Assessing the influence of affective attitudes, demography and blood donor status on organ donor registration active decisions in opt-out systems

Shepherd, Lee; O'Carroll, Ronan; Ferguson, Eamonn

Abstract

In contrast to opt-in systems, relatively little is known about what influences whether or not people register a decision about organ donation in opt-out systems. We address this gap in the literature. Participants (N = 756) living in a country with opt-out consent (Wales, UK) provided information on demographics and blood donor status. Participants indicated whether they had opted-in or opted-out (i.e. active decision), or not registered a decision under the assumption of deemed consent. Subsequently, their negative emotional beliefs (or affective attitudes) towards organ donation were measured. Opting-in was associated with being younger, having donated blood and holding superstitious beliefs about donation (jinx). Disgust (ick factor) deterred opting-in, and bodily integrity concerns increased opting-out. Positive affective attitudes increased opting-in and deterred opting-out. Actively opting-in increases the likelihood of organs being transplanted, thus, modifying affective attitudes and targeting blood donors should enhance the number of donors available under opt-out systems.

Citation

Shepherd, L., O'Carroll, R., & Ferguson, E. (2024). Assessing the influence of affective attitudes, demography and blood donor status on organ donor registration active decisions in opt-out systems. Journal of Health Psychology, 29(8), 825-835. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053231208531

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 26, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Nov 16, 2023
• Publication Date: 2024-07
• Deposit Date: Sep 27, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 27, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Health Psychology
• Print ISSN: 1359-1053
• Electronic ISSN: 1461-7277
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 825-835
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053231208531
• Keywords: Applied Psychology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/25375860
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13591053231208531
• Additional Information: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).