Public service motivation, role stress, and job burnout of police post-COVID-19: A study of the police in Taipei City in Taiwan

Abstract As the outbreak of COVID-19 has spread rapidly in Taiwan in 2021, police have more arduous tasks to fulfil. High-stress police workloads and long working times cause high job stresses that make them physically and mentally tired, eventually leading to job burnout (JB). Previous research refers that JB is caused by role stress (RS). Yet public service motivation (PSM) focuses on an individual’s service motivation to work in public organizations regarded as an inherent value of civil servants. This leads to our research questions as follows: Will police role stressors affect job burnout? How does public service motivation affect police stress and job burnout? This study conducted a questionnaire survey of frontline police in Taipei City, confirmed that job burnout is generally an extension of pressure caused by role stress. In addition, this study has shown public service motivation has a moderating effect on job burnout. Therefore, the government can provide more resources and benefits for the police to increase their motivation for public services, and indeed alleviate job burnout.