Situational factors and attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia

This study examines how attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia vary across categories of four situational factors: (1) type of assistance; (2) type of assistant; (3) type of illness; (4) age of the patient. The data, based on a random sample of 514 adult residents of Ohio, indicate that more active assistance is favored over less active assistance, and that voluntary euthanasia for cancer patients receives more support than does voluntary euthanasia for victims of Alzheimer's disease. The findings also suggest that, for persons who do not strongly adhere to the belief that life belongs to God, physician-assistants are preferred over nonphysician-assistants, and that voluntary euthanasia for children receives less;support than does voluntary euthanasia for adults. For those who strongly adhere to the belief that life belongs to God, however, these two situational factors have less of an influence. At the microlevel, the findings appear to reflect a concern about safeguarding patients' autonomy in the decision-making process, and a concern about authoritative control of the procedure of voluntary euthanasia. At the macrolevel, the findings suggest that the influence of cultural ideology on a social movement's direction is not independent, but is instead moderated by the internal dynamics and struggles of movement organizations. This is indicated by the finding that movement leaders' attitudes toward active assistance on the part of the physician are more consistent with the attitudes of physicians than with the attitudes of the public. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.