Too afraid to donate: death anxiety as negative predictor of organ donation

Three studies examined the relationship between death anxiety and organ donation behavior in Germany, a country with an opt-in organ donation system. Organ donation behavior was operationalized in terms of whether participants held an organ donation card (or had registered online, Study 3). Because death anxiety is associated with the avoidance of mortality-related issues, the hypothesis was that death anxiety would negatively predict organ donation behavior above and beyond sociodemographic variables (age and gender) and organ donation attitude (Study 1; N = 388), Big Five personality traits (Study 2; N = 382), and altruism (Study 3; N = 473), respectively. Indeed, in logistic regression analyses, death anxiety emerged as a significant negative predictor of organ donation behavior in all three studies (Study 1: OR = 0.674, p < .001; Study 2: OR = 0.823, p = .013; Study 3: OR = 0.718, p < .001). That is, the more death anxiety participants reported, the less likely they were to hold an organ donation card even when controlling for often-cited predictors of organ donation behavior. A potential mechanism for this effect is discussed.   .