A Comparison of Homogeneous Male and Female Teams in a Mars Simulation
- Paper ID
1789
- author
- company
The University of Texas Medical Branch; National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR); ; HE Space Operations; Active Space Technologies
- country
United States
- year
2005
- abstract
Psychosocial function and issues of group and inter-group function have received very little attention in NASA’s manned space program although considerably more attention has been paid in the Russian space program. International interest in group function has increased as focus has shifted towards longer duration spaceflight and, particularly, the issues involved in sending a human crew to Mars. The current study investigates the role of group identity, stress, coping and group dynamics on individual and group performance, motivation and behaviour and psychological well being. A key composition variable, gender was also selected as gender differences have been shown to cut across both individual factors and group identity factors, impacting in significant ways on both. Generally, men and women differ in many arenas such as interaction and communication styles, need for affiliation, response to crowding, privacy and confined spaces. Men and women in homogeneous groups interact in significantly different ways than those in mixed groups. The impact of gender on group identity and, summarily, on group performance is a key focus of this investigation. The Mars Society Utah Desert Simulation (MDRS) facility provides a unique opportunity to examine the interaction of salient individual factors such as gender and personality factors on social relationships and group identity under conditions of isolation and confinement. Two teams (an international team of women and an international team of men) are scheduled to conduct back-to-back Mars simulation missions late in the 2005 MDRS field season. All participants will be administered measures of personality, personal and group functioning, subjective stress, coping approaches, and neurocognitive functioning. In addition, salivary cortisol will be collected to correlate physiological arousal and state stress with relevant pen and paper measures. Qualitative analyses are planned for personal logs kept by the participants. The relationships between personality, group identification and a range of outcome variables will be examined through a variety of descriptive, correlational and nonparametric approaches. Regression analysis will be explored to assess whether those who had a high level of identification (at the sub-group and/or superordinate level) differed in motivation, performance, personal functioning and stress from those who had lower levels of identification. In addition the strength of relationships between perceptions of group functioning and goal alignment and outcome measures (personality, motivation, performance, stress) will be assessed and whether, as predicted, identification mediates these relationships. At each level, comparisons between the male and female teams will be investigated for similarities and differences between the two teams.