What are stressors?

What are stressors?

• A. Physical or psychological pressures that degrade performance.
• B. Weather hazards only
• C. Mechanical failures
• D. Administrative delays

Answer: (A)

Stressors are physical or psychological pressures that degrade performance. In aviation, they’re anything that places demand on a crewmember or system and can impair judgment, perception, memory, or reaction time. Physical stressors include fatigue, illness, pain, dehydration, and extreme temperatures, while psychological stressors involve worry, anxiety, fear, anger, or heavy cognitive workload. When these pressures accumulate beyond what a person can cope with, performance deteriorates and the likelihood of errors increases. Weather hazards, mechanical failures, and administrative delays are specific situations or events that can create stress, but they’re not the definition of stressors themselves. They’re types of hazards or disruptions that may act as sources of stress.

Stressors are physical or psychological pressures that degrade performance. In aviation, they’re anything that places demand on a crewmember or system and can impair judgment, perception, memory, or reaction time. Physical stressors include fatigue, illness, pain, dehydration, and extreme temperatures, while psychological stressors involve worry, anxiety, fear, anger, or heavy cognitive workload. When these pressures accumulate beyond what a person can cope with, performance deteriorates and the likelihood of errors increases.

Weather hazards, mechanical failures, and administrative delays are specific situations or events that can create stress, but they’re not the definition of stressors themselves. They’re types of hazards or disruptions that may act as sources of stress.