The Role of Attitude Functions and Self-Monitoring in Predicting Intentions to Register as Organ Donors and to Discuss Organ Donation With Family

This project investigates the mechanism underlying one’s intentions to register as organ donors and to engage in family discussion about organ donation. Based on survey data collected from 306 undergraduate students, results reveal that for the donor registration model, respondents’ utilitarian and value-expressive functions predicted intentions to register, regardless of their self-monitoring tendency. For intentions to discuss organ donation with family, self-monitoring was a significant moderator such that for low self-monitors (vs. high), the utilitarian function was a more important predictor of intentions, whereas for high self-monitors (vs. low), the value-expressive attitudes were more important. The ego-defensive function was negatively associated with intentions to register but was positively associated with intentions to discuss organ donation. Both theoretical and practical implications of the findings are provided.