Do astronauts benefit from autonomy? Investigating perceived autonomy-supportive communication by Mission Support, crew motivation and collaboration during HI-SEAS 1

Fantastic teams and where to find them: understanding team processes in space and analog environments through the IMOI framework

“…Leadership style (shared vs individual) is described to be tightly connected with the extent of autonomy the team has and how the team reacts to being more or less autonomous – in the case of higher autonomy, shared leadership proves to be more efficient (Hsia, 2015; Mulhearn et al , 2016; Sandal et al , 2011). Many studies have found that a supportive leadership style and setting team goals before individual goals help increase team cohesion (Goemaere et al , 2019; Kanas et al , 2006; Kanas and Ritsher, 2005; Wu et al , 2020).…”

“…Crew autonomy, as a result of corresponding organizational culture, is suggested to be connected with the mission success of long-duration space exploration (LDSE) in several cases (Mulhearn et al , 2016). Higher autonomy is found to facilitate conflict reduction between the crew and mission control and provides the crew with a sense of self-direction (Basner et al , 2014; Goemaere et al , 2019; Goemaere et al , 2019).…”

“…Many of the protocols and procedures delivered in space may be thought to be too complex or too numerous to be the sole responsibility of the astronauts to learn without risking human error and control which can seemingly increase financial expenses. However, research findings suggest that finding ways to enable crew autonomy will be fundamental for successful LDSE missions (Burke et al , 2018; Goemaere et al , 2019). As there will not be noticeable communication lag with teams operating around or on the Moon itself, it is as easy to keep control over the decision processes and tasks teams will have to conduct as it is right now in the case in International Space Station’s teams.…”

The Next Giant Leap for Space Human Factors: The Opportunities

“…It is well-established in the psychology literature that autonomy positively predicts performance and well-being for individuals, and team autonomy is positively related to both task- and relationship-focused team functioning (Cerasoli et al, 2016; Ryu et al, 2022; Yu et al, 2018). Studies in spaceflight and space analog environments have also found autonomy to be positively related to individual and team performance, greater individual well-being, lower levels of stress, and greater team cooperation and cohesion (Kintz et al, 2016; Goemaere et al, 2019). Conversely, autonomy may not matter as much in certain contexts; for example, during routine tasks, the effect of team autonomy on task functioning was weakened (Ryu et al, 2022).…”