Whole-body donation for medical science constitutes the ethical, educational, and scientific foundation of human anatomical study. Despite its irreplaceable importance for medical training, surgical innovation, and biomedical research, the global supply of donated bodies remains critically insufficient. This imbalance between demand and availability reflects not only administrative or logistical shortcomings but also deeper cultural, psychological, religious, and educational factors that shape how individuals and communities perceive the human body after death. The present research article offers a comprehensive, theory-driven and evidence-based analysis of willingness toward whole-body donation by synthesizing empirical findings from multiple geographic, cultural, and professional populations as reported in contemporary literature. Drawing exclusively from peer-reviewed studies conducted across India, Turkey, Iran, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Serbia, Mexico, South Africa, and other regions, this article integrates cross-cultural, psychosocial, and educational perspectives to explain how knowledge, belief systems, emotional responses, professional identity, and societal narratives converge to shape donation behavior.

The article argues that willingness to donate one’s body is not a simple moral or rational choice but rather the outcome of a complex interaction between individual cognition, cultural meaning-making, institutional trust, and experiential exposure to anatomical science. Regional studies in India demonstrate that willingness varies substantially between northern, southern, eastern, and central populations due to differences in spiritual traditions, family structures, and perceptions of bodily integrity (Aricatt et al., 2024). Similar patterns emerge globally, where religiosity, fear of body mutilation, and social taboos exert powerful inhibitory effects on donation, even among highly educated populations (Saha et al., 2015; Oktem et al., 2020). Conversely, medical students, anatomists, and individuals with sustained exposure to cadaveric dissection consistently demonstrate higher willingness, suggesting that educational experience reshapes emotional and ethical frameworks (Bharambe et al., 2017; Anyanwu et al., 2014; Asante et al., 2021).

Through an in-depth conceptual synthesis, this article examines how awareness, attitude, and practice form a dynamic continuum that governs donation decisions. Awareness provides cognitive knowledge, attitude reflects emotional and moral orientation, and practice represents behavioral readiness to register or commit to donation (Karmakar et al., 2020; Prameela et al., 2017). Cultural acceptability, particularly in non-Western societies, further mediates this continuum by linking the body to ancestral identity, ritual purity, and metaphysical continuity (Asl et al., 2016; Ebeye et al., 2016). The article further explores how professional identity among medical educators and anatomy faculty enhances acceptance of donation by reframing the cadaver as a pedagogical partner rather than a desecrated corpse (Garza et al., 2017; Bahsi et al., 2021).

By situating these empirical findings within broader theoretical frameworks of social psychology, medical anthropology, and bioethics, this research advances a unified explanatory model of body donation willingness. It also critically addresses structural barriers such as mistrust in medical institutions, inadequate public education, and the absence of culturally sensitive donation campaigns. Ultimately, the article argues that increasing whole-body donation requires not only policy reform and administrative facilitation but also a profound transformation in how societies narrate death, dignity, and scientific contribution.

Body donation, cadaveric education, cultural attitudes

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