Category Archives: Newsletter

🔑 Safe behavior doesn’t happen by chance. It occurs when attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control align. In the final part of our Theory of Planned Behavior series, we show how leaders can bring it all together to shape safer outcomes.

Have you ever wanted to do the right thing, but felt the odds were stacked against you? That space between intention and action is where Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) comes in.

Social norms aren’t just background noise. They quietly set the tone for what feels acceptable. Whether you’re in the flight deck, the hangar, or the office, most of us are scanning for cues: What’s everyone else doing? What’s expected here?

Have you ever been invited to an event where everyone else seemed to know the dress code—formal suits, elegant gowns—while you showed up in something more casual? That uneasy feeling comes from what psychologists call subjective norms—the unspoken pressure to fit in and act the way others expect.

In aerospace, we often say that “attitude is everything.” But where do those attitudes actually come from? And more importantly, how can organizations influence them toward safe outcomes?

Ajzen described attitude toward a behavior as “the degree to which a person has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation or appraisal of the behavior in question” (Ajzen, 1991). In plain terms, it’s whether we think doing something will lead to outcomes we value.

Why do you decide to go for a run, recycle a bottle, or speak up in a meeting? It might feel like a spur-of-the-moment choice—but science says otherwise.