Question

Why might homeowners who feel impotent show bravado at an approaching wildfire?

Answer 1

Homeowners who feel (powerless) might show (boldness in attempt to intimidate) at an approaching wildfire because the house belongs to them, and they want to do whatever it takes to stop the fire from destroying it.

Answer 2

In psychology, there is a theory that responds to the reactions that people have when confronted by trauma, fear, or unavoidable situations that put their lives and integrity at risk. It also has to do with the natural instincts that people have as animals. The theory of the fight or flight response, explains why a person might show bravado at an approaching wildfire while another chooses to run and hide. The fight or flight instinct, much studied by science and psychology especially, talks about the reactions that all animals, including man, have when faced by danger. Their instinct is to protect not only their own persons, but also others who they care for and their property. While some choose to run (flight response), there are many others whose sense of self-preservation is overcome by their instinct to protect that which belongs to them in the face of danger, in this case the wildfire. This is known as the fight response and it comes in especially when logically, the human mind is overcome by a sense of loss and incapacity. This is when what is called as animal instinct (fight or flight) comes in and blocks out the logical instict of incapacity and powerlessness.