Beyond altruism: why intention, not motivation, correlates with blood donation behavior among young Indian adults

The issue of blood donation is still a problem in India, since there is a disconnect between individuals' willingness to donate and their actual donation practices. Even though the role of altruism in donation motivations is well acknowledged, the relationship between it and intention as well as past behavior is yet poorly explored among young adults.

Research Objectives: To determine if altruistic motives had varying associations with donation intentions and self-reported donation behaviors, and if the association between donation intentions and self-reported donation behaviors was stronger than that of altruism.

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among adults aged 18-40 years. Starting from an initial pool of 580 responses, a rigorous screening process was applied to ensure data quality and age compliance, resulting in a final analytical sample of 95 participants (84% exclusion rate).

Altruistic motivation was associated with higher donation intention (OR = 3.62, 95% CI [1.36-9.68], p = .010), but was not independently associated with reported past donation behaviour after accounting for intention (OR = 0.96, 95% CI [0.30-3.08], p = .949). Higher donation intention was associated with higher reported past donation frequency (OR = 4.42, 95% CI [2.21-8.81], p < .001). Female participants had lower odds of reporting higher donation intention.

Findings are consistent with a discrepancy between donation intention and reported donation behaviour. Given the cross-sectional design and substantial sample reduction, results should be interpreted cautiously as exploratory associations within this analytical sample.