Investigating professional values among pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, and managers to develop aviation safety management systems

Abstract

Professional culture differences resulting from occupational training and experiences are widely known to affect the behaviours of groups and individuals. Yet a research gap exists on whether professional differences can influence safety-relevant core values held within individuals which are typically considered a product of national culture. The present study compared the core values of pilots, cabin crew, non-managerial ground staff, and airline managers by evaluating whether professional culture influenced levels of agreement towards cultural concepts relevant to safety. Results from N = 317 aviation professionals found significant differences between the four professional groups on attitudes towards power distance, individualism, time orientation, and indulgence vs. restraint. Social and physical distance to headquarters, confined work environments, and loyalty to work interfaces affected core cultural values of power distance and individualism among pilots and cabin crew. Frontline pilots and managers opposed on time-orientation, highlighting the potential for conflicts on decision making due to differences in the perceived balance between safety and performance. Professional culture also influenced sociological preferences related to values of indulgence vs. restraint. The findings support the usage of core values as a basis for human behaviour analysis and highlights the importance to include cultural ergonomics concepts when devising organisational safety management strategies.