Perceptions of organ donors and willingness to donate organs upon death: a test of the prototype/willingness model.
Understanding people's organ donation decisions may narrow the gap between organ supply and demand. In two studies, participants who had not recorded their posthumous organ donation decision (Study 1, N = 210; Study 2, N = 307) completed items assessing prototype/willingness model (PWM; attitude, subjective norm, donor prototype favorability and similarity, willingness) constructs. Attitude, subjective norm, and prototype similarity predicted willingness to donate. Prototype favorability and a Prototype Favorability × Similarity interaction predicted willingness (Study 2). These findings provide support for the PWM in altruistic health contexts, highlighting the importance of people's perceptions about organ donors in their donation decisions.
a School of Psychology and Counselling , Queensland University of Technology, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation , Queensland , Australia.
Melissa K
MK
Hyde
Katherine M
KM
White
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000533:Altruism; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D055815:Young Adult