British politely died on RMS Titanic

William Atkins
Tuesday, 20 January 2009 18:47

Science - Biology

A study by Australian economist David Savage found that British men onboard the sinking Titanic gave up their seats to women, children, and American men due to their polite background in proper etiquette. The not-quite-so-courteous American men often accepted the offer.


David Savage, a behavioral economist from Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia), stated, “We observe that social norms such as ‘women and children first’ are surviving in such external situations that create life and death situations.” [Russia Today: “British gents politely died on Titanic”]

Savage and his team of Swiss and Australian researchers found that women had a 53% chance of surviving on the Titanic (which sank on April 14, 1912 after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage) due to the simple fact that they were female.

Consequently, more women than men survived and almost all children onboard the RMS Titanic survived the disaster at sea. In all, over 1,500 lives were lost that day.

In fact, Savage stated, "It seems that on the Titanic the social norm of 'women and children first' was followed, as proportionally more women than men and almost all the children on board survived.” [Stuff.co.nz: “Polite Poms 'had no chance on Titanic'”]

The Russia Today article stated, “The study also suggests British passengers were politely queuing to get their place on a lifeboat, and on many occasions allowed others to take their place. Americans, who were not used to this etiquette, had no problem seizing their chance of survival, the data indicates.”

The Savage team found that Americans were not polite in their actions that day.

What did many of the American and British men do when a seat opened up on a lifeboat? Page two explains.