Donations in Brazilian Scientific Literature: Contributions for Moral Psychology

Abstract We conducted a literature review on the scientific literature published on donations in Brazil in order to identify themes for scientific investigations in the field of moral psychology. This exploratory study analyzed 49 articles that discussed donations of blood, cornea, breast milk, bone marrow, gametes, organs, and tissues. The thematic analysis conducted had the support of NVivo software. The results showed seven core themes: why donate, why not donate, principles and values, negative feelings, religion, media, and hope. Moral aspects (e. g., compassion, empathy, altruism, generosity, gratitude) came out as preceding donations or resulting from them. There were no articles on donation of clothing, toys, food, books - objects with less personal cost in comparison to what the analyses demonstrated. The study of virtues is an example of how one can understand the idiosyncrasies of donors and recipients, the process of donation itself, and how to develop social and educational actions to encourage donations.