751 ISSN 0362-1197, Human Physiology, 2017, Vol. 43, No. 7, pp. 751–756. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2017. Original Russian Text © P.G. Kuznetsova, V.I. Gushchin, A.G. Vinokhodova, A.I. Chekalina, D.M. Shved, 2016, published in Aviakosmicheskaya i Ekologicheskaya Meditsina, 2016, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 57–63. Interpersonal Interaction under the Conditions of High Autonomy in Interplanetary Mission Simulation (Mars-500 Experiment) P. G. Kuznetsova*, V. I. Gushchin, A. G. Vinokhodova, A. I. Chekalina, and D. M. Shved Institute of Biomedical Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 123007 Russia *e-mail: polina_ky@mail.ru Received October 15, 2015 Abstract—This paper discusses the influence of the social status and psychological stability of individuals on their communicative behavior in space f light on the basis of retrospective analysis of the findings of the Mars- 500 experiment, in which six participants were isolated for a period of simulating a long-term exploration mis- sion. Data were obtained using both classic social-psychological methods and observation of video recorded behavior. Communicative behavior of the crew members was dependent on the level of individual anxiety and social status in the isolated small group. Keywords: long-term isolation, communication strategies, psychological stability, anxiety, leadership, video monitoring DOI: 10.1134/S0362119717070118 The problem of human adaptation to extreme con- ditions of the habitat has become particularly acute under the current conditions of human existence and activity. The studies of isolated small groups (crews of spacecrafts, submarines, etc.) occupy an important place among the problems of psychology in the 21st century. At present, it is generally accepted that the most significant medical and psychological problem of the interplanetary flight to Mars is the autonomy factor [1]. The preservation of the effectiveness of interaction and the optimal psychological climate in an isolated small group under conditions of a long autonomous flight is of great importance for the suc- cessful execution of the expedition program. The factor of high autonomy in interplanetary flight is characterized by a risk to life and health, the lack of experience of such expeditions, the long dura- tion of flight, severe restrictions on consumption and the inability to replenish vital resources (water, food, medicine, supplies for life support systems, fuel, etc.), the impossibility of early return to Earth, and increas- ing delays in communications with Earth. According to many experts [1–3], this can exacerbate the nega- tive impact of already known orbital flight factors on crew members. Classical psychological studies of territorial behav- ior in a limited space [4, 5] have shown that under extreme conditions of isolation a person faces a dialec- tical contradiction of needs: on the one hand, in pri- vate life, personal space, and privacy and, on the other hand, in affiliation, manifested by openness and expressiveness in communication. The affiliative (the desire for warm, trusting, emotionally meaningful relationships with other people) and communicative needs of a person are especially exacerbated during prolonged stay in a hermetic chamber, increasing sen- sory deprivation, monotony, weakening of social sup- port by loved ones, lack of personal space, and the imposed nature of contacts [6, 7]. For the above rea- sons, in an autonomous flight, these social needs can be met mainly only within the crew, during direct communication of the members of the group. Studies of territorial behavior in hermetic chambers [4] showed that the trait anxiety that increases under extreme conditions can be accompanied by the desire to increase personal space and distancing from other members of the group. Similar data were obtained in the experiments of the HUBES-94 and SFINCSS-99 programs [8–10]. Proceeding from this, according to a preliminary hypothesis, the communicative behavior in an autonomous small group should be determined, on the one hand, by increased social needs of a person, and, on the other hand, by their personal characteris- tics and psychophysiological state under extreme hab- itat conditions. Earlier, the ability to arbitrarily self-regulate the emotional state was identified as a leading individual psychological property determining successful adap- tation to autonomous conditions and accomplishing the tasks of the expedition [11]. It is shown that sub- jects with the ability to arbitrarily self-regulate their state under conditions simulating the main extreme factors of space flight demonstrate greater resistance to stress and a higher level of mental performance [12].