Our data cover the fate of over 15,000 passengers and crew members of more than 30 different nationalities.ĭuration indicates whether the ship sank quickly or slowly. To address these questions, we have compiled and analyzed a database of 18 maritime disasters over the period 1852–2011 ( Table 1). Based on a comparison of the Titanic and the Lusitania (where the former sank in 160 min and the latter in less than 20 min), a conjecture has been suggested to the effect that norm compliance is more pronounced in disasters that evolve slowly ( 11, 12).ĭo women normally have a survival advantage in maritime disasters or was the evacuation of the Titanic an exception? What situational and cultural conditions determine who survives and who dies? And what role does the captain play? It has been concluded that the men on board the Titanic followed the norm of WCF ( 11, 12). However, so far, only the shipwrecks of the Titanic and the Lusitania have been analyzed with respect to sex and survival ( 1, 11 – 14). Maritime disasters provide a valuable context in which it is possible to empirically investigate how people act and organize behavior in life-and-death situations and, in particular, if social norms of helping behavior are being upheld. This cost–benefit logic is fundamental in economic models of human behavior, including models in which individuals choose to comply with or violate social norms, for instance by committing crimes ( 10). When helping substantially increases the risk of dying, it would be rational for most individuals to save themselves rather than helping others. Rational individuals, whether with self-regarding or other-regarding preferences, compare the benefits and costs of helping. Men displaying extreme altruism in disasters contrasts the picture from economic experiments in which men tend to be more selfish than women ( 9). The expectation of men to display chivalry and heroism in maritime disasters can be seen as an archetypal example of sex differences in social norms of helping behavior. Men are in general expected to help people in emergencies, whereas women are, to a higher degree, expected to engage in care over the long term.
Men and women are, however, subject to different norms of helping behavior ( 7, 8). For instance, charitable giving and donation of blood and organs is widespread ( 4 – 6). It is well known that social norms of fairness and cooperation influence human behavior in a wide range of situations ( 2, 3). The social norm of saving “women and children first” (WCF) in shipwrecks has often been referred to as the “unwritten law of the sea.” In the end, 70% of the women and children were saved compared with only 20% of the men ( 1). Men stood back, while women and children were given priority to board the lifeboats. The evacuation of the Titanic serves as the prime example of chivalry at sea. The Titanic disaster has generated immense public and scholarly interest and, as one of the most extensively covered events in history, obtained an almost mythological status. On April 15, 2012, a century had passed since RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. Taken together, our findings show that human behavior in life-and-death situations is best captured by the expression “every man for himself.” We also find that: the captain has the power to enforce normative behavior there seems to be no association between duration of a disaster and the impact of social norms women fare no better when they constitute a small share of the ship’s complement the length of the voyage before the disaster appears to have no impact on women’s relative survival rate the sex gap in survival rates has declined since World War I and women have a larger disadvantage in British shipwrecks. Captains and crew survive at a significantly higher rate than passengers. Women have a distinct survival disadvantage compared with men. Our results provide a unique picture of maritime disasters. We analyze a database of 18 maritime disasters spanning three centuries, covering the fate of over 15,000 individuals of more than 30 nationalities. Since the sinking of the Titanic, there has been a widespread belief that the social norm of “women and children first” (WCF) gives women a survival advantage over men in maritime disasters, and that captains and crew members give priority to passengers.
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