Definition
Heroic rescue of strangers is an event where the rescuer puts hers/his life into risk in order to save the life on an unrelated person who the rescuer is unfamiliar with.
Introduction
Heroic rescue is a high-cost altruistic behavior that puts the life of the donor into danger while saving the life of the recipient. As such, it is an extreme form of high-cost altruism, where the ultimate cost is death (i.e., complete loss of fitness). Rescuing relatives and friends can be understood in terms of kin selection and reciprocal altruism. However, rescuing strangers is harder to explain in evolutionary terms, as this is something that has no association with future returns in terms of inclusive fitness, or returning a favor. One of the theories that has been used in trying to explain heroic rescuing of strangers is the Costly Signaling Theory, which will be briefly reviewed below.
Costly Signaling Theory and Rescuing Strangers
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References
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Lyons, M. (2018). Rescuing Strangers. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1559-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1559-1
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