The principle that women, more than men, engage in self-protective reactions to threats is impressively documented by Benenson, Webb, and Wrangham, but their analysis is incomplete. They fail to acknowledge that women, sometimes more than men, put themselves in danger to preserve the lives of others or reduce their suffering. To contribute to a more complete account of the psychology of gender, I note and analyze some examples of women endangering themselves to protect others from suffering or death.

The first example derives from the excellent records for living organ donation, which consists primarily of kidney donation (Prasad, Reference Prasad2018; U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, 2021). Medical considerations favor greater male donation, given men's higher rate of end-stage renal disease (Hsu, Iribarren, McCulloch, Darbinian, & Go, Reference Hsu, Iribarren, McCulloch, Darbinian and Go2009) combined with the greater transplant success when donor and recipient sex are the same (e.g., Mudalige, Brown, & Marks, Reference Mudalige, Brown and Marks2022). Nevertheless, since U.S. record keeping began in 1988, living kidney donations have been more common among women than men (60%), as are living donations of all organs (61%). This disparity has gradually increased in the United States, with 2020 data showing 65% women among living donors for kidneys and for organ donations overall. In addition, Kurnikowski et al. (Reference Kurnikowski, Krenn, Lewandowski, Schwaiger, Tong, Jager and Hödlmoser2021) reported a 16-nation average of 55% female donors with considerable variation across these nations.

Donating an organ while alive presents nontrivial risks to donors. Even though death or major postoperative problems are rare (Choi et al., Reference Choi, Kim, Kim, Kim, Ahn and Joh2021), less serious complications, such as gastrointestinal discomfort, bleeding, respiratory difficulties, and surgical or anesthesia-related injuries are more common (e.g., 17% of donors in a U.S. study; Lentine, Lam, & Segev, Reference Lentine, Lam and Segev2019). Concerning long-term outcomes, living kidney donation is associated with glomerular hyperfiltration, predisposing donors for the development of chronic kidney disease, resulting in greater risk for end-stage renal disease (O'Keeffe et al., Reference O'Keeffe, Ramond, Oliver-Williams, Willeit, Paige, Trotter and Di Angelantonio2018). Specific to women, kidney donation is also associated with increased risk of preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and preterm birth (Bellos & Pergialiotis, Reference Bellos and Pergialiotis2022). Finally, economic consequences can include lost wages, child care expenses, and out-of-pocket medical costs (Fu, Sekercioglu, Hishida, & Coyte, Reference Fu, Sekercioglu, Hishida and Coyte2021). In summary, living organ donation can threatens donors' health and well-being beyond the immediate stresses of surgery.

Women placing themselves in danger to help others is also evident in the rescue of Jews in the occupied countries of Europe during World War II, actions often punishable by death or confinement in concentration camps (Becker & Eagly, Reference Becker and Eagly2004). The rescued Jews were often coworkers or friends of the rescuers, but some were strangers (e.g., Gilbert, Reference Gilbert2003; Oliner & Oliner, Reference Oliner and Oliner1988). Some rescuers gave short-term help, but many formed long-term relationships by hiding Jews within their own dwellings.

Records of such rescues exist in the Yad Vashem archive of data on non-Jews who rescued Jews. Becker and Eagly's (Reference Becker and Eagly2004) analysis of these records suggested that women and men participated approximately equally overall. However, after excluding married couples from the rescuer samples because the relative responsibility of husbands and wives is unknown, significantly more women than men served as holocaust rescuers in the three occupied nations with the largest number of rescuers: Poland, the Netherlands, and France.

Volunteer activities typically attract more women than men and can present threats to volunteers, although these are rarely life-threatening. Notably, women are the majority of volunteers both in the United States (Turner, Klein, & Sorrentino, Reference Turner, Klein and Sorrentino2020) and worldwide (United Nations, 2018). The U.S. Peace Corps provides one example: Women constitute 65% of its volunteers (Peace Corps, 2021). This service is associated with health risks such as malaria and exposure to violence, which can include physical and sexual assault (Peace Corps, 2022). Infectious gastroenteritis was the most common illness among volunteers, followed by respiratory and pulmonary conditions, and behavioral health problems such as stress and anxiety (Peace Corps, 2018). Such humanitarian volunteering, which is disproportionately undertaken by women, thus can present threats to health and wellbeing (see also Dahlgren, DeRoo, Avril, Bise, & Loutan, Reference Dahlgren, DeRoo, Avril, Bise and Loutan2009).

In summary, women are more likely than men to take risks in some settings in which their voluntary actions put them in some danger but directly benefit one or more other persons. Nevertheless, men are far more likely than women to risk their lives in extremely dangerous acts of rescue that are widely recognized as heroic (e.g., rescues in fires and serious accidents; Becker & Eagly, Reference Becker and Eagly2004). Causes may include not only men's greater physical prowess, but also their lower fearfulness in dangerous real-world settings and their greater tendency toward risky impulsivity (see review by Archer, Reference Archer2019). Such actions can bring public recognition and even major accolades such as the Carnegie Medal for Heroism or the Canadian Medal of Bravery, which are received mainly by men (Eagly, Reference Eagly2009).

Other causes of sex/gender disparities in prosocial actions may reflect the greater tendency of women than men to exhibit empathy (see review by Archer, Reference Archer2019), given that holocaust rescuing and humanitarian aid generally involve serving people who differ from oneself in characteristics such as religion and nationality. Such service may reflect universalistic themes of shared humanity that are common in religious and ethical systems (Post, Reference Post, Post, Underwood, Schloss and Hurlbut2002). If so, women's greater participation would be consistent with their greater religiosity (Beit-Hallahmi, Reference Beit-Hallahmi2003) and commitment to universalistic values (Schwartz & Rubel, Reference Schwartz and Rubel2005). Exploration of such influences and their possible links to evolutionary processes will contribute to understanding how women and men balance protecting themselves and taking risks that benefit others.

These demonstrated sex/gender differences in the types of risks undertaken disproportionately by women or men call for theories that encompass both nature and nurture. Accounting for sex and gender effects that vary across situations, cultures, and historical time benefits from regarding female and male behavior as regulated by nurture (e.g., gender roles and social expectations) and nature (hormonal and other biological processes) (Eagly & Wood, Reference Eagly, Wood, van Lange, Kruglanski and Higgins2012, Reference Eagly and Wood2013). Such an integrative perspective could shed light on the question of why sex/gender differences in putting oneself in danger versus avoiding danger depend on the setting and the purpose of risky actions as well as well as the cultural context including its gender norms (Eagly, Reference Eagly2009).