The Vocational Delay Of Gratification Of Civil Servants And The Relation Between It And The Job Performance

Vocational delay of gratification (VDOG) means occupational maturity; it helps individuals restrain the temptation of immediate interests or enjoyment for the purpose of further career development. Previous research showed that the VDOG makes contribution to individuals’ work attitude, work behavior and work results. In the context of comprehensive deepening administrative reform, improving the job performance of civil servants is essential to build the service-oriented government. This article discusses the VDOG of civil servants and the relation between it and the job performance based on138civil servant questionnaires from27provinces and autonomous regions. The main results of this research are as follows:(1) The overall mean score of civil servants’ VDOG was73points. Civil servants got higher vocational delay of gratification score in "concept" than in "action".(2) On the single influence factor of VDOG:gender, ethnicity, education, marriage status, job category, position level, length of service, and characteristics of work unit didn’t make any sense. The only factor that made difference is the age.(3) On the multiple influence factors of VDOG:age and length of service produced a significant interactive influence to the VDOG of civil servants; job position level and length of service also affected interactively.(4) The correlation between the VDOG of civil servants and job performance and its four dimensions was significant and positive. Civil servants’ VDOG could predict and explain35.8%of their job performance. In the four dimensions of job performance, the predictive power of civil servants’ VDOG to their task performance was not significant, but the VDOG of civil servants significantly predicted contextual performance, innovation performance and learning performance.