Extreme and unusual: Psychology in Antarctica

Abstract

The title for this chapter is taken from Suedfeld’s (1987) influential chapter in the Handbook of Environmental Psychology. Suedfeld used two dimensions to classify environments. The first dimension, extremeness, is most often associated with Antarctica and can be defined by assessing how much technology is needed to keep one alive. The second dimension is unusualness. This describes the degree to which an environment is different from the one a person normally experiences. This aspect of the polar environment does not capture as much attention as extremeness but it can have a great influence on polar sojourners’ thoughts, emotions and behaviours. Taken together, these simple two dimensions have had a long-standing impact on the manner in which psychological research is conducted in the polar regions. The principal focus of this chapter is the psychology of polar personnel. We begin with some historical examples of polar psychology, then move on to examine the results of more current scientific studies of human psychological adaptation in the southern continent. Next, we consider the question of who goes to Antarctica. This takes us into a description of one of the more robust findings of polar psychology, the ‘three abilities’, which is followed by an overview of what is known about the connection between personality and work performance on the Ice. The pathogenic aspect of Antarctic work includes a discussion of two other areas of research: the third-quarter phenomenon and winter-over (or T3) syndrome. The chapter concludes on a more positive note as we move into a discussion of the salutogenic effects (Antonovsky A, Unraveling the mystery of health: how people manage stress and stay well. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1987) of a polar deployment.