I’m a psychologist and flight instructor. Here’s how we could see the OceanGate disaster coming.
Though individual diagnosis and labeling are neither appropriate nor helpful, what might be helpful is to underscore that certain personality clusters are prone to poor decision-making and bad problem solving, tend to put their organizations at high risk and are highly likely to be involved in fatal incidents. Because people with these personality clusters can be charming and persuasive, we must remind ourselves that they are, in fact, out of touch with reality and essentially incapable of sound judgment.
From Aviation
Investigations into aviation fatalities have identified five ‘Hazardous Attitudes’ which interfere with the ability to make safe decisions. They have been termed: macho, impulsivity, resignation, invulnerability, and anti-authority, and are shown to be predictive of fatal accidents. Of note are two especially egregious attitudes: the ‘anti-authority’ attitude, found in people who do not like anyone telling them what to do and who regard rules, regulations, and procedures as silly or unnecessary, and ‘invulnerability’ or the belief that accidents happen to others, but never to them. Because they cannot believe that they will be personally involved, they are more likely to take chances and increase risk. In aviation, this is a personality recipe for a fatal accident.
From Psychology
Substantial research in psychology has documented a group characterized by a sense of personal superiority and entitlement, overconfidence, a willingness to exploit others for personal gain, and show hostility and aggression when challenged. These dispositions lead to a higher likelihood of making bad decisions.
These people believe their ideas to be superior, and that they alone can solve any problem. Convinced they are special and more creative, competent, and intelligent than others, they are more likely to blame outwardly when things go wrong.
However, research indicates that, in reality, they have poor problem solving skills and for that reason, their choices put their organizations at risk. Their overconfidence is not justified by their objective skills, they are skeptical about the value of others’ opinions, and they impulsively rely on their own intuition which is unguided by data.
This psychological cluster is a recipe for disaster. So, you can usually see it coming.
