Cross-cultural and spaceflight psychology: Arenas for synergistic research

Abstract

Shortly after the competitive Moon Race the United States and the Soviet Union joined together for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, an activity that drew attention to cross-cultural issues in space missions. In 1978, the Soviets began their Interkosmos, or “guest cosmonaut,” program, whereby non-Soviet cosmonauts joined Soviet crews on space stations, while Europeans developed Spacelab which flew with the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia in 1983. Over the years, the largely symbolic Interkosmos program grew into flights involving true international partnerships, and NASA drew payload specialists from an increasing array of nations. In the 1990s, astronauts joined cosmonauts on Mir, and today the International Space Station routinely hosts international crews. Over the past 50 years, both cross-cultural and spaceflight psychology have matured, and we develop the thesis that each offers opportunities and benefits to the other. After sampling relevant research on cultural dimensions, values, and social axioms, we present the culture assimilator and other methods as potential aids for preparing personnel for future missions. We stress the need for additional research on other cultures, especially China, whose representatives are likely to become increasingly prominent in mission planning, management, and execution. We end with a brief discussion of cautions and limitations and conclude that even as spaceflight psychology will benefit from cross-cultural psychology, cross-cultural psychology will benefit from behavioral research pertaining to space.