Structures of Japanese Consciousness on Organ Tansplantation. II. Analysis of the Background Factors that Construct a View of Life and Death Using Covariance Structure Model.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the structure of consciousness which affects the attitude concerning organ transplantation, especially donation of one's organ, by means of the covariance structure analysis. The main findings from the survey for 705 subjects of ordinary group and 160 subjects of medical students were as follows: 1. In the ordinary group, background factors that construct a view of life and death are classified into two main flows which are interrelated from each other: one from "Animism" to "Buddhist belief" that respects the souls and the other from "Confucianist idea" that respects the body . "Buddhist belief" contributed to the attitude that did not reject the donation of their organs. 2. Regarding the medical students, only "Confucianist idea" among the background factors played a regulating role in construction of a view of life and death. 3. "Confucianist idea" remarkably regulated the attitude that rejects donation of their organs in both ordinary people and medical students. However, it was shown that the basic structure of a view of life and death in the ordinary people was quite different from that in the medical students.