Research paper
Johnson EJ, Goldstein D. Do defaults save lives? Science. 2003 Nov 21;302(5649):1338-9. doi:10.1126/science.1091721. PMID: 14631022.
Why we cite it
A two-page Science Policy Forum (pp. 1338–1339). Across eleven European countries, effective consent rates cluster at 85.9–99.98% where donation is the default and 4.25–27.5% where it is not; in an online experiment of 161 respondents, opt-in suppressed consent relative to both opt-out and a neutral question; and in a regression on actual cadaveric donations, presumed consent was associated with a 16.3% increase. The paper argues from preferences that are constructed rather than settled, and compares no attitudes or intentions. Widely cited in discussions of choice architecture (1,660 citations, Semantic Scholar; undated count). (Corrected 2026-09-10 from ”A single-page”, the paper spanning pages 1338 and 1339; from ”Demonstrated with striking clarity”; from ”not attitudes or intentions” and ”drives organ donation consent rates”, a comparison this record’s own note below says the paper does not make; and from ”Became a foundational example in the nudge theory literature”, an unsurveyed ranking.) Referenced by 1 companion file in this corpus as further reading on the power of defaults.