The effects of pilots' sports habits on their decision-making styles under stress

The aim of the research is to determine the effect of pilots' sports habits on decision-making styles under stress. In this context, the sample of the research consists of 365 pilots who are commercially licensed (ATPL) pilots on various airlines in Turkey. As a data collection tool in the research, it was developed by Cohen, Kamarck and Mermelstein (1983) and developed by Baltas and others (1998) and Eskin and others. The Turkish version of the Perceived Stress Scale (2013) and the Turkish version of the General Decision-Making Styles Scale (Taşdelen, 2002) developed by Scott and Bruce (1995) were used. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk analyses, histograms and Q-Q Plot graphs were used to test the suitability of the data for normal distribution. Since it was found that the data did not meet the normal distribution assumption, the Kruskal-Wallis H test was performed for multiple group comparisons and the Mann-Whitney U test was performed for dual group comparisons. In order to determine the correlation levels between the variables, the Sprearman rho test was performed. The significance level was selected as p<0.05 in all analyses. According to the analysis results, significant differences were found between the participants' age, flight school where they were trained, seniority (Captain or F/O), how many years of duty experience they have, whether they do regular sports, how many days/hours a week they do sports, whether they have been licensed athletes in the past, their branch and Perceived Stress Scale and General Decisional Styles Scale sub-dimensions. According to gender, it has been found that there is no significant relationship. As a result; it has been determined that the stress levels and decision-making styles of pilots differ according to variables, and sports habits are an important variable that causes these differences.