Leveraging Public Service Motivation for Pay Satisfaction: An Exploration Among the Nepalese Civil Servants

ABSTRACT While financial incentives can boost employee performance, resource constraints, particularly in developing countries, limit their feasibility, necessitating the exploration of broader motivational factors as alternatives. This study examines how different dimensions of altruistic and utilitarian public service motivation (PSM) influence pay satisfaction in Nepal's civil service. Using survey data collected in 2022 from 858 officials, the findings reveal that PSM significantly shapes pay satisfaction, though the effects vary by dimension. Altruistic PSM is not monolithic: service‐oriented altruism , reflected in self‐sacrifice, increases pay satisfaction by buffering dissatisfaction with limited rewards. In contrast, influence‐oriented altruism , captured by attraction to policy‐making, reduces satisfaction when expectations for influence and compensation are unmet. Among the utilitarian motives, social recognition is positively associated with pay satisfaction. Thus, the findings highlight the multidimensional and sometimes opposing effects of PSM, underscoring its importance in shaping job attitudes in resource‐constrained public‐sector contexts.