Reexamining Threat Rigidity: Implications for Design

Emergencies today seem larger, more complex, and unique than those of the past. Responding to them requires flexibility and creativity not easily achieved. The threat-rigidity thesis proposed by Staw, Sandelands, and Dutton proposes that response to an environmental threat is often one of constriction of control and restriction of information that results in a rigidity of response that can be maladaptive in a new and/or large crisis. However, there are ways to mitigate maladaptive responses. For example, the principles of High Reliability Organizations and Crew Resource Management can ameliorate rigidity of response. In a synthesis of the theory and empirical results from a number of different areas we show how they fit together to explain some of the observed properties of the threat rigidity syndrome. We propose a model of an individual´s cognitive responses to threat and review system design principles that can support flexible, adaptive responses in crisis.