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Titanic was exceptional finds shipwreck chivalry study

By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

The cruise ship captain who abandoned his passengers last year in the Costa Concordia disaster may be a better example of shipwreck survival than the Titanic, suggests a study of historic shipwrecks.

"Do women normally have a survival advantage in maritime disasters or was the evacuation of the Titanic  an exception?, asks the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science journal report by Swedish economists Mikael Elinder and Oscar Erixson.

"The evacuation of the Titanic serves as the prime example of chivalry at sea. Men stood back, while women and children were given priority to board the lifeboats. In the end, 70% of the women and children were saved compared with only 20% of the men," the study notes.

Such chivalry confuses economists, the study authors note, as the dismal science in general expects people to behave selfishly in situations where something valuable is at risk, for example, your hide. "When helping substantially increases the risk of dying, it would be rational for most individuals to save themselves rather than helping others. This cost–benefit logic is fundamental in economic models of human behavior," says the study.

So what is so special about shipwrecks, they ask, where, "(t)he social norm of saving 'women and children first' in shipwrecks has often been referred to as the 'unwritten law of the sea.'" After all, men and especially ship's crew, should have a survival advantage when ships sink, they argue, all other things being equal.

To get to the bottom of shipwreck chivalry, the economists compiled a survivor list from 18 significant shipwrecks involving some 30,000 passengers over the last three centuries, from the loss of H.M.S. Birkenhead in 1852 to the Russian M.V. Bulgaria last year.

What did they find? So much for chivalry:

"By investigating a much larger sample of maritime disasters than what has previously been done, we show that the survival rate of women is, on average, only about half that of men. We interpret this as evidence that compliance with the (Women and Children First) norm is exceptional in maritime disasters. That women fare worse than men has also been documented for natural disasters. We also find that crew members have a higher survival rate than passengers and that only 9 of 16 captains went down with their ships. Children appear to have the lowest survival rate," said the study.

Well, that's comforting for economists (especially male ones), but what made a difference in cases where more women survived, such as the Titanic?

"Most notably, it seems as if it is the policy of the captain, rather than the moral sentiments of men, that determines whether women are given preferential treatment in shipwrecks," says the study.

In cases where the captain gave such orders, such as the Titanic and the Lusitania, torpedoed in 1915, women fared much better on survival. More recent disasters also show more women surviving, pointing to women having a higher status in society, and perhaps learning to swim, as playing a role in their survival.

"Taken together, our findings show that human behavior in life-and-death situations is best captured by the expression 'every man for himself'," the study concludes.

'Sponger' dolphins like to keep each other company
July a quiet month for tornadoes, hurricanes