SUBJECT'S PERCEPTIONS OF THE CREW INTERACTION DYNAMICS UNDER PROLONGED ISOLATION

Vadim Gushin, M.D., Vladimir A. Efimov, Tatiana M. Smirnova, Alla G. Vinokhodova, and Nick Kanas, M.D. Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, 69: 556-561, 1998.

ABSTRACT

Background: The interactions of individuals participating in space simulation studies can give us valuable information about ways that space crew members relate with one another. A promising method of investigating such interactions is based on the Kelly repertory grid technique. We predicted that in a space simulation crew: 1) one's personal self-concept would become closer to concepts about other crew members in a cohesive crew, and vice-versa, and 2) the similarity of one's ego images in the past, present and future influences that person's position in the group.

Methods: Crews from two isolation studies lasting 135 and 90 days at the Institue for Biomedical Problems in Moscow were evaluated using a modificaiton of the Kelly repertory grid technique. Members assessed each other on a monthly basis and during off-nominal simulated docking periods.

Results: During both isolations, crew members were unsuccessful in making their personal self-concepts move closer to their concepts about fellow crew members. Crew disintegration resulted, with one member becoming an outsider whose personality was characterized by a disintegrated ego-image and an infantile type of the present ego.

Conclusions: In small isolated groups, failure to make personal self-concepts become more like concepts about other crew members can lead to group disintegration and tension and can result in the appearance of an outsider who has a disintegrated ego-image and an infantile present ego.