Students’ attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion: a cross-cultural study in three Mediterranean countries
Abstract Introduction Abortion and euthanasia are still one of the greatest bioethical challenges. Previous studies have shown that there are differences in attitudes towards these issues depending on socio-demographic characteristics and socio-cultural environment (country of residence). As part of...
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BMC
2025-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Ethics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-025-01167-8 |
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| author | Ivana Tutić Grokša Ana Depope Tijana Trako Poljak Igor Eterović Toni Buterin Robert Doričić Mariana Gensabella Maria Laura Giacobello Josip Guć Eleni Kalokairinou Željko Kaluđerović Iva Rinčić Ivana Zagorac Miltiadis Vantsos Amir Muzur |
| author_facet | Ivana Tutić Grokša Ana Depope Tijana Trako Poljak Igor Eterović Toni Buterin Robert Doričić Mariana Gensabella Maria Laura Giacobello Josip Guć Eleni Kalokairinou Željko Kaluđerović Iva Rinčić Ivana Zagorac Miltiadis Vantsos Amir Muzur |
| author_sort | Ivana Tutić Grokša |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Introduction Abortion and euthanasia are still one of the greatest bioethical challenges. Previous studies have shown that there are differences in attitudes towards these issues depending on socio-demographic characteristics and socio-cultural environment (country of residence). As part of the scientific research project EuroBioMed, we compared the attitudes of students from three Mediterranean countries towards abortion and euthanasia and examined them from the perspective of Mediterranean bioethics. Methods A pen-to-paper survey was conducted on a convenient sample of students (N = 1097) from five universities and four fields of study (Medicine, Law, Theology and Philosophy) in Croatia, Greece and Italy to investigate their attitudes towards abortion and euthanasia. Three hypotheses were tested using t-test and ANOVA for differences in attitudes according to country, field of study, year of study, gender, religiosity, political orientation, financial status, and size of place of residence. Results While attitudes towards abortion were not statistically significantly different between students from different countries, the analysis showed that students from Italy had more liberal attitudes towards euthanasia. Theology students had more conservative attitudes towards both abortion and euthanasia, while there were no differences between the other groups. Women, final year students, non-religious and politically left-oriented students had more liberal attitudes. Conclusion The results provided an insight into students’ attitudes towards abortion and euthanasia. Knowledge of the attitudes of these future experts can be valuable for the discussion of these issues. These results also provided a basis for a better understanding of the construct of Mediterranean bioethics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-75d27dec703a44a6a94e9393ba8edc44 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1472-6939 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Ethics |
| spelling | doaj-art-75d27dec703a44a6a94e9393ba8edc442025-01-26T12:51:14ZengBMCBMC Medical Ethics1472-69392025-01-0126111310.1186/s12910-025-01167-8Students’ attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion: a cross-cultural study in three Mediterranean countriesIvana Tutić Grokša0Ana Depope1Tijana Trako Poljak2Igor Eterović3Toni Buterin4Robert Doričić5Mariana Gensabella6Maria Laura Giacobello7Josip Guć8Eleni Kalokairinou9Željko Kaluđerović10Iva Rinčić11Ivana Zagorac12Miltiadis Vantsos13Amir Muzur14Faculty of Medicine, University of RijekaFaculty of Medicine, University of RijekaFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of ZagrebFaculty of Medicine, University of RijekaFaculty of Medicine, University of RijekaFaculty of Medicine, University of RijekaDepartment of Ancient and Modern Civilisations, University of MessinaDepartment of Ancient and Modern Civilisations, University of MessinaFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of SplitFaculty of Theology, Aristotle University of ThessalonikiFaculty of Philosophy, University of Novi SadFaculty of Medicine, University of RijekaFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of ZagrebFaculty of Theology, Aristotle University of ThessalonikiFaculty of Medicine, University of RijekaAbstract Introduction Abortion and euthanasia are still one of the greatest bioethical challenges. Previous studies have shown that there are differences in attitudes towards these issues depending on socio-demographic characteristics and socio-cultural environment (country of residence). As part of the scientific research project EuroBioMed, we compared the attitudes of students from three Mediterranean countries towards abortion and euthanasia and examined them from the perspective of Mediterranean bioethics. Methods A pen-to-paper survey was conducted on a convenient sample of students (N = 1097) from five universities and four fields of study (Medicine, Law, Theology and Philosophy) in Croatia, Greece and Italy to investigate their attitudes towards abortion and euthanasia. Three hypotheses were tested using t-test and ANOVA for differences in attitudes according to country, field of study, year of study, gender, religiosity, political orientation, financial status, and size of place of residence. Results While attitudes towards abortion were not statistically significantly different between students from different countries, the analysis showed that students from Italy had more liberal attitudes towards euthanasia. Theology students had more conservative attitudes towards both abortion and euthanasia, while there were no differences between the other groups. Women, final year students, non-religious and politically left-oriented students had more liberal attitudes. Conclusion The results provided an insight into students’ attitudes towards abortion and euthanasia. Knowledge of the attitudes of these future experts can be valuable for the discussion of these issues. These results also provided a basis for a better understanding of the construct of Mediterranean bioethics.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-025-01167-8AbortionEuthanasiaQuestions about the beginning and end of lifeBioethicsMediterranean bioethicsStudents |
| spellingShingle | Ivana Tutić Grokša Ana Depope Tijana Trako Poljak Igor Eterović Toni Buterin Robert Doričić Mariana Gensabella Maria Laura Giacobello Josip Guć Eleni Kalokairinou Željko Kaluđerović Iva Rinčić Ivana Zagorac Miltiadis Vantsos Amir Muzur Students’ attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion: a cross-cultural study in three Mediterranean countries BMC Medical Ethics Abortion Euthanasia Questions about the beginning and end of life Bioethics Mediterranean bioethics Students |
| title | Students’ attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion: a cross-cultural study in three Mediterranean countries |
| title_full | Students’ attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion: a cross-cultural study in three Mediterranean countries |
| title_fullStr | Students’ attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion: a cross-cultural study in three Mediterranean countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Students’ attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion: a cross-cultural study in three Mediterranean countries |
| title_short | Students’ attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion: a cross-cultural study in three Mediterranean countries |
| title_sort | students attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion a cross cultural study in three mediterranean countries |
| topic | Abortion Euthanasia Questions about the beginning and end of life Bioethics Mediterranean bioethics Students |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-025-01167-8 |
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