Baseline personality comparisons between astronauts and Antarctic personnel: Implications for generalization of psychological research findings

This paper presents a review of personality research conducted by investigators at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Bergen. Over the past several years, personality data have been collected on active duty NASA astronauts (N=66), final stage astronaut applicants (N=259), Australian Antarctic station personnel (N=111) and Norwegian polar scientists (N=34). Analyses of the astronaut data have demonstrated that astronauts and astronaut applicants possess atypical personality profiles characterized by positive affect, low neuroticism and high levels of conscientiousness and achievement motivation. Analyses of the Antarctic personnel data have suggested a cross culturally consistent profile of low interpersonal negativity and low neuroticism. These two populations differ primarily on measures of achievement motivation, with astronauts scoring higher than both the Antarctic personnel and a comparative student population on scales assessing those traits. Implications for the generalization of research findings from space analogue environments are discussed.