You'd think someone who can carry a conversation would be nice to have along on a three-year mission to Mars, but according to a recent study that's exactly the person you don't want along for the ride.
The report finds that people of chatty nature, seeing as they would likely be more extroverted, would be deemed more disturbing and demanding of attention and not be suitable candidates for a job that entails confined and secluded environments over a long duration.
The study, conducted by researchers at DePaul University in Chicago, found that a person that is always willing to talk could actually become irritating to other crew members on a lengthy space mission.
"You're talking about a very tiny vehicle, where people are in very isolated, very confined spaces," explained Suzanne Bell an associate professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago and lead researcher on the study. "Extroverts have a little bit of a tough time in that situation."
Bell agreed that the results of the study run counter to qualities you may want for other occupations as those that are socially extroverted tend to be sociable and more likely to have a positive influence in a team work setting.
In one experiment conducted in the study involving spacecraft simulation, researchers reported that two more reserved team members actually ostracized an extroverted team member.
"They thought he was too brash, and would speak his mind too much, and talk too much," Bell said.
She added that their research found that extroverts may have a hard time adjusting to environments where there's little opportunity for new activities or social interactions.
"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," added another researcher on the study, Shanique Brown. "And there won't be that much to do -- things become monotonous after a while, and you're seeing the same people."
Despite the finding, researchers on the study weren't ruling out the possibility of extroverts at some point heading out on missions in space. The research team at DePaul will be conducting more specific studies to examine how extroverts fare on space exploration teams and whether they can be given certain kinds of training that could help prevent problems the report uncovered.
