ABSTRACT
The present paradigm around selection and assessment of pilots in commercial aviation has been arrived at over many decades, albeit perhaps in a relatively ad hoc manner. It has been reasonably effective in understanding, and predicting, many aspects of pilot aptitude and ability. However, predicting safe and effective behaviour based on pilots’ personality data has proved more elusive. Furthermore there currently exists an understandable inclination in aviation organisations to favour personality ‘testing’ and screening in or screening out individuals on the basis of their personality profiles. An additional and somewhat noisy factor is the large commercial industry of psychometrics with thousands of variations of personality questionnaires available, each proclaiming to accurately and reliably measure or ‘test’ personality. It has been estimated that this industry is worth somewhere between $2 billion and $4 billion per year (The Economist, 2013).
