The Psychology of Living and Working in Space.
Many experiments have been conducted in space, from studies on plants, to the study of depleting calcium in bones. Just recently Nasa decided to research the mental and physical stresses faced in space and on land in different work environments. The experiment is conducted by having the space crews on the International Space Station fill out a survey expressing their emotions. The survey has two parts, a mood section and a group and work environment section, both standard psychological instruments. There is also a place for the crew to state any incidents in their own words and feelings. The mood section on the survey has a list of 65 emotional adjectives, such as sad, angry, nervous, etc. where the crew can fill out how their mood relates to the adjectives on a scale from "not at all" to "extremely." This data is recorded and sent to researchers and analyzers where they can evaluate the crew's emotional being. The work environment section of the survey lists a series of questions about the group activities that took place within the space station. From these questions, researchers can find out what needs to be improved and what points are at their strongest. All of this information gathered on the space station can be used to understand and help the future astronauts while also help improve the work environment of many large offices. This research shows how stressful work environments can lead to a large lack of efficiency in many occasions, along how people react and coup with their feelings towards problems and other crew members while in a stressful environment. .
