self-preservation

American  

[self-prez-er-vey-shuhn, self-] / ˈsɛlfˌprɛz ərˈveɪ ʃən, ˌsɛlf- /

noun

1. preservation of oneself from harm or destruction.

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self-preservation British  

noun

1. the preservation of oneself from danger or injury, esp as a basic instinct

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Other Word Forms

• self-preserving adjective

Etymology

Origin of self-preservation

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

Every second spent on the mountain is a second spent deciding whether to go for broke or pull back out of self-preservation.

From The Wall Street Journal

“When people find themselves in a dangerous situation, they often do one of those. It’s automatic. Your brain goes into self-preservation mode and you don’t make logical decisions.”

From Literature

In May, AI firm Anthropic released a controversial report which described how an AI model was capable of seemingly blackmail-like behaviour if it thought its "self-preservation" was threatened.

From BBC

When people feel connected to something larger than self-preservation, trust rises.

From MarketWatch

Anthropic said in May that its latest Claude model is capable of “extreme actions” if it believes its “self-preservation” is threatened.

From The Wall Street Journal