Adolescents' preferences for organ allocation: The role of empathy and altruism in allocation judgments

Abstract

Distributive justice reasoning in adolescence, regarding the allocation of scarce medical resources, has not been thoroughly studied yet. The present study aimed to explore adolescents' preferences for organ allocation, the ethical principles that form bioethical judgments in adolescence, as well as the role of empathy and altruism in the formation of those judgments. One hundred fifty one adolescents (90 females) aged between 12 and 19 years old participated in the study. Participants were asked to suggest the criteria that should be considered in the construction of transplant waiting lists, to evaluate adults' preferable criteria and to justify their judgments. Results indicate that utilitarianism and egalitarianism were both used to form allocation judgments. Ingroup favouritism was also observed. Age differences in adolescents' preferences were witnessed, but no age effect were found regarding the principles that form participants' judgments. Aspects of empathy and altruism seemed to associate with certain allocation criteria.

Keywords::

• Adolescence
• Moral development
• Organ allocation
• Empathy
• Altruism
• Transplantations

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.This work was supported by Alexandros Onassis Foundation.

Notes

^* Email: [email protected]

^** Email: [email protected]