Investigations of life in polar stations: For an intervention at the beginning, during or at the end of the mission? Karine Weiss Laboratoire de Psychologie.

Investigations of life in polar stations:

For an intervention at the beginning, during or at the end of

the mission?Karine Weiss

Laboratoire de Psychologie EnvironnementaleCNRS UMR 8069Université Paris 5

ICEs : Psychosocial issues

Confinement: space limitations

Isolation: reduced external communications

Main sources of

satisfaction: • Beauty of the environment• Professional interests

Psychosocial and environmental issues

Main sources of stress:

• Environmental and social monotony •Different professions and statutes (technicians, scientists, military people)

A winter-over = transitions

- Transition in the life course

- Shorter transitions:

at the beginning

at the end of the mission

Adaptation to new situations

3 periods in the course of the winter-over

3. The end: - how to return to the “real life”?- Reorganization of man-environment relationships

1.The beginning of the mission: - how to live in this new environment?- new way of life & behavioural norms

2. The mission: - how to cope with isolation and confinement?- Place appropriation & life within a small group

3 kinds of data collection on site

3. After the isolation period: - Perception of a reformulated reality- interviews & tests & questionnaires

1.Before the real isolation period:- collection of expectations; baseline data- interviews & tests & questionnaires

2. During the isolation period: - Collection of behaviours & perceptions in situ- Participant observation + questionnaires

Results: at the beginning of the mission

Expectations

• Utopia of an ideal life in community (a group of friends with strong relationships)

• An unique environmental and human experience

• No clear expectations about the work (workload and work conditions)

Behaviours

• Behavioural “routines” (linked to the monotony?)

• Social categorization with interpersonal and intergroup conflicts

• Importance of a balance in the social relationships for the individual adaptation

• Importance of the workload

• A specific rythm linked to the lenght of the mission (3/4 phenomenon?)

Results: during the mission

7 first months 6 stables groups

2 last monthsDivision of the groups

Repartition of the subjects linked to their professional

status

Social behaviours

Changes at the end of the winter-over :

- Increase of withdrawal behaviours- Division of affinity groups

Occupation of space (during leisure time in the evening)

Living room Bedroom Work Outside

Scientists (young)*

40% 30% 28% 1%

Technicians

(older)**36% 34% 30% 0,5%

Total 38% 32% 29% 0,7%

% of time spent in each place

* < 28 years old

** up to 50 years old

Participation of the (voluntary) subjects with positive experience

Minor problems Good adaptation

Results: at the end of the mission

Expression of the adaptation

Perception of positive aspects (at the end of the mission)

• Importance of positive stimulations (from the external environment)

• Importance of the environmental appropriation:

- each iceberg has a name (“the tooth”; “the citadel”…)

- “the environment belongs to us”; “the environment leaves with us” (penguins, icebergs)

Perception of negative aspects (at the end of the mission)

• Social isolation (family, females)

• Social categorization (linked to the

professional status)

• Boredom when going out is impossible

• Way back home: “what awaits me?”

Conclusions

• More interesting results with on site observations during the mission

Evolution of behaviours in a specific space-time unity

Interest for « Natural laboratories »

• End of the mission = behavioural changes = « re-adaptation » Adaptation to changes (and not only to the

novelty of a situation)