Decision making under extreme stress - CREST Security Review Magazine
Emma and Nathan were asked to write about decision making under extreme stress for the decision making issue of the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST) Security Review Magazine.
In the article Emma and Nathan highlight a number of factors that can inform about the quality of decision making under stress:
What is their ‘information environment’? Extreme environments can be characterised by uncertain, incomplete, ambiguous, and dynamic information. Circumstances in extreme environments can change quickly and unexpectedly. This makes it difficult to make an accurate assessment of the situation, thus interfering with good judgement and effective decision making.
How high are the stakes? Many decisions in extreme environments are inherently risky. Depending on the situation, correct navigation, choosing when to eat, where to sleep, and the type of equipment to use, can all mean the difference between success or failure. Under testing situations, decisions often need to be made in time-limited and dynamic scenarios. The stress of facing high stakes choices can lead to tunnel vision or decision inertia, and may induce perceived or actual time pressures.
What is their physical environment? Exposure to extremely hot or cold environments has been linked to slower reaction times, particularly when doing complicated tasks. At high altitudes, hypoxia (lack of oxygen) leads to mental confusion and slower decision making. Other physical aspects of the context often demand attention to stay alive. For example, in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, being alert to poisonous animals, incoming sandstorms, and sources of water could be the difference between life and death.
What social pressure are decision makers under? Being isolated with others can prompt destructive interpersonal conflict, even over little issues like snoring or eating habits. Being aware that colleagues are scrutinising decision making can be a significant and disruptive source of stress, particularly if you are concerned with what other people think of you. For instance, fear of appearing a coward may prompt an uncertain fighter to take reckless risks. Taking decisions as a team can also be problematic in high stress situations – too much agreement can end up with ‘groupthink’, and too much disagreement can result in indecisiveness, decision avoidance, or outright conflict.
Are there prevailing conditions of monotony and boredom? Not having enough to do can degrade morale, sometimes leading to petty squabbling, apathy, and depression. Sensory deprivation – monotonous landscapes, or constant droning noises – can also have strange effects, like hallucinations, and can have a serious impact on vigilance, and even mental health. All these, of course, interfere with the ability to make good choices in critical conditions.
How much sleep are they getting? Sleep deprivation, caused by lack of sleep or sleeping at odd times (as is common in a theatre of war, or in situations where personnel work shifts), can interfere with the ability to focus attention on relevant information, take in and process information, adapt to changing circumstances, and communicate effectively with team members.
The full CREST article is available to read here: https://crestresearch.ac.uk/comment/decision-making-stress/
Image: © CREST (CC BY-NC-SA).