Organ Donation Decisions: When Deviating from the Status Quo Heightens Perceived Vulnerability.

ABSTRACT: BackgroundResearch suggests that the method used to determine voluntary consent (i.e., opt-in versus opt-out policies) greatly affects the number of registered organ donors in various countries. Although the concept of organ transplantation is broadly supported, the relatively low percentage of registered donors in opt-in countries is puzzling. We suggest that deviating from the status quo (such as signing an organ donor card in opt-in countries or removing oneself from the list of registered donors in opt-out countries) heightens one's sense of vulnerability.DesignWe examined our prediction in 2 online experiments involving participants from the United States (studies 1 and 2), which has an opt-in organ-donation policy, and from the United Kingdom (study 2), a country that has recently ch

SUBMITTER: Motsenok M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12413501 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature