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Psychology

Public Service Motivation and Burnout in Frontline Civil Servants

Quick fact

A 2019 study of Chinese civil servants found that public service motivation was positively associated with burnout when job demands were high and organizational resources were low, suggesting that passionate employees can become more susceptible to burnout than less motivated peers in the same role.

Why this is interesting

You’d think the most dedicated civil servants—the ones who truly want to help—would be the happiest and least likely to burn out. But research shows the opposite is sometimes true: those with the strongest public service motivation can be the most vulnerable to exhaustion. Why would caring so much actually hurt?