Abstract
Uncertainty and crisis create a stressful environment. Among these environments, airline pilots must cope with this stress and manage their workload at the same time. Therefore, it is crucial to understand and study the effect of stress factors on the decision-making process of airline pilots to prevent undesired and unsafe events during flight operations. In this context, the aim of this study is to reveal the relationship between decision-making behaviors and stress management of civil aviation pilots. The study was conducted using the quantitative data analysis method. The data obtained from 206 captains and first mates working in a private airline company operating in Turkiye were analyzed using SPSS 20 and SMART PLS 4 programs. In the research findings, it was established that there were statistically significant relationships between coping with stress and decision-making behaviors. It was noted that pilots’ education level and average annual flight hours differed significantly in coping with stress and decision-making behaviors. As a result of the study, statistically significant relationships were observed between stress-coping methods and decision-making behaviors, which draws attention to the importance of pilots’ stress-coping methods. Accordingly, it is thought that planning scenario-based training simulators for pilots, enrolling qualified candidates in pilot training, and determining lower-limit rules for flight experience are important for effective decision-making processes.
Keywords
human factors in aviation, behavioral performance, aviation safety, stress factor, civil aviation, pilots, mental workload
Chinese Abstract
压力管理与决策制定的关系：针对飞行员的研究
不确定性与危机情境构成了高压工作环境。在此类环境中，航空公司飞行员必须在应对压力的同时管理其工作负荷。因此，理解并研究压力因素对飞行员决策过程的影响至关重要，以预防飞行操作中的不良与不安全事件。基于此，本研究旨在揭示民航飞行员决策行为与压力管理之间的关联性。研究采用定量数据分析方法，并收集了土耳其某私营航空公司206名机长与副驾驶的数据，以SPSS 20和SMART PLS 4软件进行分析。研究发现，应对压力与决策行为间存在显著相关性。而且，飞行员的教育水平与年均飞行时数在压力应对和决策行为上呈现显著差异。基于研究结果，由于压力应对方式与决策行为存在显著关系，飞行员压力应对方式的重要性值得关注。据此，文章建议航空公司设计基于场景的模拟训练、安排适合的员工参与飞行培训、并制定最低飞行经验标准。这些措施对提升有效决策过程尤为重要。
航空业人为因素、行为绩效、航空安全、压力因子、民航、飞行员、心理负荷
ORCID Identifiers
Mert Dural: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0496-9851
Aysun Dogan: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3505-6824
Hulisi Cenk Sozen: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9324-5557
DOI
10.5038/2640-6489.10.1.1339
Recommended Citation
Dural, M., Dogan, A., & Sozen, H. C. (2025). Relationship between stress management and decision making: A research on pilots. Journal of Global Business Insights, 10(1), 1-18. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2640-6489.10.1.1339
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
