CFIs’ Safety Behaviors at Flight Training Schools: Understanding the Effects of Personality Traits, Self-Efficacy, Risk Perception, and Safety Climate

Abstract

Verbatim from Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons. Not paraphrased, not summarized.

According to Aircraft Owners Pilot Association [2], approximately 63% of the accidents involving certified flight instructors (CFIs) occurred during advanced training, which involves low altitude operations, critical decision-making skills, and accurate judgement. Research in the past has demonstrated that pilots’ safety behaviors also predict their involvement in an accident or incident [6]. Many studies across various work domains have examined how factors such as personality traits, perceived risk, safety climate, and self-efficacy influence safety behaviors [1][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Studies have found that personality traits such as Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Openness, and Agreeableness were positively related to safety behaviors [3][7][11], whereas Neuroticism was negatively related to safety behaviors [3]. Past research has also shown that factors such as Self-efficacy, risk perception, and safety climate were positively related to safety behaviors [1][4][5][6]. Some studies have found that factors such as risk perception and self-efficacy either mediated or moderated the relationship between personality traits and safety behaviors [10][13]. Other studies have found that safety climate moderated the relationship between personality traits and safety behaviors [9][12]. This presentation will put forth a hypothetical model of how these factors influence safety behaviors, including the direct and indirect relationships between personality traits, self-efficacy, risk perception, safety climate, and safety behaviors of CFIs. Their implications for flight schools will also be discussed.

Authors

• Sharma, Vivek Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Carroll, Meredith Bell Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Keywords

• CFIs
• Personality Traits
• Self-efficacy
• Risk Perception
• Safety Climate
• and Safety Behaviors
• Other Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Social and Behavioral Sciences