Moral rescuers act on human duty despite having nothing to gain

Evidence

The preceding psychosocial analyses illustrate how individuals can shift rapidly from being moral disengagers to moral engagers through the transformative power of humanization. Social psychology often emphasizes the power of environmental forces over individuals. In the case of proactive moral courage, individuals triumph as moral agents over compelling environmental pressures to behave otherwise. Such moral heroism is most tellingly documented in rescuers who saved persecuted Jews from the death camps during the Nazi Holocaust (Oliner & Oliner, 1988). They did so at great risk to themselves and their families, with a heavy burden of extended protective care. The rescuers had no prior acquaintance with those they sheltered and had nothing material or social to gain by doing so. Such moral commitments involved courageous humaneness amid overwhelming evil. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 668 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Rescuers can evolve from enrichment-seeking profiteers into self-sacrificing lifesavers. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 186; Concrete small tasks recruit first-time volunteers better than appeals to duty — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 188; Calling someone brother makes them a brother through care and rescue (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Rescuers of Holocaust Jews acted on humanization with no personal gain #exemplifies (0.95) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 668