Ricerc@Sapienza

The donation of human organ and tissues is a prosocial behavior which is particularly
relevant for our society. Although these kinds of donation usually do not entail financial
costs nor painful procedures for the donors, adequate supplies to meet the demand for
these materials are rarely achieved by national health systems and this calls for more
research aimed at targeting the best behavioral intervention for promoting donation.
One problematic regards the proportion of eligible donors which are usually a small
proportion of the general population. Apart from that, a big role seems to be played by the
lack of information provided to the potential donors, the uneasiness of the procedures that
have to be followed, the presence/absence of a personal reward that can be obtained (e.g.,
money, free blood test), the possibility to save the tissue for oneself or in-kinds. Besides these aspects, little is known about the psychological determinants of these kinds
of behavior, especially in new kind of donations.
Importantly, very little is known about the psychological determinants of these kinds of
behavior, thus, the major goal of this panel is to explore what are the determinants and the
main fears that characterizes tissue/ organ donors and to discuss potential intervention for
promotion. With this regard, the first contribution from the University of Bologna will
present a psychoeducational intervention directed towards high school students and aimed
at promoting tissue/organ donation. A second contribution from the of Milano – Bicocca
will investigate the role of needles phobia in blood donors and non donors. A third
contribution from Sapienza University of Rome will show experimental data regarding the
effect of social distance on altruism in new-mothers who might or not have donated the
umbilical cord blood.