Residents of regions with a high level of well-being are more likely to sacrifice their kidneys to save a stranger.

This is evidenced by the results of a study conducted at Georgetown University (USA).

New data on "altruistic kidney donation", published in the online edition of Psychological Science, will help scientists better understand this phenomenon and find ways to increase the number of much needed donor volunteers.

"In any region of the United States, between 11 and 54 percent of adults interviewed express a desire to sacrifice a kidney to a stranger in words, but only a tiny fraction of them are actually decided to become donors," the study's author Abigail Marsh, a psychology teacher at Georgetown University.

New data show us that a high level of well-being can be a factor that to some extent "pushes" people to commit such an act.

The researchers analyzed the national data and concluded that in those states where a larger percentage of people give their kidney to a stranger, on average, a higher level of well-being.

This relationship persisted even when scientists divided the US into nine conventional geographic zones, and even when other factors (age, education, income, mental and physical health) were taken into account.

"You would be amazed at the remarks that some donors hear in their address from people who learn about their actions. People see something completely abnormal, out of the way that a person gives his inner organ to a stranger.

Our data show that there is an understandable, quite normal psychological mechanism that determines this type of behavior, "said the researcher.

According to her, a new study will help increase the number of live kidney donors in the country. Marsh said: "Renal failure is the eighth cause of death in the United States, and living kidney donors are the biggest hope for patients. Understanding the course of thoughts leading to such selfless actions could help increase the number of donors ".

medbe. en.

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