Barbier et al., 2021_Collection of the content of the social representations of organ donation

Abstract

Introduction. – On 1st January 2017, the updated presumed consent for organ donation was widely communicated in France. From a social psychological point of view, this may have changed the shared meanings people associate with organ donation.

Objective. –First, this study aimed to identify the content and structure of the social representation of organ donation. Second, it aimed to account for social anchoring and see how the processes of social anchoring participate in the arrangement of structured sets of the social representation of organ donation.

Method. – The study consisted of filling in a self-reported online survey disseminated through Facebook. In total, 778 French people participated (393 women, 381 men, Mage = 37.02 yrs, SD = 12.60). A two-step methodology from exploratory to confirmatory analysis was applied.

Results. – In line with our assumptions, findings showed: changes in the content of representation that may have occurred in response to the legislative update, in particular; a dichotomy that structures the social representations of organ donation, intrinsically linked to the donor/non-donor variable; effects of gender and age on content of the social representations of organ donation. Contrary to our preliminary expectations, findings showed: no effects of gender and age on structure of the social representations of organ donation; no effect of religious affiliation on content nor on structure, suggesting that the role of religion is not orientating social thinking about organ donation, but rather, legitimising social practices related to organ donation.

Conclusion. – These results are discussed in relation to the identity issues facing organ donation, in the sense that the shared meaning associated with organ donation reveal ideological positions. We suggest avenues for future research likely to find interesting applications in the organ donation field.

摘要
引言——2017年1月1日，法国对器官捐献（organ donation）的推定同意制度更新内容得到广泛传播。从社会心理学视角来看，这一变化或已改变民众与器官捐献相关的共同意义认知。

研究目标——本研究包含两大核心目标：其一，明确器官捐献社会表征（social representation）的内容与结构；其二，阐释社会锚定（social anchoring）的内涵，并探析社会锚定过程如何参与构建器官捐献社会表征的结构化体系。

研究方法——本研究通过脸书（Facebook）分发线上自陈式调查问卷开展数据收集，总计778名法国民众参与本次研究（女性393人，男性381人，平均年龄Mage=37.02岁，标准差SD=12.60）。研究采用从探索性分析到验证性分析的两步法研究范式。

研究结果——研究结果与预设假设相符：一是立法更新或引发了社会表征内容的变化，尤其构建了与捐献者/非捐献者变量内在关联的、划分器官捐献社会表征的二分法；二是性别与年龄对器官捐献社会表征的内容存在显著影响。而与初步预期相悖的是，研究发现：性别与年龄对器官捐献社会表征的结构无显著影响；宗教信仰既未对表征内容产生作用，也未影响表征结构，这表明宗教并未引导民众对器官捐献的社会认知，而是为与器官捐献相关的社会行为提供了合法性支撑。

研究结论——本文结合器官捐献面临的身份认同议题对上述结果展开讨论，即与器官捐献相关的共同意义认知揭示了不同的意识形态立场。最后，本文提出若干未来研究方向，有望在器官捐献领域取得具有实践价值的研究成果。