Money for consent--psychological consideration.

CONTEXT: Regarding the increasing gap between demand and supply of donor organs the question is increasingly discussed, if families of organ donors should receive a financial incentive for consenting to organ donation. However, little attention has been paid to the psychological consequences of such incentives.

OBJECTIVE

We discuss the question of financial incentives for families of presumed organ donors in the light of relevant psychological theories.

DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION: Overview of the psychological literature. Only well established theories were included.

CONCLUSIONS

We summarise, that financial benefits for consent to organ donoation could affect adversely the public opinion toward organ donation and the whole process of transplantation and thus could counterproductively influence the consent rates.