Why psychological research on organ donation?

Abstract

skilled surgeons or even of money but rather to a shortage of organs available for transplantation. In part, the shortfall reflects an increase in the number of patients who might benefit from a transplant, due to better screening and improved immunosuppressant drugs (Caplan, 1984). The major reason for the shortage, however, is simply a lack of sufficient donors.The ramifications of this shortage are tragic. In 1980 alone, approximately 14,000 people died because they did not receive needed heart transplants (Evans, Manninen, Gersh, Hart, & Rodin, 1984). The American Council on Transplantation estimated that there were 13,000 patients needing a kidney transplant on any given day in 1988 (Clark, Robinson, & Wickelgren, 1988). The need for other organs such as pancreas, liver, bone marrow, corneas, lungs, and skin, is also high, with around 10,000 people waiting for organs to become available (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1988). Potential transplant recipients may wait for years, if they survive, before a suitable donor organ can be found. Unfortunately, the longer the delay, the greater the probability of medical complications.These shortages do not appear to be due to lack of potential organs that are suitable for donation. One estimate concluded that only about 3,000 out of an estimated 23,000 organs that could be donated were in fact donated (Warmbrodt & Koch, 1985). Even a modest increase in the rate of donation would go a long way toward reducing this shortage because a single donor can provide over a dozen viable organs and tissues for transplantation. The central question is: Why are there so few decisions to donate?One common answer in the medical literature is that lack of knowledge about the need for donors is responsible for the shortage. Accordingly, considerable effort has been made in recent years to increase awareness, even sympathy, regarding the plight of potential organ recipients (e.g.,

Altruistic, Cognitive and Attitudinal Determinants of Organ Donation Intention in Egypt: A Social Marketing Perspective

“…We found knowledge and perceived benefits were good predictors of attitudes towards organ donation. The negative, but non-significant, relationship between perceived organ donation risks and organ donation attitudes supports previous research which found that risk perceptions may be negatively associated with attitudes towards organ donation (e.g., Shanteau & Harris, 1992). The strong positive relationship found in this study between organ donation attitudes and organ donation intentions supports previous research conducted to determine organ donation behaviors (e.g., Radecki & Jaccard, 1999).…”

“…Anxiety has also been found to negatively influence attitudes towards organ donation and willingness to register as an organ donor (Kopfman & Smith, 1996). Shanteau and Harris (1992) speculated that reluctance to donate organs may not be due to lack of knowledge or empathy per se but to ''un-stated motivations, perceived risks and unarticulated fears'' (p. 2). The discussion presented above suggests the following hypotheses:…”

Profiling organ donors in Egypt using intelligent modeling techniques

“…We found knowledge and perceived benefits were good predictors of willingness to donate organs. The positive relationship between perceived organ donation risks and willingness to donate organs is surprising and contradicts previous research conducted in the West (Shanteau and Harris, 1992). The strong positive relationship found in this study between organ donation attitudes and willingness to donate organs supports previous research conducted to determine organ donation behaviors (Radecki and Jaccard, 1999).…”

The meanings of organ donation: Muslims of Pakistani origin and white English nationals living in North England

“…Shanteau and Harris (1992) speculated that reluctance to donate may not be due to lack of knowledge or empathy per se but to 'unstated motivations, perceived risks and unarticulated fears ' (p.2). Hence, the meaning of carrying an organ donor card or of donating specific body parts, particularly the eyes and heart, may be complex and have different meanings for men and women.…”