Relationships between personality and social functioning, attitudes towards the team and mission, and well-being in an ICE environment

Abstract

For long-duration space missions to be successful, it is necessary to develop an understanding of the psychological factors that promote effective coping in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments. We evaluated relationships between Big Five personality traits and social functioning (liking one's teammates, social conflict, and social cohesion), anxiety and sad affect, well-being (health and psychological difficulties, symptoms of depression), and attitudes towards the mission and team. These variables were assessed with pre- (N = 105) and post- (N = 34) mission surveys as well as daily reports (N = 74) during the mission. Participants were crew members with a variety of work roles who completed 1- to 18-month missions in one of three stations in Antarctica. Findings indicate that neuroticism is related to increased social conflict, anxiety, and health and psychological problems, as well as more negative perceptions of teammates and social cohesion. Alternately, conscientiousness in particular may predispose crew members to form positive attitudes towards their expedition and may protect against symptoms of depression. These results carry important implications for selecting individuals for Antarctic expeditions and, with necessary caveats, space exploration teams.