12/23/2023 0 Comments Chivalry code of conduct in the 1800s![]() The situation on the Titanic resonates with the situation in a third-party punishment game (TPPG), in which threat of punishment is necessary for self-regarding players to transfer resources to other players ( 22). In the evacuation of the Titanic, the captain ordered WCF ( 25) and officers were reported to have shot at men who disobeyed the order ( 26). On board a ship, the captain is the commanding officer with the supreme power to give and enforce orders. Unlike other types of catastrophes, e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, and terrorist attacks, a maritime disaster is characterized by the presence of a well-defined leader. It has been shown, both theoretically and experimentally that people, who would not otherwise do so, may comply with a social norm if violation is threatened with punishment ( 22– 24). Evidence of people helping each other is not necessarily evidence of other-regarding preferences, or social norms, governing behavior. ![]() The potentially important role of the captain has largely been overlooked in previous studies. The third hypothesis (H3) is that the survival rate of women, relative to that of men, improves when the captain orders WCF. However, if we observe a substantial survival disadvantage of women we regard it as evidence that compliance with the WCF norm is exceptional in maritime disasters. A small survival disadvantage for women is difficult to interpret, as it can either indicate that the WCF norm has helped women from a potentially larger disadvantage or that the norm has not been upheld. Hence, an observed survival advantage of women is regarded as supporting evidence of behavior being governed by the WCF norm. We would, however, expect women’s survival chances to improve if men comply with the norm of WCF. Accordingly, if men try to save themselves, we expect women to have a relative survival disadvantage. Other traits that may enhance survival prospects, such as aggressiveness, competitiveness, and swimming ability, are also more prevalent in men ( 9, 15– 17), whereas for example resistance to cold water may benefit either sex ( 18– 20). In the evacuation of a sinking ship, success is typically determined by the ability to move fast through corridors and stairs, which is often made difficult by heavy list, congestion, and debris. The most important argument would be that men are physically stronger than women. ![]() There are, however, several reasons to believe that men have better survival prospects than women, if they do not engage in self-sacrificing helping behavior. Previous research on the Titanic has found, in line with the notion of WCF, that women have a survival advantage over men, whereas evidence from the Lusitania disaster indicates no difference in survival rates between men and women ( 11, 12). The first and main hypothesis (H1) is that women have a survival advantage over men in maritime disasters. Taken together, our findings show that human behavior in life-and-death situations is best captured by the expression “every man for himself.”Įight hypotheses are tested. 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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