Personal values and crew compatibility: Results from a 105 days simulated space mission

Value diversity and crew relationships during a simulated space flight to Mars

“…The same tendency was observed during the Mars-105 simulation [9]. Some crew members described low moods, irritability, loss of energy, lack of interest in social activities as well as physically withdrawing from contact with others.…”

“…Harrison and his colleagues [23] argue that diversity with respect to deep-level characteristics such as values, as opposed to surface-level characteristics such as demographic differences, may take longer to manifest itself with respect to team outcomes. Consistent with this claim, most tension was attributed to individual difference in values in the last part of the 105-days simulation study [9].…”

“…To our knowledge, only one study has examined alterations in personal values among personnel exposed to isolated and confined living conditions. In a space simulation study lasting for 105 days, which preceded the 520-days simulation which is the focus of this paper, changes in mean level value scores were found to be meaningfully related to events occurring during the mission [9]. For example, elevated scores on hedonism were congruent with a strong dissatisfaction among some crew members with the restricted diet in the first half of the confinement.…”

“…Accordingly, in the 105-days simulation, crew members tended to attribute interpersonal tension to differences in these values as well as differences in emphasis on tradition [9].…”

“…While individual value priorities seem to be relatively stable under normal living conditions, studies suggest that transformations may occur in response to new, profound, and challenging life experiences, including spaceflights [5][6][7], polar expeditions [8], and space simulations [9]. To date, studies investigating the values of astronauts have been based on content analysis of narratives (e.g.…”