Validating the Italian Public Service Motivation Questionnaire

Public Service Motivation (PSM) is a theorized attribute of public employees that provides them with the desire to serve the public interest. Although PSM definition varies among studies, its fundamental principle is that individuals are oriented to act in the public sector for the purpose of doing good for others and society. The PSM theory, thus, provides a useful basis for understanding the public employees motivation. However, the various studies have not always used the same PSM measurement instrument due to the construct complexity and differences among cultures. The purpose of the present study was to arrange a PSM questionnaire for the Italian public context. Eighty-one PSM items were collected from various questionnaire appeared in literature and submitted to a translation-back translation procedure. A pilot study grounded in a sample composed by 216 public employees verified the discriminating power of items and assessed their understandability. As a consequence, the number of items was reduced to 62. After randomization, the items were administered to a sample of 780 public employees and, through a series of factor analyses, a four-dimensions PSM model was obtained. The final outcome of this study is the Italian PSM Questionnaire, which is the first PSM questionnaire based on an Italian normative sample. The questionnaire includes a method to check the reliability of the answers of respondents as well. Factor score analyses of normative sample are illustrated. The questionnaire can be used for open recruitment procedures, as well as management, and development of public employees.