Simulation discovers what personality traits you would need to go to Mars

If the thought of jetting off to Mars to live doesn’t scare you enough, imagine what it would be like going with people whose personalities you cannot stand.

To avoid that happening, scientists have come up with a simulation that can determine the right and, importantly, wrong, personality types to send up to colonize Mars.

28 different simulations of colonies on Mars were run as part of the study to establish which type of people stood the best chance of settlement and survival. While the study was published on pre-print server arXiv, it had not yet been peer-reviewed.

The study worked on the assumption that there would already be some kind of infrastructure in place, including power, food, air and water being locally produced and available. As part of the model, there would also be regular supply deliveries from Earth.

Those behind the simulation gave each agent their own attributes, skills and personalities and let the simulation run as they interacted, socialised and problem-solved together.

In the paper, the researchers explained: “Each agent is granted skills associated with their civilian and military occupational specialities consistent with NASA’s Human Factors and Behavioral Performance Element research.”

Different personality types included:

• “Agreeables” – they score low on levels of competitiveness and aggression.
• “Neurotics” – these people are highly aggressive, competitive, and are much less able to handle routine change or boredom.
• “Reactives” – they tend to have a “competitive interpersonal orientation”.
• “Socials” – people who are extroverted and require a lot of social interaction.

As for the groups themselves, the numbers within each simulation differed with the lowest amount being 22 individuals.

The study found that the presence of neurotics made the team have a worse chance of survival and that these people in particular “suffered during life on the colony”.

The researchers: “Martians with the neurotic psychology and a high coping capacity benefit the least from interaction with other Martians, and are penalized the most if they have a low coping capacity.

“Our results suggest that this effect is a driver of the Martian population decline, and once minimized or removed, can produce a stable settlement.”

A lot to process there if you identify as neurotic.

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