Extroverts may have an easier time at parties, but they could be a "liability" in space, according to a new study.
NASA and other organizations have been looking to send humans into space, so psychology researchers are preparing by analyzing which personalities would work best for a long-term space trip, Live Science reported.
Extroverts are talkative and work well on teams, but they may not fit in so well during a three-year round trip to Mars and back, where one chatty person could upset the social balance if the others don't want to talk as much.
"You're talking about a very tiny vehicle, where people are in very isolated, very confined spaces," said study researcher Suzanne Bell, an associate professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago, as quoted by Live Science. "Extroverts have a little bit of a tough time in that situation."
In the new NASA-funded study, Bell and her team found that an extroverted crew member from a simulated mission didn't get along with two less talkative crew members, who thought he spoke his mind too often.
Extroverts' strengths include speaking up and figuring out how team members should work together, but they might have trouble when it comes to the lack of variety on a space mission.
"People who are extroverted might have a hard time coping because they want to be doing a lot; they want to be engaged in a lot of things," said study researcher Shanique Brown, a graduate student in industrial and organizational psychology at DePaul, as quoted by Live Science. "And [on these missions], there won't be that much to do--things become monotonous after a while, and you're seeing the same people."
Despite the findings, extroverts aren't out of the running for Mars missions. Researchers will have to discover a balance for team members and train them to work together, Bell said.
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