Motivation, Meaning, and Burnout: Understanding Frontline Public Service Workers' Work Experiences During Turbulent Times

Abstract

Understanding how public organizations can lower employee burnout is important because burnout negatively affects both employee well‐being and service effectiveness. This study explores whether public service motivation (PSM) can help alleviate burnout among frontline public sector workers, who frequently encounter high job demands and conflicting roles that heighten burnout risks. Analyzing two‐wave matched survey data from police officers collected in 2019 and 2021, this study examines whether PSM reduces burnout by strengthening perceptions of work prosocial impact. Results show that PSM's impact on burnout varies by burnout type, with a stronger effect on work depersonalization than on emotional exhaustion. By focusing on work prosocial impact as a mediating factor, this study helps to explain past conflicting findings. It enhances understanding of the PSM‐burnout link and suggests that fostering a sense of positive impact could be an effective strategy for public organizations to reduce frontline worker burnout, especially during crisis periods.