What motivates individual public service motivation and cooperation at the initial stage of the COVID‐19 outbreak: A cross‐sectional survey

Objectives This study assesses the status of public service motivation and explains it's the positive association with public cooperation during the initial stage of the COVID‐19 crisis. Moreover, potential causes of Chinese citizens' public service motivation have been explored. Methods A cross‐sectional survey of 30 provinces in China was conducted using an online questionnaire. The study was conducted in February 2020 during the initial stage of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Socio‐demographic factors, public service motivation, public satisfaction, public confidence, and public cooperation were assessed using questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to identify clusters of interrelationships among public service motivation, public satisfaction, public confidence, and public cooperation among Chinese citizens. Results We found that participants' public satisfaction with COVID‐19‐related public services had a positive association with public confidence (B = 0.456, p