Normalcy bias

The event may involve social constructionism phenomena such as loss of money in market crashes, or direct threats to continuity of life: as in natural disasters like a tsunami or violence in war.

She explains that the faster someone can get through the denial and deliberation phases, the quicker they will reach the decisive moment and begin to take action.

[8] Journalist David McRaney wrote that "Normalcy bias flows into the brain no matter the scale of the problem.

According to a 2001 study by sociologist Thomas Drabek, when people are asked to leave in anticipation of a disaster, most check with four or more sources of information before deciding what to do.

[10] It can explain why thousands of people refused to leave New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina approached[11] and why at least 70% of 9/11 survivors spoke with others before evacuating.

[12] Similarly, experts connected with the Fukushima nuclear power plant were strongly convinced that a multiple reactor meltdown could never occur.

In the video referred to, "the officer misses multiple threat cues...because the assailant talks lovingly about his daughter and jokes about how packed his minivan is.

[14] Normalcy bias, David McRaney has written, "is often factored into fatality predictions in everything from ship sinkings to stadium evacuations".

McRaney notes that in the book Big Weather, tornado chaser Mark Svenvold discusses "how contagious normalcy bias can be.

Stress slows the process, and when the brain cannot find an acceptable response to a situation, it fixates on a single and sometimes default solution that may or may not be correct.

An evolutionary reason for this response could be that paralysis gives an animal a better chance of surviving an attack and predators are less likely to see prey that is not moving.