The fear associated with blood and organ donation: an explication of fright and anxiety.

CONTEXT

Fear inhibits potential donors' willingness to engage in behaviors. Theoretically, fright and anxiety are differentially associated with blood and organ donation, respectively. Fright is the experience of an immediate harm, whereas anxiety is a fear of the unknown.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the fear-related concepts of fright and anxiety in relation to blood donation and signing an organ donor card.

DESIGN

Scales were created to separate the 2 fear types that were consistent in theme and addressed the same dependent variables fright and anxiety.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Participants were 509 college students at a large midwestern university.

RESULTS

Survey responses from 509 participants supported the theoretical explication of the 2 fear types. Multisample analyses and multimeasurement models using confirmatory factor analysis supported that fright and anxiety were differentially associated with the contexts of blood and organ donation.

CONCLUSIONS

The results supported the theoretical proposal that fright and anxiety are differentially related. The ability to measure such emotions will help future researchers create models that are more accurate for predicting potential donors and create messages to assuage fears. A greater understanding of fear will lead to more effective messages.