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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–12Cite as

High-Cost Altruistic Helping

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Synonyms

Heroism in war and civil life; High-cost helping; High-stakes altruism

Definition

In acts of high-cost altruistic helping, substantial risks to the own well-being or considerable losses of social and/or economic capital are voluntarily incurred in order to benefit others.

Introduction

Thomas H. McCann was one of the first recipients of the Carnegie Medal for civil heroism. On June 29, 1904, McCann jumped from a bridge 25 ft high into Portland Harbor and dragged Alfonso Sekosky, an 8-year-old boy, to safety on a boat, but was too fatigued to get into it himself and was drowned. McCann’s case is quite representative: since its inception in 1904, the Carnegie Medal has been awarded to almost 10,000 “individuals in the US and Canada who risked their lives to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others” (carnegiehero.org, September 2016). About 20% of the recipients of the Carnegie Medal did not survive their attempts to help others (Becker and Eagly 2004...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Economics Group, University of Marburg, Am Plan 2, 35037, Marburg, Germany

    Hannes Rusch

  2. Peter Löscher Chair of Business Ethics, TU München, Arcisstraße 21, 80333, Munich, Germany

    Hannes Rusch

Authors
  1. Hannes Rusch
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Correspondence to Hannes Rusch .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Minna Lyons

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Rusch, H. (2016). High-Cost Altruistic Helping. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1556-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1556-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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