The blood donation function inventory: Adaptation of the voluntary function inventory for a psychological approach to blood donors

The study presents the adaptation of the Voluntary Function Inventory of Clary et al. ([1998]. Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1516–1530.) on blood donors called Blood Donation Function Inventory. The Voluntary Function Inventory was originally created and validated in English on volunteers in different organizations but never on blood donors. Recently, Voluntary Function Inventory was validated on an Italian sample of social health volunteers. A questionnaire evaluating socio-demographic variables, the Blood Donation Function Inventory and a scale that investigates the facilitators of blood donation was administered to 2,615 blood donors. The results of the Exploratory Factorial Analysis showed a good factorial saturation of all except three items, which were eliminated. The Confirmatory Factorial Analysis confirmed the results, showing good fit indexes. The scale showed strong correlation with measures investigating the facilitators of volunteerism. This instrument can be important for blood donors’ organization in order to recruit and retain blood donors.