July 30, 2009 Vol. 2, Issue 7
Cultural differences in work pressure levels and aggression between Russian and American crewmembers and mission controllers can affect team performance on long-duration space missions, according to a new joint study by the University of California / San Francisco and the Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow.
The study assessed 30 crewmembers and 186 mission controllers from American and Russian space programs on their past experience with international partners and language background as well as their weekly mood and social climate during space station missions.
Researchers grouped and analyzed findings into three categories: national (Russian vs. American), occupational (crewmembers vs. mission control personnel), and organizational (quality of data retrieved from ISS vs. Mir missions). At the national level, researchers found that, when compared with their Russian counterparts, Americans reported significantly higher levels of anger and aggression in crewmembers, and consistently rated their work pressure as high among crewmembers and mission controllers. The authors say these differences may be attributable to the fact that American crewmembers tend to work from more detailed written timelines and procedures distributed by mission control, whereas Russian cosmonauts report more autonomy to decide when and how to perform tasks, and contact mission control when in need of assistance. Russian crewmembers tend to view their environment as having more structure and guidance from leadership, but didn’t experience the high pressure reported by the American group.
At the occupational level, crewmembers reported better mood states within the healthy range and lower levels of anger and aggression than mission controllers. The authors noted that this may be due to the close personal relationships formed among crewmembers, which tend to be less prevalent among mission controllers. The small size of a crew team and the thrill of being in a space environment may also contribute to these differences. From an international teamwork standpoint, the study posits the importance of mission controllers getting to know their large teams to establish a similar working relationship experienced by international crew teams.
Comparison between organizations revealed that American astronauts working on Mir reported lower levels of leader support and independence than either Americans on the ISS or Russians on either space station. This suggested that these Americans experienced a socio-cultural isolation not present in mission controllers or in ISS. These may be due to the proportions of international astronauts on each space station and differences in frequency of communication between space and mission control.
Finally, American mission control personnel were found to have the lowest level of cultural sophistication and language flexibility. The researchers believe this suggests that potentially stressful international team dynamics may result when Americans attempt to remedy this by consciously avoiding idiomatic phrases and slang, or when international partners try keeping up with American English. Russian mission controllers, who are accustomed to international English, may not be as strained in international teams in terms of language comprehension.
The authors conclude that more research is required to find ways to remedy this language gap and cultivate a healthy mentality for members involved in international projects. Learning more about cultural differences, such as the higher levels of autonomy reported by the Russians, is also important to prepare for longer-duration human missions to destinations like Mars, where a positive social climate and mood among crew and mission control will be critical to the team’s success.
