Reactions to Narrative and Statistical Written Messages Promoting Organ Donation

Abstract

Students (N = 412) attending a large eastern university evaluated two of three message vignettes (narrative, statistical, actual) on organ donation after reporting their attitudes on the topic. The narrative and statistical vignettes were replicated from a study published in 1998 by Kopfman, Smith, Ah Yun, and Hodges. The study design replicated the Kopfman et al. experiment while also correcting for two methodological artifacts (order effects and analysis procedure) that may have accounted, in part, for the reported findings. Results failed to replicate the findings of Kopfman et al., and in one factor findings were in the opposite direction previously hypothesized. Number of total thoughts and number of positive thoughts were greater for the first message compared to the second message regardless of message condition. Narrative messages were evaluated more positively, seen as more causally relevant, and rated as more credible when compared to the actual messages.