How does public service motivation affect teacher self-reported performance in an education system? Evidence from an empirical analysis in Italy

This paper deals with self-reported teacher performance, and the starting point is the relationship between teacher performance and the main determining factor, public service motivation. This relationship is complex because other relevant key factors, such as organizational citizenship behavior, job satisfaction, and person-organization fit come into play as mediation effects. In an Italian state school system, the authors propose modeling the public service motivation-individual performance process in order to identify the drivers that guarantee successful performance. In its analysis of these aspects, the study draws on data from a survey conducted among teachers working in Campania region in the south of Italy, resulting in a total of 507 valid questionnaires being obtained. In the proposed model, teacher performance is considered to be a consequence of the combined effects of public service motivation and other relevant key factors. The model was tested by using the Rasch models and structural equation modelling. The results of this study provide empirical evidence that teacher performance is, albeit indirectly, influenced by public service motivation.