Pilots’ Risk Perception: Conception, Measurement and Theoretical Orientation

QIN Kui-Yuan; LI Wen-Jiang; CHEN Hong-Yu; LI Ying

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2018, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (4) : 936-941.

Pilots’ Risk Perception: Conception, Measurement and Theoretical Orientation

¹,Wen-Qiang LIHong-Yu CHEN¹,

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Abstract

In modern aviation, risk management is a prerequisite skill for pilot due to the nature of aviation activity. The perception of risk is the key component of risk management, and has a vital impact on flight safety. In addition, the pilots’ risk perception can effectively predict the involvement of flight accidents and safe operation. Firstly, the risk perception is different from the general perception. Some researchers proposed that the risk perception was the recognition of risk inherent in a situation, and risk perception might be mediated by characteristics of different situations and different individuals. Some studies proposed that the risk perception was essentially a cognitive activity, which identified the inherent risk in various situations, including accurate external circumstances and the difference of personal abilities. Secondly, this study introduced the measures of evaluating risk perception of pilots, which included the explicit self-reports and IATs (implicit association tests). Two explicit self-reports were put forward by Hunter and Pauley. Hunter used the risk perception-other measure and risk perception-self measure to assess the risk perception of pilots. The CWS (Cochran-Wsiss-Shanteau) parameter was implemented in Pauley’s study. IATs were used to investigate pilots’ risk perception and risk behaviors in some researches. Furthermore, some researchers also applied flight simulators to evaluate the perception of risk. And the advantages and disadvantages of these methods are comparatively discussed in this work. Thirdly, two theoretical orientations about the risk perception of pilots, namely the cognition theory and organizational culture theory are discussed. In the cognition theory, previous works have been summarized, which introduced risk perception to the field of aviation psychology. From the cognitive theory’s point, the researchers have studied the pilots’ risk perception from the perceptive of cognitive process. The situations that present a high level of risk for one person may present a low risk for the other. According to the results of traffic psychology study, researchers proposed that the pilots’ risk perception was a three-stage process, and included risk identification, risk assessment and behavior tendency. The organizational culture theory studied the pilots’ risk perception from the point of view of safety. Organizational culture is an organization's core values and business model, which refers to the values committed by all staff, behavioral norms, group consciousness, customs and habits. It is practiced through the work ethics of employees, interpersonal relationship orientation, team spirit, attitude towards risk, initiative and responsibility. Aviation psychologists proposed that different organizational cultures lead to different hazards’ perceptions and decision-making, and a stronger safety culture can reduce the occurrence of accidents. Finally, future research can explore pilots’ risk perception from the perspective of cognition and culture. In the theory of cognition, the model proposed in a previous study pointed out that the risk perception of pilots was a three-stage process. However, the model lacked empirical evidence. For future work, researchers should design experiments to explore the process of risk perception. With regards to culture, some researchers proposed that the risk perception was difference among various culture environments. In addition, research on social theory (from where the culture originates) and pilots’ risk perception is not enough. Therefore, the future study should explore the relationship between social theory and pilots’ risk perception.

Key words

Pilots / Risk Perception / Aviation Safety / Flight Simulator Test / CWS / Heuristics

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Wen-Qiang LI Hong-Yu CHEN. Pilots’ Risk Perception: Conception, Measurement and Theoretical Orientation[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2018, 41(4): 936-941

References

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