Document Type
Article
Abstract
This study examined whether the characteristics that motivated non-Jews to rescue Jews during the Holocaust also predict morally courageous intentions among contemporary high school students. A sample of Swedish students (N = 231) completed a survey measuring parental role modelling, empathic concern, risk-taking, and identification with outgroups, and then indicated whether they would intervene to help persecuted Jews and Muslims in various hypothetical scenarios. All factors were significant predictors of intention to intervene; however, parental role modelling lost significance in a hierarchical regression analysis. Risk-taking accounted for the largest proportion of explained variance, followed by empathic concern, with a significant interaction between parental role modelling and empathy. These findings suggest that the dispositional characteristics observed among Holocaust rescuers may generalize to modern contexts requiring moral courage. Further research should explore how ethical role models in childhood contribute to the development of empathy and prosocial courage.
DOI
10.26736/hs.2025.02.03
Recommended Citation
Lindén, Magnus; Björklund, Fredrik; and Wilkes, George R.
(2025)
"Who Intervenes When Jews or Muslims are Persecuted? Replicating a Profile Pattern from Holocaust Rescuers,"
Heroism Science: Vol. 10:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
DOI: 10.26736/hs.2025.02.03
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/heroism-science/vol10/iss2/3
Included in
Holocaust and Genocide Studies Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons, Social Psychology Commons