The public sector provides a broad range of incentives to apply for jobs, but these incentives have rarely been studied in concert. The present study disentangles how job candidates form intentions to apply for a public sector job in multi-incentive settings and how this process depends on public service motivation (PSM). Using a response-time-based test in a survey experiment with 340 current job seekers in the UK, we focus on implicit associations that potential applicants have, or do not have, with a range of job characteristics (i.e., extrinsic, intrinsic and prosocial) when they screen job advertisements. Results from multi-level analysis suggest that implicit associations with intrinsic and extrinsic job characteristics are similarly strong predictors of the intent to apply for public sector jobs, whereas associations with prosocial job attributes do not yield such an overall effect. However, PSM moderates the relationship between associations with prosocial characteristics and application intentions, but only among job market participants. Theoretical implications for the conceptual distinctiveness of PSM and its alignment with extrinsic rewards are discussed. Findings are also important for HR managers in the public sector who want to adjust their recruitment strategies to specific target groups.

中文翻译：

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多重激励环境下公共部门吸引力的隐性维度

公共部门为求职提供了广泛的激励措施，但这些激励措施很少被同时研究。本研究阐明了求职者如何在多重激励环境中形成申请公共部门工作的意图，以及该过程如何取决于公共服务动机 (PSM)。在对英国 340 名当前求职者的调查实验中使用基于响应时间的测试，我们关注潜在申请人具有或不具有一系列工作特征（即外在、内在和亲社会的）的隐性关联。 ) 当他们筛选招聘广告时。多层次分析的结果表明，与内在和外在工作特征的内隐关联同样是申请公共部门工作意图的有力预测因素，而与亲社会工作属性的关联不会产生这种整体效果。然而，PSM 调节亲社会特征的关联与应用意图之间的关系，但仅在就业市场参与者之间。讨论了 PSM 的概念独特性及其与外在奖励的一致性的理论意义。对于希望针对特定目标群体调整招聘策略的公共部门的人力资源经理来说，调查结果也很重要。