Cultural differences in the ICE-Group experience: Diaries of French and British antarctic winteroverers

Abstract

Cultural differences may influence the psychosocial adaptation to prolonged isolation and confinement in extreme environments. Recent results showed that the temporal pattern of mood changes may also be affected by cultural differences. The aim of the study was to gain deeper insight into the structure and temporal patterns of group-related themes mentioned in the diaries of Antarctic winteroverers in two different stations with different national and organizational backgrounds. The diaries of the corresponding 8-8 French and British crew members of the Concordia and Halley VI research stations were subjected to content analysis. Method. A total of 18324 sentences were coded. In the first phase of the analysis, we identified 5 major thematic groups (Self focus, Group focus, Antarctica focus, Outworld focus, and Castoff sentences). One-third of these sentences were Group Focus, which were classified into 4 code groups, depending on whether the sentences referred to Experienced or Observed Comfort or Discomfort in the ingroup, respectively. These 4 code groups were subject to further analyses to test whether each code cluster showed a significant difference between British and French winteroverers during the 4 quarters of the mission. The Q3 phenomenon was also investigated. Results. Throughout all four quarters, the British crewmembers used significantly more Experienced Comfort sentences, while the French expressed significantly more Observed Discomfort sentences. Regarding the temporal patterns, the amount of Experienced Comfort sentences was significantly lower in the French diaries compared to the British diaries in the third quarter of the mission. Conclusions. Content analysis detected the impact of cultural differences on the composition and temporal pattern of social experiences of winterovering crews. It thus can diagnose and predict the psychodynamics of groups in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments, such as polar stations or long-duration missions in space.