Adaptation and coping strategies in Chinese Antarctic Expeditioners’ winter-over life

• Main Authors: Gonggu, Yan, Qian, Ye, Che, Tang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2011
• Subjects: Health; Antarctic; Zhongshan; Zhongshan Station; Great Wall Station; Advances in Polar Science; Antarc*; Antarctica; Polar Science
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2419/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2419/1/A20110206.pdf

The harsh natural and social environments in Antarctica challenge the limit of physical and psychological adaptation. Psychological research on Antarctic expeditioners’ winter-over life can enhance our understanding of how humans adapt to isolated, confined and extreme environments. In this qualitative study, nine people who worked at either the Great Wall station or Zhongshan Station were interviewed. Most of the problems related to adaptation in Antarctica could be summarized and categorized into four types: physical, emotional, interpersonal and task-related. Two main sets of factors which impact quality of work and life in Antarctica were identified. The first set refers to internal factors comprising personality, attitude, age and previous experience. The second set is external factors including natural environments as well as conditions of stations and key persons, especially the chef and station master. A theoretical framework of coping strategies including organizational and individual aspects was developed. Among the seven ways of coping, energy transferring such as taking part in sports entertainment or learning played the most important role. The results not only provide a strong theoretical base for future research of polar psychology, but also provide an empirical base for more applications on Antarctic expeditions, flight and space missions.