Interactive Interest-Based Negotiation Training For Managing Conflict In Isolated Environments: Opportunistic (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The ability to negotiate effectively while maintaining relationships is critical for successful long-duration space missions. Traditional positional bargaining may work for simple, low-stakes transactions but does not prioritize ongoing relationships. Interest-based negotiation (IBN), where parties with competing interests and/or goals join to create a mutually beneficial agreement, is crucial in these situations and is a learnable skill. OBJECTIVE Develop and test an interactive module than can effectively teach the principles and skills of IBN. METHODS Using a web-based, interactive-media-approach, we scripted, filmed, and programmed an IBN interactive training module. This module was provided to individuals with diverse backgrounds for evaluation, including a subset of 9 subjects in isolated and confined environments (ICEs) in the Australian Antarctic Program and the HI-SEAS Mars simulation, as well as a subset of people who self-identified as being in ICE during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feedback was collected (n=54) through free-response and numerical scaling (0/strongly disagree -> 4/strongly agree). RESULTS 94% of participants found the activity valuable for learning about conflict management (identified by those who selected either ‘somewhat agree’ or ‘strongly agree’), including 100% of participants in the ICE subset (mode=3). 79% of all participants found the module realistic (mode=3), including 67% of ICE participants (mode=3). Most participants felt this would be valuable to new team members in an isolated and confined environment (85% of all participants, mode=4; 78% of ICE subset, mode=3) as well as veterans. CONCLUSIONS This module offers a self-directed, consistent approach to IBN training, which is well received by users. The module could be useful for individuals in ICEs, and/or anyone involved in high-stakes negotiations where sustaining relationships is essential.