I would be willing to bet that dead bears are not much of a threat to human beings.
But, in a surprise confrontation, is someone's attempt to kill the bear more or less likely to result in their serious injury or death? I'd suggest it's more important to walk away from a potentially deadly situation than it is to try and chalk up a kill.
The objective should be for the human to stay alive.
I completely agree. I guess the good news from these studies is that the most likely survival scenario for people is also the one that allows the bear to walk away unharmed, but more wary of humans.