survival instinct

plural survival instincts

1. Any of various unlearned, unthinking responses that serve to preserve one's life or make it difficult to risk one's life.

   The prey drive, or chase instinct, is another survival instinct.

   1993, Liz Palika, Fido, Come!: Training Your Dog with Love and Understanding, page 25

   5 more examples

   The instinct most likely to intrude on the survival instinct is the instinct of sex, which stands in the same relation to the preservation of the race as does the survival instinct to the preservation of the individual.

   1911, Christian Archibald Herter, Biological Aspects of Human Problems, page 99

   The "every man for himself" attitude, for example, is typical of this type of basic instinct. It is usually triggered by a state of panic. Although this selfish survival instinct may seem abhorrent in action, it is nevertheless a natural aspect of human behavior.

   1989, Robb Huff, Michael B. Farley, Sea Survival: The Boatman's Emergency Manual, page 175

   You are born with a survival instinct that helps you take care of yourself and your loved ones.

   1996, Christine Adams, Ernest Fruge, Why Children Misbehave and what to Do about it, page 5

   This is a primitive survival instinct to guard against predators and potential danger.

   2004, Irfan Ahmad, Digital and Conventional Dental Photography, page 72

   As with all mammals, the survival instinct is innate in humans. We always strive to preserve our health and our lives, have a great need for security and protection and are constantly on the lookout to avoid danger.

   2021, Martin Luntig, Survival Instinct

2. broadlyThe will to live and thrive.

   The better approach is to show them that their survival instinct is tied to cooperation, not turf.

   2000, David L. Goetsch, Stanley Davis, Quality Management, page 430

   4 more examples

   The Cicadas' must be one of the most chillingly vivid of all of Elizabeth's narratives of sexual predatoriness, emotional vulnerability, and the mean-spirited but triumphant survival instinct that forms the jungle of human struggle.

   1990, Thomas W. Shapcott, Biting the Bullet: A Literary Memoir, page 246

   Hunger, deprivation and humiliation were our constant companions, and only hope and our survival instinct kept us going.

   2003, Wendy Whitworth, Survival: Holocaust Survivors Tell Their Story, page 139

   Bayet seems intent on distinguishing the survival instinct from the political instinct. I submit that in the context of a substantial power imbalance between groups reified by a calculated legal framework, the survival instinct cannot be assumed distinct from the political one.

   2003, Harvard Blackletter Law Journal - Volumes 19-20, page 156

   Trapped between two hostile platoons in the woods, Rubakhin obeys the survival instinct and covers the prisoner's mouth and nose to keep him silent.

   2007, Byron Lindsey, Tatiana Spektor, Routes of Passage: Essays on the Fiction of Vladimir Makanin, page 102