Personal Experiences and Team Effectiveness During a Commemorative Trek in the High Arctic

In: Environment and behavior: eb ; publ. in coop. with the Environmental Design Research Association, Band 36, Heft 3, S. 386-401

Abstract

Three participants, a male leader and a married couple, carried out a 46-day expedition in the Canadian High Arctic, retracing the exploratory route followed by Otto Sverdrup 100 years earlier. The group departed from an ice-locked boat in the Arctic, at which site they had lived andworked together for a 9-month period. Participants completed a Weekly Rating Form assessing personal, interpersonal, and work performance factors. All team members rated mood, satisfaction with the expedition, group camaraderie, and enjoyment of the environment consistently high over six of the seven weekly rating periods. Participants showed some differences but generally gave high ratings on group efficiency over the course of the expedition. Weather conditions at Week 7 and ensuing delays in airplane pickup were associated with a tendency to direct frustration and anger to external sources of decision control.