Does Public Service Motivation Really Make a Difference on the Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention of US Federal Senior Professional Employees?

U.S. Federal Senior Level & Scientific or Professional Employees (SL/ST) play crucial roles in the operation of federal government, thus it is necessary to study this group of employees and the corresponding managerial system in order to promote their work performance and creativity. This study seeks to find out the effects of Public Service Motivation (PSM) on SL/ST's job satisfaction and turnover intention. In particular, the direct and indirect effects of PSM on their Turnover Intention and Job Satisfaction are hypothesized and tested by the mediation of Perceived Organizational Support (POS). Using the data from 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey, this study proves that PSM may have no significant relationship to the Job Satisfaction when POS is considered and PSM has direct effects on Turnover Intention. Implications and limitations of this study are also discussed in the paper.