM in Malaysia. Forster and Fenwick (2015) found that helping others is one of the Islamic principles which was consistently emphasized by the partakers in a study as playing a role in management practice in Morocco. In another Moroccan study, Belrhiti et al. (2019) found that religious-based principles infuse the notion of public service and are closely aligned to a sense of duty and responsibility, to the attraction to public service and compassion among public hospital staff. The authors also showed that religious principles shape the expression of PSM and might underline PSM. In another study, the same authors found that PSM is driven by religious-cultural beliefs such as elements of fear of God and Godly rewards (Belrhiti et al., 2020).

Islam, as a way of life and as a comprehensive religion, obliges Muslims to comply with the value system of the Qur’an (Yaseen et al., 2015). Therefore, Muslims are required to surrender completely to God’s will (Syed & Ali, 2010) and follow the code described by Islamic Law (Khan et al., 2015). Furthermore, Islam covers all spheres of individual and collective lives of Muslims including social and economic (Beekun, 1997). Therefore, it is expected that their religious principles will be reflected in their laws, social interactions, and business activities including work ethics (Syed & Ali, 2010).

Numerous studies have studied the impact of Islamic religious values on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Ali (1988) introduced the concept of the IWE and developed a scale for measuring it. Subsequent studies have studied the impact of IWE and found that IWE has a significant impact on many work outcomes such as organizational commitment (Khan et al., 2015; Yousef, 2001), job satisfaction (Khan et al., 2015; Yousef, 2001), organizational loyalty (Ali & Al-Kazemi, 2007), job involvement (Khan et al., 2015), organizational citizenship behavior (Alhyasat, 2012; Farid et al., 2017; Murtaza et al., 2016), turnover intentions (Khan et al., 2015), knowledge-sharing behavior (Murtaza et al., 2016), and work engagement (Farid et al., 2017). IWE expresses what Islam expects from individuals regarding their workplace behavior, “suggesting they include the extent of people’s effort, sacrifice and selflessness, cooperation, accountability, proper social relationships, and creativity at work” (Gheitani et al., 2019, p. 3).

IWE has basics from the Holy Qur’an and Hadith (Ali & Al-Owaihan, 2008). Therefore, there is a link between Islamic religiosity and IWE. Khan et al. (2015), for instance, stated that IWE is an important component of the religious belief system of Muslims. Moreover, in a study on the impact of individual behavior in implementing IWE, Noh et al. (2015; cited in Husin & Kernain, 2019) found that employees who continuously practiced Islamic values were more observant of IWE. Muhamad et al. (2008), on the other hand, reported a significant relationship between religiosity and perception of IWE among Muslims in the Malaysian Armed Forces.

IWE stresses “hard work, creativity, fairness, generosity, and serving society” (Gould-Williams et al., 2015, p. 605). Employees with a high IWE level tend to show higher levels of volunteerism and cooperation when others are in need (Yousef, 2000) and consider actions that benefit others as highly desirable (Ali, 2005). Besides, according to IWE values, Muslim employees should always choose public interest over self-interest (Kheder, 2001). For instance, Abu-Saad (2003) examined IWE among Arab school teachers in Israel and found that compared with other work ethics; IWE exclusively captured the significance of an individual’s contribution to society. Ali and Al-Owaihan (2008) also stated that an essential part of IWE is serving society. Therefore, according to the Prophet’s instruction, work has to be beneficial to society and others (Ali & Al-Owaihan, 2008). Consequently, benefiting society is an important part of IWE.

Altruism (Al-Ithar) in Islam, which is considered as the highest degree of generosity and the fullest quality of existence and a great place of giving, is the preference of others over oneself and offering their interests over self-interest (Neusner & Chilton, 2005). Islam is concerned with the welfare of a society where every individual acts altruistically and according to religious standards (Warde, 2000). Yousaf et al. (2014) stated that compassion, self-sacrifice, and justice are the basics of the morality of Muslims.

As the main source of IWE, the Holy Qur’an emphasizes numerous altruistic behaviors such as compassion, benevolence, and justice. For instance, the Holy Qur’an (48:29) describes followers of the Prophet as compassionate toward each other. The Holy Qur’an also commands Muslims to be good and do good to others (Qur’an, 21:73; 3:134; 29:69; 2:195; 16:90). According to As-Sa’di (2018), “do good” includes “all kinds of doing good” such as being kind to people, helping others particularly at times of hardship, and considering their needs (p. 241). God promises Muslims who help the needy (Qur’an, 76:8–9) to save them from the hell and give them the best reward (Qur’an, 76:11–22). Besides, the Holy Qur’an in many verses encourages Muslims to be generous and benevolent and spend what they have to help the needy (2:177; 2:262; 3:92; 16:90). To conclude, throughout the Holy Qur’an, “doing good to others” has been emphasized and this is in line with Hondeghem and Perry’s (2009) definition of PSM as “an individual’s orientation to delivering service to people with the purpose of doing good for others and society” (p. 6). Furthermore, altruism in Islam is concerned with achieving the socioeconomic goals of “social justice” in accordance with the objectives of Islamic values, and it is a type of ethical and religious duty without thinking about worldly rewards and returns (unconditional altruism; Suzuki & Miah, 2016).

On the other hand, PSM tends to emphasize altruism as a key motivating factor in public service (Apfel, 2013). Sometimes, PSM is equated with a general altruistic motive (Bozeman & Su, 2015). For instance, Perry and Wise (1990) acknowledged that PSM “motives are usually treated as wholly altruistic” (p. 368); Bright (2008) characterized PSM “as altruistic intentions that motivate individuals to serve the public interest” (p. 151); and Perry et al. (2010) defined PSM as “a particular form of altruism” (p. 682). Therefore, Belrhiti et al. (2019) found that PSM and Islamic religious principles are intertwined and PSM is framed in religion-based motives.

In addition to the Qur’anic verses, Hadith, as another source of IWE, also supports altruism, serving society, and being compassionate to others. It has been stated in the teachings of the Prophet that the best of people are those who are capable and willing to benefit others (Ali & Al-Kazemi, 2007). Hadith also says, “The one loved most by Him (God) is the one who serves His people (humankind) best”; “Love for the people what you love for yourself and you will be a believer”; “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself” and “He who is not merciful to mankind, God will not be merciful to him.” Therefore, a Muslim’s religious life is considered incomplete if not attended by service to humankind (Stefon, 2009). This is in line with most PSM scholars who agree that the aim of public service-motivated individuals is to serve society at large through public service provision (Schott et al., 2015). Vandenabeele et al. (2018) also stated that the common denominator in most PSM definitions is that PSM is first about the desire to serve the public. For instance, Rainey and Steinbauer (1999) indicated that PSM is directed toward serving “the interests of a community of people, a state, a nation or humankind” (p. 20).

Therefore, from Islamic traditions’ point of view, self-sacrifice, compassion, benevolence, and altruism are considered the highest level of faith. As IWE developed under the umbrella of Qur’an and Hadith, we argue as follows:

Hypothesis 2 (H2): IWE will be positively related to PSM.

Method

Data for this study were obtained from eight public and five private organizations in the KRI in October 2017. Kurdistan is a semi-independent region in the north of Iraq. With a population of around 5.7 million, the Iraqi constitution defines Kurdistan as a federal entity in Iraq with its government that has the right to exercise legislative, executive, and judicial powers (Ahmad & Cheng, 2018; Ahmad et al., 2020). More than 95% of Kurdistan’s population is Muslim, with minorities such as Christians, Yazidi, and other religions peacefully living together and freely practicing their religious activities. This study only collected data from the Muslim population.

In each participating organization, a general director served as the contact for this research who helped and arranged data collection. The size of the organizations (except the universities which had 500–700 employees) ranged from 50 to 90 employees with an average of 61.51. In total, 300 paper questionnaires were divided accordingly among the participating public organizations, and 200 questionnaires were distributed in private organizations. The number of questionnaires distributed in the public and private organizations ranged from 25 to 52 and 22 to 41, respectively, with an average of 40.71 in public organizations and 32.62 in private organizations. After two callbacks, a total of 257 and 162 questionnaires were collected in the public and private organizations, respectively, with a response rate of 85.61% and 81%. The public organizations included a university, a school, a municipality, a bank, a health directorate, a taxation office, a real estate registration office, and a treasury office, whereas the private organizations included a university, a school, a bank, a construction company, and a trading company.

Statistical tests revealed no differences between the public and private sector employees in terms of age, gender, and tenure. The mean age was 31.81 years (SD = 8.28 years). The majority of the respondents were males with 57.58%. In terms of the highest education obtained, the largest group holds a bachelor degree (53%), followed by the second largest group of people that holds a vocational degree (28.86%), masters (7.21%), high school (3.60%), secondary (2.59%), PhD (1.88%), and primary education (0.51%), respectively. As for the job level, 27.42% of the respondents hold managerial positions. The respondents had an average overall working experience of 7.21 years (SD = 5.51 years), and the work experience at the current employer was 5.36 years (SD = 4.60 years).

Measures

Unless stated otherwise, all measures were based on a 5-point Likert-type scale with 1 = “strongly disagree” and 5 = “strongly agree.” To ensure adequate measurement of each variable, previously established scales are used. Questionnaires were administered in the respondents’ native language (Kurdish). In line with Brislin’s (1980) recommendations, questionnaires were first translated to Kurdish by the publishing authors, followed by the back-translation by an independent researcher. Any differences found between the original and back-translated versions were discussed until an agreement was reached concerning the most appropriate translation.

The four dimensions of PSM (attraction to public service, commitment to public values, compassion, and self-sacrifice) were measured with 16 items validated by Kim et al. (2013). The Cronbach’s alpha for the overall PSM was .87. The Cronbach’s alphas for attraction to public service, commitment to public values, compassion, and self-sacrifice were .71, .70, .77, and .81, respectively. IWE was measured with eight items developed by Ali (1988). A sample item is “Good work benefits both one’s self and others” (full measures of IWE are provided in the appendix). The Cronbach’s alpha for this variable was .88.

Control Variables

We also included commonly used control variables: age, gender (1 = “male,” 0 = “female”), education level (ranging from 1 = “primary school” through 7 = “PhD”), organizational tenure, and supervisory position (1 = “yes,” 0 = “no”). Gender was treated as a nominal variable; education was treated as an ordinal variable (Ahmad & Cheng, 2018), whereas age and work experience as ratio variables.

Common Method Bias

This study utilized a self-reported questionnaire for data collection. One of the problems with self-reported data is that it can result in inflated/deflated relationships between variables due to common method bias (CMB), that is, variance that is due to the measurement method rather than the constructs themselves (Podsakoff et al., 2003). According to Jakobsen and Jensen (2015), CMB can be produced by, among others, using a common source (e.g., a survey respondent or rater) to provide information on both the independent and dependent variables or by item characteristics.

This study attempted to address the concerns of CMB following recommendations by Podsakoff et al. (2012) and Jakobsen and Jensen (2015). First, Jakobsen and Jensen (2015) argue that survey questionnaire design can contribute to the reduction of CMB. For instance, to minimize the possibility that participants would provide socially desirable responses—that is, a participant’s tendency to give answers that make him or her look good (Jakobsen & Jensen, 2015)—referring to vague concepts was avoided, the clear language was used, all response options were labeled, current states rather than retrospective states were investigated, and item wording that elicits socially desirable answers was avoided (Jakobsen & Jensen, 2015; Podsakoff et al., 2012). It is argued that an item is more likely to produce method bias if it makes the task of responding difficult because the item is complex, ambiguous, or abstract (Podsakoff et al., 2012). Second, participants were frequently reassured throughout the survey administration that their data were confidential, that nobody except the researchers would see their responses, and there were no right or wrong answers (Podsakoff et al., 2003). This method assured participants that no personal information would be shared with their organizations’ management (Ahmad et al., 2020; Hassan et al., 2020). It is important to note that throughout the study, participation was voluntary. Employees who felt uncomfortable with the process had a simple option of an outing at any stage. Third, as mentioned earlier, previously established and validated scales, that were for distinct constructs, were used to measure the variables of the study to avoid conceptual and terminological overlap (Favero & Bullock, 2014; Jung, 2018). Taken together, these procedures are consistent with recommendations by Podsakoff et al. (2003) and Jakobsen and Jensen (2015) to reduce CMB and show that CMB might not pose a serious problem for interpreting the results of this study.

Results

Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses

As mentioned above, the generalizability of the dimensional structure and items of PSM has still not been confirmed in the KRI. Therefore, our first attempt was to confirm the existence of PSM in Kurdistan’s context by conducting an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with SPSS 22.0. In EFA, all the 16 PSM items were included in the initial analysis. We used principal-axis factor analysis with a direct Oblimin rotation. We allowed the factors to be freely estimated and did not specify the number of factors a priori. Principal-axis factor analysis revealed four unrotated factors that had eigenvalues greater than one with three cross-loadings greater than .40. Consistent with the original objective of confirming the four dimensionalities of PSM, we dropped three items that decreased reliability of the PSM dimensions and cross-loadings on the factors of greater than .40. Principal-axis factor analysis on the remaining 13 items revealed four factors with an eigenvalue greater than one and Bartlett’s test of sphericity showed that the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) statistic of .864 was significant at a level of .001. The loadings ranged from .457 to .891, all above the required threshold of .4 (Table 1). The final 13-item scale explained around 50.64% of the variance.

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics and Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Four Dimensions of PSM.

Variables	M	SD	Attraction to public service	Commitment to public values	Compassion	Self-sacrifice
I admire people who initiate or are involved in activities to aid my community.	4.59	0.684	.823
It is important to contribute to activities that tackle social problems.	4.46	0.751	.681
Meaningful public service is very important to me.	4.68	0.564	.818
I think equal opportunities for citizens are very important.	4.68	0.605		.457
It is important that citizens can rely on the continuous provision of public services.	4.35	0.746		.717
It is fundamental that the interests of future generations are taken into account when developing public policies.	4.53	0.668		.510
I feel sympathetic to the plight of the underprivileged.	4.70	0.571			.614
I empathize with other people who face difficulties.	4.60	0.699			.884
I get very upset when I see other people being treated unfairly.	4.73	0.618			.891
I am prepared to make sacrifices for the good of society.	4.05	0.883				.749
I believe in putting civic duty before self.	4.15	0.944				.768
I am willing to risk personal loss to help society.	4.00	0.975				.875
I would agree to a good plan to make a better life for the poor, even if it costs me money.	4.14	0.953				.730

Note. PSM = Public service motivation.

Using the results of the EFA, we performed confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) in Amos 22 to test the factor structure of PSM. CFA has several advantages over EFA, such as more stringent psychometric criteria for accepting models, thereby improving validity and reliability (Ahmad et al., 2020). To assess the model fit, we examined the incremental fit index (IFI) as recommended by Gerbing and Anderson (1993), the comparative fit index (CFI) and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) recommended by Jaccard and Wan (1996), and the Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) recommended by Bentler (1990). Acceptable fit is evidenced by an INF, CFI, and TLI of .90 or higher, and an RMSEA of .08 or lower (Bentler, 1990). The results of the CFA yielded acceptable fit indices: χ² = 122.82, df = 58, and χ²/df = 2.12, CFI = .95, IFI = .95, TLI = .94, and RMSEA = .06.

Descriptive Statistics

Table 2 shows descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients for the variables. An important result is that the mean of the dependent variable, PSM, is quite high, with a mean score of 4.52 on a 5-point scale (SD = 0.44).¹ The results also show that the mean of IWE is quite high (4.40). Such a result is in line with studies found in other Muslim societies such as Saudi Arabia (4.16), United Arab Emirates (4.26), and Kuwait (4.32; Ali & Al-Owaihan, 2008). Other statistics indicate that the mean scores for the four dimensions of PSM are all above 4. It is of note that the relationship between IWE and PSM is statistically significant. The results also show that none of the control variables is significantly related to any of the dependent variables (PSM). Hence, the control variables were excluded in the regression analyses following the recommendation of Becker (2005).

Table 2.

Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations of Major Variables.

Variables	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Gender			1
2. Education			−.03	1
3. Position			.07	−.13**	1
4. Age	31.81	8.28	−.26**	.004	.10*	1
5. Tenure	7.21	6.51	.09	−.21**	−.07	−.09	1
6. Org. Ten.	5.36	4.61	.11*	−.24**	−.071	−.10*	.70**	1
7. PSM	4.47	0.44	−.07	−.05	.08	.05	.01	−.02	1
8. IWE	4.40	0.57	−.01	−.11*	.02	.04	.06	.04	.65**	1

Note. PSM = Public service motivation; IWE = Islamic work ethic; Org.Ten = Current Tenure; Edu = Education.

p < .01. **p < .01.

Hypothesis Testing

Independent t test analysis was conducted to examine whether statistically significant differences exist between the PSM of public and private sector employees. Our results show that employees from both sectors report high levels of PSM. It is also shown that public servants’ PSM (M = 4.49, SD = 0.49) is not significantly different from that of private sector employees (M = 4.45, SD = 0.35), t(417) = −.97, p > .05. Thus, our data support H1.

As an exploratory step, this study also examined whether statistically significant differences exist between the four dimensions of PSM among public and private sector employees. The results show that there were no statistically significant differences between public servants attraction to public policy (M = 4.61, SD = 0.54), commitment to public values (M = 4.59, SD = 0.54), compassion (M = 4.69, SD = 0.55), and self-sacrifice (M = 4.15, SD = 0.83) and those of the private sector: attraction to public policy (M = 4.54, SD = 0.40), commitment to public values (M = 4.49, SD = 0.41), compassion (M = 4.61, SD = 0.40), and self-sacrifice (M = 4.28, SD = 0.59). While the variance of the overall PSM measure and individual dimensions is rather low, it should be noted that is not uncommon in PSM research (Kim et al., 2013; Weske et al., 2019).

H2 concerns the relationship between IWE and PSM. To test this hypothesis, a simple linear regression analysis was used. Before this, an independent t test was performed to see whether differences exist between public and private sector employees’ IWE level. The results showed that public servants’ IWE (M = 4.40, SD = 0.65) is not significantly different from that of private sector employees (M = 4.39, SD = 0.42), t(417) = −.122, p > .05. Because there were no significant differences between PSM and IWE of public and private sector employees, the data for the regression analysis were combined. The regression results show IWE is significantly related to PSM with a high beta value (β = .50, p < .05). It is also shown that IWE alone explains .42 of variance in PSM. Thus, H2 is also supported.

The hypotheses did not formally address possible relationships between IWE and the four dimensions of PSM. However, based on our discussion of IWE and how it influences individuals’ attitudes and behavior to do good for society and even sacrifice one’s self-interest for the betterment of public interest, we assume that IWE is more strongly related to the self-sacrifice dimension of PSM compared with the other three dimensions (attraction to public service, commitment to public values, and compassion). In an exploratory step, we tested the relationship between IWE and each dimension of PSM. Our analyses show that IWE is significantly related to attraction to public service (β = .44, p < .05), commitment to public values (β = .44, p < .05), compassion (β = .42, p < .05), and self-sacrifice (β = .70, p < .05). These results confirm that the relationship between IWE and self-sacrifice is indeed stronger than the other relationships, as shown by the high beta value.

Discussion

PSM has become an important and popular research topic in public administration in the last two decades. However, very little research has been done in Islamic settings. Besides, most of the PSM research investigated the outcomes rather than its antecedents (Vandenabeele, 2011); and not much is known about what motives constitute PSM (Bozeman & Su, 2015). Therefore, to fill the gap in the PSM literature about the dearth of empirical literature in the Muslim world in general and this part of the world in particular, this study was conducted to (a) investigate the dimensionality and generalizability of PSM in the KRI, (b) test differences between public and private sector employees’ PSM level, and (c) test the relationship between IWE and PSM.

The hypotheses of this study were empirically tested on employees in different kinds of organizations in the public and private sectors of the KRI. Survey results showed that the PSM observed in Western developed countries and some other countries, such as China and South Korea, also exists in Kurdistan. All dimensions (attraction to public services, commitment to public values, compassion, and self-sacrifice) exist. However, the generalizability of the construct was limited: three items (one from attraction to public services, commitment to public values, and compassion) had to be removed to achieve an acceptable model fit.

The main thesis of this study was that employees in both the public and private sectors show no significant difference in PSM level. The results supported our hypothesis in that both public and private sector employees showed high levels of PSM with no significant differences. This is in line with Wise (2000) who argued that PSM could be found in any sector of employment. Brewer and Selden (1998) also argued that the interest of serving the public cuts across the public and private sectors. This finding is also aligned with what is proposed by Gould-Williams et al. (2015) who expected that due to the impact of Islamic values and work ethic, both Muslim public and private employees can show high levels of PSM. The high PSM of public and private sector employees can be explained by Islamic principles and values as they play a significant role in the daily lives of Muslims and encourages them to do good to others in any circumstances as the holy Qur’an says, “. . . race to do good deeds and wherever you are . . .” (Qur’an, 2:148). Therefore, Muslim employees can show a high level of PSM no matter what sector they work in.

Consistent with our hypothesis, the study confirmed a positive relationship between IWE and PSM. Such a result provides initial evidence of the relationship between IWE and PSM and demonstrates that enhancing PSM may require enhancing support of IWE among Muslim employees. This is because Islamic work values play an important role in society and many of these values are similar to those of PSM (Gould-Williams et al., 2015). For example, two of the items of IWE used in this study are “Good work benefits both one’s self and others” and “Justice and generosity in the workplace are necessary conditions for society’s welfare.” The items show that Islam encourages generosity and doing good to others as the Prophet says, “the best of people are those who benefit others” and “the generous person is closest to God, heaven, people and far from hell” and the Qur’an says, “And do good; indeed, God loves the doers of good” (Qur’an, 2:195). Another item is “Producing more than enough to meet one’s needs contributes to the prosperity of society as a whole.” This item is very connected to the concept of benevolence (Wahab, 2014). As mentioned earlier, IWE derived from the Qur’an and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed. These two are integral parts of the sociopolitical discourse in Muslim societies (Ali & Al-Owaihan, 2008). Therefore, it is expected that IWE will have impacts on every aspect of individuals’ life.

Furthermore, Steen (2008) stated that it is important to research the different dimensions of PSM in different settings. Therefore, the relationship between IWE and the four dimensions of PSM was tested. The results show that there is a positive relationship between IWE and all PSM dimensions. However, the strongest relationship is with self-sacrifice. As discussed in the preceding sections, altruism and self-sacrifice are strongly emphasized and praised in the Qur’an. A good example of self-sacrifice is a verse that says “. . . they give preference over themselves, even though they were themselves in need . . . such are they who will be successful” (Qur’an 59:9). This is in line with Anderfuhren-Biget’s (2012) finding that municipal employees in Switzerland with a high level of self-sacrifice are generally those who have the highest level of religiosity. Moreover, self-sacrifice is the “foundational concept” demonstrating the philanthropic or prosocial origins of PSM (Kim et al., 2013) and presents the underlying foundation of PSM (Kim & Vandenabeele, 2010). Kim and Vandenabeele (2010) also stated that results found in evolutionary psychology, organizational behavior theory, and economics studies provide convincing evidence that self-sacrifice is more central to a service orientation than other dimensions, and therefore can be considered the footing on which PSM rests.

Moreover, the positive relationship between IWE and compassion can be interpreted by the emphasis on compassion in the Qur’an. Charbonneau and Van Ryzin (2017) found a link between religiosity and compassion and stated that the feeling of deep sympathy toward others is a core value in almost all main religious traditions. Furthermore, our interpretation of the positive relationship of IWE with a commitment to public values and attraction to the public interest is that there are many important public values in Muslim societies. Moreover, commitment to public values could cover every important public value such as equity, ethics, and public interest.

The study has some theoretical contributions to PSM literature by advancing our limited knowledge of the antecedents of PSM. One of the charges against PSM literature is that PSM has often been examined as an independent variable, but less often examined as a dependent variable (Bozeman & Su, 2015; Schott & Pronk, 2014), and there has been little evaluation of the roots of PSM (Van Witteloostuijn et al., 2017). Therefore, this study contributes to research surrounding antecedents of PSM by treating PSM as a dependent variable and examining the impact of IWE a new possible antecedent on PSM among Muslim employees. Therefore, it seeks to add knowledge to some of the existing literature on the origin of the motives driving PSM, particularly among Muslim employees not only in public but also in the private sector. This study also contributes to the PSM literature by answering calls to extend the mainly Western focused studies by researching non-Western contexts. Particularly, the KRI is a unique context that has not received enough attention. The study shows that PSM is a valid construct in the KRI and can reliably be measured. This opens doors for researchers to study PSM and its correlates.

The study has also shown that IWE acts as a predecessor of PSM. Therefore, it contributes to research on IWE by adding another positive outcome to IWE. IWE–PSM integration has the potential to advance our understanding of the motivational foundations of public service. Ali and Al-Owaihan (2008) stated that the development of work ethics in the West represents the nature of Western societies and their beliefs and values. Therefore, the beliefs and work ethic of other societies, such as IWE, should not be ignored as their experience manifests their cultural realities and may not mirror those of the Western world (Ali & Al-Owaihan, 2008). Nasr (1984) stated that the IWE deserves important investigation as it is the ideal that Muslims seek to realize.

This study also contributes to the discussion on the differences between public and private sector employees’ PSM level. The majority of research in this regard used the ranking of various reward items (Bozeman & Su, 2015). However, this study used a full scale of 16 items to measure PSM for public–private sector comparison.

This study also has practical implications. Although this study is conducted in the KRI, Rice (1999) argues that Islamic values and work ethics are universal and equally applicable to all Muslims in all spheres of life. Therefore, we believe the findings are generalizable to all Muslim employees around the world as all Muslims in the world follow the same religion. Thus, employers in Muslim countries can focus on IWE during recruitment and job orientation. They might also implement, develop, and enhance IWE and enhance PSM. The positive relationship between IWE and PSM could help managers in both public and private sectors to take individual differences in IWE levels into account when adjusting their incentive arrangements for Muslim employees to work in public service-related jobs. Employees with high IWE can be good candidates for humanitarian organizations working in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. More importantly, both IWE and PSM have been found to have many positive work outcomes that are common outcomes for both constructs. For instance, job satisfaction is associated with IWE (Khan et al., 2015; Yousef, 2001) and PSM (Ritz, 2009; Taylor, 2007; Vandenabeele, 2009). Therefore, the integration of IWE and PSM might trigger job satisfaction among employees.

Limitation and Future Research

As with all studies, this study is subject to some limitations. First, the inferences of causality cannot be made due to the cross-sectional nature of the study. Future research, therefore, needs to adopt a longitudinal design to endorse the finding of this study. A second possible limitation is that the present study is confined to Muslim employees who are mainly Kurdish nationals. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to replicate the findings of this study in other Muslim countries to see if consistent results can be found. Furthermore, the present study proposes that PSM could have cultural differences not only in terms of its conceptualization and operationalization “but also its prevalence, antecedents and consequences” (Kim et al., 2013). It is also recommended for future research to study the relationship between religiosity and PSM to explore the clear role of Islam in cultivating PSM. Another shortcoming is that this study investigated the direct relationship between IWE and PSM. The relationship between IWE and PSM might be subject to some important intervening variables. For instance, different levels of corruption exist in many Muslim countries. This study was conducted in the Kurdistan Region, which is officially a part of Iraq. According to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) (2020), Iraq’s public administration is labeled as inefficient, corrupt, and weak. Given this, future research may consider examining possible mechanisms (such as corruption and transparency) that may influence the relationship between IWE and PSM. This study also suggests that future research should be extended to other Muslim and non-Muslim settings. Therefore, the study could be replicated among Muslim employees in different countries to increase the generalizability of the findings. The study also suggests that the findings might be replicated in other countries with different religious values by adding other kinds of work ethics.

Footnotes

Appendix

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Hemin Ali Hassan

Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad

Notes

Author Biographies

Hemin Ali Hassan is a lecturer at the University of Raparin in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. His current research focuses on public service motivation, public sector reform, and public servants’ responses to reform processes.

Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad is a PostDoctoral Research Fellow in the School of International and Public Affairs of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Lecturer at the University of Raparin and University of Kurdistan Hewler. His research has appeared in journals such as Public Administration Review, International Public Management Journal, Journal of Knowledge Management . . . etc. His research focuses on employee attitudes and behaviors in both public and private organization. Twitter:

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