Why heroism exists: evolutionary perspectives on extreme helping

Sara Kafashan; Adam Maxwell Sparks; Amanda Rotella; Pat Barclay

doi:10.4324/9781315690100

Why heroism exists: evolutionary perspectives on extreme helping

Sara Kafashan^*, Adam Maxwell Sparks, Amanda Rotella, Pat Barclay

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

On June 17, 2014, thirteen-year-old Robert Pritchard Junior rushed into a burning mobile home to rescue a six-year-old girl from being engulfed by the flames. Almost a year earlier, Christopher Ihle saved an eighty-four-year-old male and his seventy-eight-year-old wife from being struck by a train. A year prior to this incident, Kyle Hardman attempted to save three men and two children from drowning in the Mississippi River. Pritchard Junior, Ihle, and Hardman are recipients of the prestigious Carnegie Medal. These heroes were awarded their medals for voluntarily and knowingly risking their lives to attempt to save others. Why would anyone do such a thing? Why would one incur a cost-such as risk their life-to benefit others? Why would anyone be a hero? From an evolutionary perspective, incurring any such costs appears puzzling at first glance.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The Handbook of Heroism and Heroic Leadership
Editors	Scott T. Allison, George R. Goethals, Roderick M. Kramer
Place of Publication	New York, NY
Publisher	Taylor & Francis
Chapter	2
Number of pages	22
ISBN (Electronic)	9781315690100
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315690100
Publication status	Published - 23 Sept 2016
Externally published	Yes

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title = "Why heroism exists: evolutionary perspectives on extreme helping",

abstract = "On June 17, 2014, thirteen-year-old Robert Pritchard Junior rushed into a burning mobile home to rescue a six-year-old girl from being engulfed by the flames. Almost a year earlier, Christopher Ihle saved an eighty-four-year-old male and his seventy-eight-year-old wife from being struck by a train. A year prior to this incident, Kyle Hardman attempted to save three men and two children from drowning in the Mississippi River. Pritchard Junior, Ihle, and Hardman are recipients of the prestigious Carnegie Medal. These heroes were awarded their medals for voluntarily and knowingly risking their lives to attempt to save others. Why would anyone do such a thing? Why would one incur a cost-such as risk their life-to benefit others? Why would anyone be a hero? From an evolutionary perspective, incurring any such costs appears puzzling at first glance.",

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Why heroism exists: evolutionary perspectives on extreme helping

Abstract

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