Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated

Freeze-Flight-Fight-Forfeit

The ordered sequence of responses to acute stress in humans.1

When people are exposed to stressful or threatening situations, they respond in a manner summarized by the catchy phrase, “fight or flight.” Less catchy but more accurate is the contemporary construction, “freeze-flight-fight-forfeit,” which not only describes the full set of responses, but also reflects the general sequence in which they occur. The response set typically begins at stage one, and escalates to subsequent stages as the level of threat increases:

If a threat is believed to be imminent, Freeze — a response characterized by a state of hyperawareness and hypervigilance; purpose is to detect potential threats (“stop, look, and listen” response). ...