Psychology of Space Exploration
sion profiles, e.g., tasks (daily achievement of a distance goal versus stationkeeping)
or duration (short versus long).
In fact, studies addressing Suedfeld’s Principle 4 investigating personality char-
acteristics have produced supporting evidence for a focus on the experience as the
defining factor rather than the environment per se. The most persistently investigated
personality assessment for the last 15 years has been the NEO-PI by P. T. Costa and
R. R. McCrae.^20 This instrument assesses five global dimensions of personality: neu-
roticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.
These dimensions have been found to be associated with the previous personality
“right stuff/wrong stuff/no stuff” profiles identified by Helmreich et al. in longitudi-
nal studies of American astronaut candidate performance.^21 Additionally, measures of
achievement motivation, interpersonal orientation, Type A, stress, and coping have
been frequently evaluated. Recent studies have found evidence that agreeableness
and conscientiousness seem to better predict performance at the global level, along
with specific facets of extraversion.^22 Conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeable-
ness have been found to be related more strongly to constructive change-oriented
communication and cooperative behavior than to task performance. Cognitive ability
appears to be related more strongly to task performance than to constructive change-
oriented communication or cooperative behavior. Results also demonstrate contrast-
ing relationships for agreeableness (positive with cooperative behavior and negative
with constructive change-oriented communication).^23 However, another personal-
- P. T. Costa, Jr., and R. R. McCrae, NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Lutz, FL: Psychological
Assessment Resources, Inc., 1978, 1985, 1989, 1991). - T. J. McFadden, R. Helmreich, R. M. Rose, and L. F. Fogg, “Predicting Astronaut
Effectiveness: A Multivariate Approach,” Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 65
(1994): 904. - P. Suedfeld and G. D. Steel, “The Environmental Psychology of Capsule Habitats,” Annual
Review of Psychology 51 (2000): 227; R. M. Rose, R. L. Helmreich, L. F. Fogg, and T. McFadden,
“Psychological Predictors of Astronaut Effectiveness,” Aviation, Space, and Environmental
Medicine 64 (1994): 910; R. R. McCrae and J. Allik, The Five-Factor Model of Personality Across
Cultures (Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer, 2002). - M. R. Barrick, G. L. Stewart, M. J. Neubert, and M. K. Mount, “Relating Member
Ability and Personality to Work-Team Processes and Team Effectiveness,” Journal of Applied
Psychology 83 (1998): 377; L. Ferguson, D. James, F. O’Hehir, and A. Sanders, “Pilot Study
of the Roles of Personality, References, and Personal Statements in Relation to Performance
over the Five Years of a Medical Degree,” British Medical Journal 326, no. 7386 (22 February
2003): 429; J. A. LePine, “Team Adaptation and Postchange Performance: Effects of