Spaceflight and Cross-Cultural PsychologyINTERCULTURAL COOPERATION IN SPACE:
A UNIQUE SOURCE OF CROSS-CULTURAL DATA
The preceding sections have dealt with the potential contributions of cross-
cultural psychology to the implementation of international missions. We now turn
the tables and see what unique intercultural interaction in space may contribute
to the store of knowledge of cross-cultural psychology. Observations from space
should be thoroughly and factually documented. Given the singularity of the sit-
uations involved, qualitative observations of interactions and encounters should
lead the way. Whenever possible, they should be quantified and studied by means
of procedures for N of 1, followed by the gradual imposition of formal but flexible
research designs.^46
Qualitative retrospective study of the evolution of international missions
should include interviews of the surviving veterans of the early stages of space
exploration, with emphasis on the social and personal values and philosophies of
life as well as ideologies and beliefs that animated these concerns. How have these
national and personal goals been transformed in the course of the last 50 years, as
the cultures of both the United States and Russia have undergone various degrees of
change, from the social upheaval in America in the 1960s and 1970s to the demise
of the Soviet political and economic system?
With only slight exaggeration, adaptation to space missions, especially long-
duration missions, can be likened to adaptation to a small society or a mini-
culture, with its own internal rules and evolving customs as well as externally
imposed imperatives. What, then, are the characteristics of the communities of
space exploration on the ground and in space, and what are their commonalities
across nations and their culturally specific hallmarks?
Proceeding from these considerations, we should identify the characteristics of
spaceflight participants and the cultural differences, if any, between astronauts of
participating nations. Equally importantly, researchers might find that astronauts’
similarities may override national characteristics. Perhaps a shared core of traits
accounts for the effective and productive, though by no means problem-free, out-
come of joint missions in space.
- W. F. Dukes, “N=1,” Psychological Bulletin 64 (1965): 74–79.