FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
PUBLICATIONS
AVIATION MEDICINE REPORTS

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-93/9

Title and Subtitle: Accident Proneness: A Research Review

Report Date: May 1993

Authors: Rodgers, M.D. and Blanchard, R.E.

Abstract: Accident proneness is a concept that refers to an enduring or stable personality characteristic that predisposes an individual toward having accidents (Haddon, Suchman, and Klein, 1964). The concept is controversial and has sustained a lively debate in the literature over the past 75 years. For the most part, though, continual interest has been fueled by poor experimental procedures, misinterpretation of previously reported results, the need to assign blame to individuals, and a rather curious doggedness in attempting to establish a relationship between accidents and personality traits, despite the lack of supporting scientific evidence. This paper reports the origins of the notion of accident proneness and reviews the studies that purport to support or refute it.

Key Words: Accident Proneness, Personality Traits, Accidents, Prediction, Literature Critiques

No. of Pages: 7