Definition
Any event, condition, or demand—physical, physiological, or psychological—that places strain on a pilot and triggers a stress response. Stressors can be external (turbulence, heavy traffic, deteriorating weather, time pressure) or internal (fatigue, illness, hunger, personal worries).
Plain English
A stressor is anything that causes you stress. It is the source of the pressure, not the feeling of pressure itself.
Context Anchor
Used in aviation human factors and stress discussions, especially when identifying what is affecting a pilot’s judgment, attention, or performance before or during a flight.
Derivation
From the verb 'stress' (to put strain on) plus the suffix '-or' (the thing that does the action). So a stressor is literally 'the thing that causes stress'—useful because it separates the cause from the effect.
Why Pilots Care
Unmanaged stressors reduce situational awareness, slow decision-making, and raise the chance of errors.
Intuition Check
A stressor is not only a major emergency. A small irritation, a tight schedule, poor sleep, or several minor problems together can also be stressors.
Example Sentence 1
Before the flight, she identified fatigue and an unfamiliar destination as her two biggest stressors and adjusted her plan accordingly.
Example Sentence 2
Financial pressure at home acted as a stressor that affected the pilot’s focus in the cockpit.