Psychometric properties of the Italian version of Colquitt’s Organizational Justice Scale (OJS)

Abstract

PurposeAlthough Colquitt’s Organizational Justice Scale (COJS) is one of the most widely used organizational justice scales (OJS) worldwide, a rigorous adaptation and validation in Italy is still missing. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to examine the construct validity and reliability of the Italian translation of the scale.Design/methodology/approachFactorial and concurrent validity were examined to assess construct validity. A confirmatory factorial analysis through structural equation modelling was conducted on five factorial models: one-factor, two-factor, three-factor, four-factor and second-order factor model. Concurrent validity implied the examination of the relationships between organizational justice and job satisfaction (convergent validity) and between organizational justice and workplace bullying (discriminant validity).FindingsEvidence of the prevalence of the original Colquitt (2001) four-factor model was found, though also the second-order model obtained adequate goodness of fit. Findings supported both convergent and discriminant validity. Reliability analysis reported evidence of excellent internal consistency. Thus, the Italian version of the OJS can be used in Italy for research and practical purposes.Originality/valueThis is the first study properly addressing the factorial and concurrent validity of the OJS in Italy.