'Polite' Britons died on Titanic

More British passengers died on the Titanic because they queued politely for lifeboats, researchers believe.

A behavioural economist says data suggests Britons in that era were more inclined to be "gentlemanly" while Americans were more "individualist".

Women with children had a 70% better chance of survival than men in such an environment, he told the BBC.

The Titanic sank during its maiden voyage in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, with the loss of 1,500 lives.

David Savage, from Queensland University of Technology, studied the disaster to look at how people react in life and death situations.

He said that in testimonies from inquiries in America and Britain just after the event, there were a lot of statements from women saying their husbands put them on lifeboats.

They then "went to the back of the boat to have a cigar, to stand around and be chummy, while basically the boat went down".

Mr Savage said: "There was one gentleman who was rather wealthy... who went back downstairs after he put his wife on the [life] boat... put on his tuxedo...went back upstairs and smoked... with the idea that if I am going die, I may as well die as a gentleman and well-dressed."

'Peak of society'

The "unsinkable" ocean liner went down in freezing Atlantic waters during its voyage from Southampton to New York. As it sank, the captain, Edward John Smith, shouted: "Be British, boys, be British," according to witnesses.

"The American culture was set up to be a more individualist culture and the British culture was more about the gentlemanly behaviour," Mr Savage says.

"You've got to remember that this is the Edwardian period when to be a gentleman was the peak of society."

Mr Savage also concludes that social norms such as "women and children first" were very strong in British culture and survived in such an environment.

研究人员认为，许多英国乘客因为绅士地排队等待救生艇而葬身大海。

一个行为经济学家声称，资料显示那个时候的英国人更倾向于绅士风度，而美国人则自我得多。他告诉BBC的记者，在那种环境下，妇女和儿童生存的机会比男士多百分之七十。

泰坦尼克号在它1912年的处女航中因撞上冰山而沉没，1500多人因此丧生。昆士兰科技大学的大卫.赛维哲(David Savage)研究了在这场灾难中人们如何应对生与死的考验。他说，从灾难发生后在美国和英国进行的调查中得到的证据表明，许多妇女的丈夫在危急时刻把她们送上了救生艇，接着就回到船上，镇定绅士地抽着烟，而这时船正在下沉。

赛维哲说：“有一位很富有的先生，在把他的妻子送上救生艇后，就下楼去穿上他的礼服，然后上楼回到甲板上吸烟，因为他认为即使是死，也要穿戴整齐，像一个绅士一样体面的死去。”

“社会主流”

这艘从南安普敦开往纽约的“永不沉没”的远洋航船沉入了冰冷的大西洋海水里。目击者称，当它下沉的时候，爱德华.约翰.史密斯船长(Edward John Smith)向人们大喊“有点英国绅士的样子，男士们，有点英国绅士的样子”。

“美国文化是一种更加个人主义的文化而英国文化更加注重绅士的行为方式”，赛维哲先生指出，“你要知道那是一个绅士文化占社会主流的爱德华时期。”

赛维哲先生也指出，各种诸如“女士优先”这样的社会规范在英国文化中根深蒂固，即使在那样一个灾难的环境中也得到了人们的遵守。