Accident Proneness and Personality

Accident Prone Personality 

Farmers and Chambers (1926) stated that “accident proneness is a personal idiosyncrasy of relative permanence predisposing the individual to a higher rate of accidents.”

• However, they failed to uncover an actual accident-prone personality but only found traits that could contribute.

Clarke and Robertson (2006) revealed that:

• People low in social responsibilities tend to be more involved in accidents.
• People low in pleasantness, tolerance and helpfulness appear to be more involved in accidents.
• People high in extroversion tend to be more involved in accidents, mostly traffic accidents. 

Busham and Kham (2006) found that handedness could be the cause of accidents because among 80 locomotive drivers there appeared to be a higher accident rate in those who were left handed and footed. 

• However, this may have been because the design pf the locomotive made it more difficult for left handed people to drive it.

Donaldson and Donaldson (2000) found that children and older people are at a greater risk for pedestrian accidents and falls. This is because young children do not have developed speed and depth cues and older people have limited mobility or eyesight. Also, both take longer to respond and recover.

Human Error

RIGGIO (1990) identified four types of errors that could lead to accidents:

• Errors of omission – failure to carry out a task.
• Errors of commission – making an incorrect action.
• Timing errors – working too quickly or too slowly.
• Sequence errors – doing things in the wrong order.

Illusion of Invulnerability 

Term related to Group Think – when a highly cohesive groups where all members respect each other’s viewpoints come to a decision too quickly without critical evaluation.

• Illusion of invulnerability – the members of a group see themselves as powerful and invincible and miss poorly made decisions. (Titanic’s captain believed the ship was immune to accidents as the mode of thinking became dominant and realistic alternatives were overlooked.

Cognitive Overload 

When a person cannot cope with the psychological demands of a work situation. This usually happens when tasks need psychological attention but the person cannot process all the information simultaneously.

BARBER (1988) carried out research on the aircraft accident in the area of Zagreb in 1976, where 177 people died. At first the air traffic controller was blamed and jailed but after 2 years it was recognized that the system was unmanageable, leading to COGNITIVE OVERLOAD.