Motivation to volunteer: adaptation and validation of a questionnaire for undergraduate students

This paper describes the adaptation and validation process of the University Student Motiva-tions to Volunteer Questionnaire (CMV-AU), which is based on the Volunteer Function Inven-tory (VFI) by Clary et al. (1998). VFI is the best known and most widely used instrument for analyzing the motivations that move people to participate in volunteering. The objective of the study focuses on adapting the VFI to Spanish university students, with or without experience in volunteering, and studying its validity and internal structure through a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. For this, the method of diagonally weighted least squares (DWLS) was used, taking into account different indicators for the evaluation of the model (RMSEA, CFI and SRMR). Previously, the instrument had been applied to a sample of 1.186 undergraduate students from the five face-to-face universities of Valencia (2019/2020 academic year). The results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis show that the internal structure of the CMV-AU is appropriate, presenting a good adjustment of the considered indicators and an adequate internal consistency. Likewise, it confirms an appropriate measurement model and the structure of six dimensions of the VFI (Protective, Values, Career, Social, Understanding and Enhancement). This coincides with the results of different previous studies. Therefore, it is concluded that the University Student Volunteering Motivations Questionnaire (CMV-AU) is an appropriate instrument to assess the reasons that motivate these students to become involved in volunteering.