Bodies of Last 2 Missing Italian Divers Recovered in the Maldives - The New York Times
nytimes.com
This tragedy is a textbook case of risk homeostasis — when people feel equipped enough to push past safety limits, the actual danger quietly multiplies beneath the surface.
Risk Homeostasis TheoryOverconfidence BiasGroupthinkProspect Theory
Theory Briefing
- Five recreational divers descended over 160 feet into a Maldives cave, well beyond the standard safety limit for recreational diving.
- Risk homeostasis theory predicts that greater perceived skill or equipment leads divers to accept higher objective danger, erasing safety margins.
- All five divers perished, illustrating how group dynamics and overconfidence can collectively override individual risk perception in high-stakes environments.