Intercultural Interactions Among Long-Duration Spaceflight Crew
- Paper number
IAC-07-A1.1.01
- Author
Ms. Pratibha Kumar, University of North Dakota, United States
- Year
2007
- Abstract
Cross-cultural studies have indicated that communication impediments occur when people from different cultural backgrounds interact (Cupach \& Imahori, 1993; Gudykunst \& Ting-Toomey, 1988; Martin, 1993; Samovar \& Porter, 1991). Such problems are bound to exacerbate in high-risk, isolated and extreme environment. Literature acknowledges the presence of intercultural issues in long-duration spaceflights (Kealey, 2004; Kraft, Lyons, \& Binder, 2003; Ritsher, 2005). The major goal of this study was to investigate the intricacies of intercultural interactions and to examine the role of language in long-duration spaceflight crew interactions. A secondary goal was to explore the possibility of utilizing extra-vehicular activity videos for studying intercultural interactions among LDSF crew. This is one of the first social-scientific studies examining communication-related issues in LDSF; also EVA data have been used for the first time to study intercultural crew interactions. The study attempted to seek answers to two research questions: 1) What is the role of intercultural communication in LDSF crew interactions? 2) How significant is language competence in interactions among crewmembers of different cultures? More specifically, the study hypothesized that inadequate language competence will manifest itself in communication breakdowns during EVAs. The research employed quantitative content analysis of EVAs by LDSF crew and qualitative analysis of astronaut interviews. To evaluate language and communication competence in the EVAs, the content was categorized into three categories—misunderstanding, repetition, and clarification. In a pilot study, two independent coders watched the videos for two hours and the data was coded. A non-random convenience sample of five retired American astronauts, who have lived and worked with cosmonauts on Russian and American space stations, was interviewed. The interviews were anonymous and semi-structured. Results from the interviews support the literature and indicate that cultural backgrounds of the crewmembers affect their interactions with crewmembers of different nationalities. Variables such as professional culture, behavior resulting from individualist and collectivist orientations, and attitudes toward work ethics also came to light. Analysis of the EVA videos focused exclusively on language as a cultural factor of communication. The most frequently appearing trends in EVA analysis were: (a) communication breakdowns occurred more often between the crewmembers rather than mission control and crew and (b) out of the three content categories, repetition took place most frequently. The results of the study support the findings of scholars such as Kanas (2004), Kanas and Ritsher (2005), Kelly and Kanas (1992, 1993, 1994), and Ritsher (2005).
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-A1.1.01.pdf (đź”’ authorized access only).
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