Swiss Study Tracks Rising Mistrust in 12-Person Antarctic Crew Over 10 Months

7 articles · Updated · MENAFN.COM · May 26

University of Bern researchers found loneliness, conflict and paranoid thoughts rose during a 10-month winter isolation at Antarctica's Concordia station, while team cohesion and perceived performance fell.
Questionnaires and proximity sensors from 12 crew members showed that spending more time physically close did not strengthen bonds; it instead correlated with greater mistrust and conflict.
French and Italian crew members increasingly clustered by nationality, a pattern the researchers said raised the risk of polarization and tension inside the station.
At more than 3,000 meters altitude and temperatures as low as -80°C, Concordia is more remote than the International Space Station, the study's author said, making it a test case for other isolated teams.
The PNAS study could inform space, military and industrial missions in confined environments, though the researchers said more crews must be studied before firm recommendations are made.

If human closeness breeds conflict in space, are robot coworkers the only solution for our survival on Mars?

An Antarctic study reveals a 'proximity paradox.' Is this a warning that our crowded cities are failing us psychologically?

Trapped together, our brains can create enemies. Can we design our way around this primal instinct to explore new worlds?