TY - JOUR
T1 - Explaining a Dark Side
T2 - Public Service Motivation, Presenteeism, and Absenteeism
AU - Jensen, Ulrich Thy
AU - Andersen, Lotte Bøgh
AU - Holten, Ann Louise
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the Danish Council for Independent Research Grant 1327-00015B.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2017.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Public service motivation (PSM) has many bright sides, but recent studies also find dark sides, connected to, for instance, higher stress and burnout. However, results on the PSM–absenteeism association are inconclusive. One reason could be that PSM increases presenteeism (going to work even when ill), which in turn increases absenteeism and counteracts—or even exceeds—PSM-based reductions of absenteeism. Based on a three-wave panel study of Danish public and private sector employees, we find a strong positive association between PSM and presenteeism and indications that the PSM–absenteeism link is mediated by presenteeism. The findings suggest that going to work even on days when employees feel ill is a potential dark side of PSM and that it may have long-term consequences for the extent to which employees are absent from their jobs due to sickness. This cautions managers not to expect that high PSM automatically guarantees high performance and low absence.
AB - Public service motivation (PSM) has many bright sides, but recent studies also find dark sides, connected to, for instance, higher stress and burnout. However, results on the PSM–absenteeism association are inconclusive. One reason could be that PSM increases presenteeism (going to work even when ill), which in turn increases absenteeism and counteracts—or even exceeds—PSM-based reductions of absenteeism. Based on a three-wave panel study of Danish public and private sector employees, we find a strong positive association between PSM and presenteeism and indications that the PSM–absenteeism link is mediated by presenteeism. The findings suggest that going to work even on days when employees feel ill is a potential dark side of PSM and that it may have long-term consequences for the extent to which employees are absent from their jobs due to sickness. This cautions managers not to expect that high PSM automatically guarantees high performance and low absence.
KW - panel data
KW - presenteeism
KW - public service motivation
KW - sickness absenteeism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073015700&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85073015700&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0734371X17744865
DO - 10.1177/0734371X17744865
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85073015700
SN - 0734-371X
VL - 39
SP - 487
EP - 510
JO - Review of Public Personnel Administration
JF - Review of Public Personnel Administration
IS - 4
ER -