Prestige, strength or altruism? An investigation into the role of occupation on the chance of survival on board of the RMS Titanic.

Abstract

Since the sinking of the Titanic, many researchers have investigated in greater detail who survived the disaster and who did not. The exceptional high rate of survival of women and children on board of the Titanic, in contrast to other maritime disasters, is explained by the strong adherence to the ‘Women and Children first’ norm (Frey, Savage & Torgler, 2010a, 2010b, 2011; Elinder & Erixson, 2012). However, male passengers did not receive this preference treatment and were thus allocated to their own resources in order to survive the disaster. Many research has already focused on the role of passenger class and the chance of survival (Frey et al., 2010a, 2010b, 2011; Elinder & Erixson, 2012). This thesis seeks to examine the role of the resources of male passengers on the chances of survival in greater detail. These resources are investigated by means of occupation. Three hypotheses are derived; one about the level of prestige, the level of physical abilities, and the level of caring traits someone has in their occupation. Both quantitative and qualitative data with information about passengers of the Titanic is used. Regression analyses are conducted to examine the relations between different occupational resources and the chance of survival. Results show that both prestigious occupations, physical occupations, and caring occupations do not significantly influence the chance of survival of a male passenger on board of the Titanic. Implications of these findings are discussed.