title: Impression management during evaluation and psychological reactions post-donation of living kidney donors.
abstract: Many healthcare providers have been concerned about the extent to which potential kidney donors use impression management or concealment of important information regarding their medical history, current functioning, or other circumstances that could affect whether they are accepted as donors. To date, however, there has been very little empirical examination of these questions. It is also not known whether donors' use of impression management pre-donation is related to their reactions and adjustment post-donation.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study surveyed 76 individuals who had donated a kidney one to six yr previously regarding their use of impression management and their concealing of information during their psychological evaluations. They were also asked about their reactions to the donation and whether they would make the same decision again. In addition, 21 of these donors participated in focus groups that explored these questions in depth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Many of the kidney donors reported that they possessed very strong motivation to donate and consequently used impression management in their interactions with medical professionals pre-donation. Very few donors, however, indicated that they concealed information during their pre-donation evaluations. The donors' psychological reactions post-donation were generally positive, and nearly all indicated that they would make the same decision again.
authors.affiliation: Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hildebrand
authors.forename: Timothy P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Melchert
authors.forename: Rebecca C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D008192:Deception; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D019520:Living Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012928:Social Desirability; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: impression management; kidney transplant; living donor evaluation; post-donation reactions; psychological factors