The Hazardous Attitudes
Your ability to make good decisions depends to a great extent on your attitude. This is not a particularly surprising observation. Good flight instructors have always known this and tried to shape their training accordingly. Studies of pilot decision-making have defined five hazardous attitudes that can influence a pilot's reaction to decision-making situations:
· ANTI-AUTHORITY
· IMPULSIVITY
· INVULNERABILITY
· MACHO
· RESIGNATION
Anti-Authority
"Don't tell me!" Some people do not like to be told what to do. They resent having to take instruction from anyone and may even tend to scorn rules, regulations, and procedures as silly or unnecessary.
Impulsivity
"Do something - quickly!" When faces with a decision-making situation, some people frequently feel the need to do something, anything, immediately. Under this impulse, they do not take time to consider alternatives and select the best, but rather do the first thing that comes to mind.
Invulnerability
"It won't happen to me!" Many people feel that accidents happen to others but never to them. They know that accidents can happen, and they know that anyone can be affected; but they never really feel or believe that they will be the one involved. Pilots who thin "It won't happen to me!" are more likely to take chances and run unwise risks.
Macho
"I can do it!" Some people are always trying to prove that they are better than anyone else. They attempt to "prove" themselves by taking risks and by trying to impress others. Although this attitude is thought to be characteristically male, women are equally susceptible to it.
Resignation
"What's the use?" Some people do not see themselves as making a great deal of difference in what happens to them. When things go well, they think, "That's good luck." When things go badly, they attribute it to bad luck. They leave the action to others - for better or worse. Sometimes, just to be nice, such individuals will even go along with unreasonable requests.
