On the Psychology of Organ Donation: Attitudinal and Situational Factors Related to the Willingness to Be an Organ Donor

Two survey studies investigated attitude, belief, and situational factors related to the willingness to donate organs. The results of these studies suggest that those who are willing to donate and those who are unwilling to donate differ substantially in both donation-favorable and donation-unfavorable attitudes and beliefs. Donation-unfavorable attitudes and beliefs appear, however, to discriminate more strongly among groups of participants who differ in organ donation willingness than donation-favorable attitudes and beliefs. These studies also found that willingness to donate was affected by various situational circumstances, including (a) the relationship between a potential donor and the recipient, (b) the exact organ(s) to be donated, and (c) whether the donor is alive or dead when the donation is made. Furthermore, these factors had an impact on the donation willingness of almost all subjects, even those who initially indicated that they would not sign organ donor cards. Hence, even those who reported unwillingness to donate organs may consider donation behavior under the appropriate circumstances.