I bring you a weekly bite-sized chunk of the science behind helicopter human factors and CRM in practice, simplifying the complex and distilling a helicopter related study into a summary of less than 500 words.
TITLE:
Safety at high altitude: The importance of emotional dysregulation on pilots’ risk attitudes during flight.
WHAT?
Study examining how emotional regulation, coping style, and demographic factors (age, sex, experience, licence type) influence pilot risk attitudes and self-confidence: two key determinants of decision-making and safety in flight.
WHERE?
Sapienza University of Rome.
WHEN?
Published in 2022 in Frontiers in Psychology.
WHY?
While specific pilot competencies are well understood and studied, less is known about how emotional control and psychological factors influence in-flight decisions. Given the role of human factors in accidents, the study aimed to increase understanding of why pilots sometimes knowingly accept risk.
HOW?
Eighty licensed pilots completed an online survey combining demographic data with validated psychological measures:
- DERS-18 which assesses emotional dysregulation (i.e. difficulty recognising, managing, and responding appropriately to emotional states, particularly under stress).
- Brief-COPE, which identifies coping styles (problem-focused, emotion-focused, avoidant).
- Aviation Safety Attitude Scale (ASAS), which measures self-confidence and risk orientation in flight.
Statistical analysis (correlations and regression models) was used to identify relationships between these variables and pilot risk attitudes.
FINDINGS:
The key result is a strong link between emotional dysregulation and risk-taking behaviour:
- Pilots with poorer emotional regulation showed higher risk orientation.
- Emotional dysregulation was also linked to lower self-confidence, suggesting impaired judgement of one’s own capability.
- Specifically, non-acceptance of emotions increased risk-taking, possibly due to cognitive overload and reduced self-control.
- Recreational pilots were more risk-oriented and less self-confident than civil pilots, possibly reflecting differences in training depth.
- Flight experience increased self-confidence, but age was associated with increased risk orientation, suggesting possible overconfidence effects.
SO WHAT?
This study reinforces an often under-addressed point in CRM and human factors; pilot decision-making is not just cognitive, but is also emotional.
- The findings support the value of peer support programmes and open discussion of emotional stressors, aligning with current EASA guidance.
- Poor emotional control can directly degrade risk perception, attention, and judgement, even when technical knowledge is intact.
- Both under-confidence and overconfidence can be operationally dangerous.
- Training should move beyond awareness to include:
- Methods to recognise emotional states under pressure.
- Development of strategies to regulate stress and maintain cognitive control.
REFERENCE:
Luciani, F., Veneziani, G., Ciacchella, C., Rocchi, G., Reho, M., Gennaro, A., & Lai, C. (2022). Safety at high altitude: The importance of emotional dysregulation on pilots’ risk attitudes during flight. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1042283. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1042283
competentaviators.com 