title: Religiousness and blood donation: findings from a national survey.
abstract: Religions instruct individuals to engage in prosocial behaviors. Previous studies are lacking on a positive relation between religiousness and blood donation. We tested this hypothesis using a national survey of 7611 women and 4282 men aged 18-44 years. In women, positive associations of childhood religious affiliation, current affiliation and attendance with blood donation were seen on bivariate analysis but were no longer significant when socio-demographic variables were controlled for. Religiousness was not associated with history of blood donation in men, with the exception of higher donation rates in Catholic men aged 35-44.
authors.affiliation: Howard University, Silver Spring, MD 20904, USA. frank.gillum@gmail.com
authors.forename: R Frank
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Gillum
authors.forename: Kevin S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Masters
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D002410:Catholicism; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012011:Red Cross; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D012925:Social Conformity; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult