Strangers and Brothers: Psychological Reactions Among Multinational Space Crews
- Paper number
IAC-06-A1.1.05
- Author
Dr. Peter Suedfeld, The University of British Columbia, Canada
- Coauthor
Ms. Katarzyna Wilk, The University of British Columbia, Canada
- Year
2006
- Abstract
Space crews composed of people from more than one nation became routine with the advent of the Shuttle-Mir program and the International Space Station. New spacefaring nations, and the exploration of the Moon and Mars, will most likely accelerate this trend. Space agencies have tried to train crews so that the “stranger” can be seamlessly integrated: language training, socializing as well as working together while preparing for the mission, and the presence of support staff and culturally appropriate materiel for all participants are all provided toward this goal. At this time, the anecdotal evidence as to the effectiveness of this strategy is highly mixed. Many astronauts have been dissatisfied with their level of acceptance by crewmates from another country, as well as with the support they receive from their own and the other nation’s support personnel. If this dissatisfaction is serious, it may impair the astronaut’s efficiency, the crew’s ability to work cooperatively, and possibly the safety and success of the mission. This paper reports the thematic content analysis (TCA) of memoirs, oral histories, interviews, and other archived reports of more than 50 astronauts who have flown either as members of the national majority in a multinational crew or as the lone representative of their own country. Our sample includes men and women, short- and long-duration missions, and a wide range of national origins. TCA provides a quantitative, replicable score for the level of various cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, motivational, and other psychosocial variables. We scored for six variables: Positive Intimacy (seeking and enjoying close interpersonal friendship); Negative Intimacy (avoiding and disliking such relationships); Trust; Evaluation of Others; and General Affect. The results showed that the presence of an astronaut from another nation did not seriously affect the reactions of the national majority in the spacecraft; however, the “stranger” was significantly less contented, and less comfortable with his or her crewmates. Thus, national “loners” experience more stress and less social support. We are continuing to analyze these data, to develop a more precise model of who is most likely to feel disaffected, and under what conditions. More details may pinpoint circumstances requiring special care to avoid potentially disruptive emotional reactions. But our findings should already alert space agencies that nationally mixed crews require more careful selection and training, and the provision of better countermeasures, than has been the case until now.
- Abstract document