Development of an aviation safety locus of control scale.

INTRODUCTION Individual differences in locus of control have be shown to be associated with differential risk for accident involvement among industrial and hospital workers. Previous research has also de onstrated that pilots are higher on internality than externality. HYPOTHESIS This study was performed to assess individual differences on a new scale developed to assess locus of control with respect to aviation safe It was hypothesized that pilots would exhibit higher levels of internalility than externality on this new scale. METHODS An existing safety locuss of control scale was modified to place the items in an aviation context, and the items were administered to a sample of approximately 480 pilots. Internality and externality subscales were created, and construct valid was assessed by correlating these subscales with measures of resignation and involvement in hazardous aviation events. RESULTS The subscales exhibited acceptable internal consistency, and were negatively correlated (r = -0.419, p < 0.001). Consistent with previous research, pilots exhibited substantially higher internality than externality. Correlation the subscales with the measures of resignation and involvement hazardous events supported the construct validity of the scale. DISCUSSION Differences exist among pilots on the Aviation Safety Locusof Control scale that may be associated with increased accident risk. In its present form, the new scale might be employed as a self-awareness exercise for pilots or as a covariate in research investigating the effect of other factors on accident involvement.