title: Reservations of the spirit: the development of a culturally sensitive spiritual beliefs scale about organ donation.
abstract: This study investigated whether spiritual beliefs offered any explanation for why participants from Korea (N = 146), Japan (N = 134), and the United States (N = 146) were willing or reluctant to register as organ donors. A culturally appropriate measure of spiritual beliefs about organ donation, the Spiritual Beliefs Scale, was developed consisting of 2 factors: (a) Spiritual Connection and (b) Spiritual Concern. Spiritual Connection was a significant predictor of behavioral intention to become an organ donor for Korean respondents, whereas Spiritual Concern was a significant predictor of reluctance to become an organ donor for American respondents. Spiritual beliefs correlated as predicted with attitude toward organ donation and fear of bodily mutilation, showing that the Spiritual Beliefs Scale exhibited internal, external, and predictive validity. Across the 3-country sample, Spiritual Connection was associated with greater willingness to become an organ donor for women, whereas Spiritual Concern inhibited participation for men. Implications of these findings are discussed for developing culturally effective education and procurement campaigns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MS 48824-1212, USA. bresnah1@msu.edu
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bresnahan
authors.forename: Sun Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sandi W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Sachiyo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shearman
authors.forename: Jina H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yoo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D007564:Japan; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D014481:United States