Breaking the rules, but for whom? How client characteristics affect frontline professionals’ prosocial rule-breaking behavior

IF 5.2 1区管理学 Q1 POLITICAL SCIENCE

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Pub Date : 2025-04-28 DOI:10.1093/jopart/muaf010

Eduard Schmidt, Bernard Bernards, Suzan van der Pas

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Studies have shown that a client’s characteristics can affect frontline professionals’ decision-making and use of discretion. However, we do not know whether these dynamics also exist in frontline professionals' prosocial rule-breaking (PSRB): breaking rules to benefit clients. This study focuses on to what extent and how client characteristics affect PSRB by frontline professionals. Using an innovative within-person vignette experiment among professionals in social welfare teams in the Netherlands (N=58 professionals; 424 observations), we focus on clients’ earned, needed, and resource deservingness. The results show that all three elements of deservingness positively affect the willingness of professionals to engage in PSRB, but needed deservingness has the greatest effect. Through three focus groups (N=21 respondents), we build on this finding to reveal how different motives for PSRB align with various dimensions of deservingness. The results contribute to theory development on the use of discretion among frontline professionals.

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打破规则，但为了谁呢？客户特征如何影响一线专业人员的亲社会违规行为

研究表明，客户的特征会影响一线专业人员的决策和自由裁量权的使用。然而，我们不知道这些动态是否也存在于一线专业人员的亲社会规则破坏（PSRB）：打破规则以造福客户。本研究的重点是客户特征对一线专业人员PSRB的影响程度和影响方式。在荷兰社会福利团队的专业人员(N=58名专业人员；424观察结果)，我们关注客户的应得性、需求性和资源应得性。结果表明，应得性的三个要素均对专业人员从事PSRB的意愿产生正向影响，但需要应得性的影响最大。通过三个焦点小组（N=21名受访者），我们在这一发现的基础上揭示了PSRB的不同动机如何与不同维度的应得性相一致。研究结果有助于一线专业人员自由裁量权使用的理论发展。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Multiple-

CiteScore

8.50

自引率

11.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory serves as a bridge between public administration or public management scholarship and public policy studies. The Journal aims to provide in-depth analysis of developments in the organizational, administrative, and policy sciences as they apply to government and governance. Each issue brings you critical perspectives and cogent analyses, serving as an outlet for the best theoretical and research work in the field. The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory is the official journal of the Public Management Research Association.