ABSTRACT
Psychological adaptation in isolated, confined, and extreme environments plays an important role in the achievement of performance and wellbeing. Whereas empirical research has been fruitful in determining the antecedents of psychological adaptation, opportunities remain to identify and apply new constructs through which psychological adaptation can grow. In the current study, we explored the possibility that one such construct is individual self-leadership. Participants were eight Antarctic scientists enrolled in the 2021–2022 summer campaign in the South Shetland Islands, under considerable COVID-19 restrictions during that period. Data were collected on three occasions and analysed through a mixed-method approach where qualitative and quantitative evidence were integrated. Overall, the results indicated that the self-imposed quarantine pre-deployment period in Punta Arenas had a heavy toll on expeditioners mental health, with the psychological adaptation and self-leadership of expeditioners being positively correlated across the campaign. The implications of our findings, as well possible future research directions, are discussed. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-related measures have impacted the lives and work-related activities of Antarctic researchers. To explore these impacts, we designed, piloted and disseminated an online survey in English, Russian, Spanish and Chinese in late 2020 and early 2021. The survey explored how the pandemic affected the productivity of Antarctic researchers, their career prospects and their mental wellbeing. Findings exposed patterns of inequities. For instance, of the 406 unique responses to the survey, women appeared to have been affected more adversely than men, especially in relation to mental health, and early-career researchers were disadvantaged more than their mid- or late-career colleagues. Overall, a third of the research participants reported at least one major negative impact from the pandemic on their mental health. Approximately half of the participants also mentioned that the COVID-19 pandemic had some positive effects, especially in terms of the advantages that working from home brought and opportunities to attend events, network or benefit from training workshops online. We conclude with a series of recommendations for science administrators and policymakers to mitigate the most serious adverse impacts of the pandemic on Antarctic research communities, with implications for other contexts where scientific activities are conducted under extreme circumstances.
ABSTRACT
The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted an ongoing phenomenon: Virtual Teams (VTs) are now a ubiquitous feature of organizations. This undeniable transformation of the way individuals and teams work brings challenges for vital team processes, including coordination, information exchange, and interpersonal relationships, as well as for many other fundamental aspects, such as leadership or emotional exchanges. Understanding the specificity of Virtual teams is the reason behind this Special Section. We aim at pushing research on virtual teams forward, by widening theoretical frameworks that explore the experience of teamworking virtually. In this editorial, we introduce the collected papers highlighting their contributions, and describe four avenues to shape future research on VTs, motivated by those papers.
ABSTRACT
The global outbreak of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) disease is affecting every part of human lives. Several researchers investigated to understand how temperature, humidity and air pollution had an influence on COVID-19 transmission. Transmission of COVID-19 due to temperature and humidity is a pertinent question. There is a lack of study of Covid-19 in tropical climate countries. This study aims to analyze the correlation between weather and Covid-19 pandemic in Brasília and Manaus, two states of Brazil. The research topic is important to know how the climate affects or predisposes the spread of COVID-19. This knowledge will provide elements to decision-makers regarding health and public health standards and decisions. This study employed a secondary data analysis of surveillance data of Covid-19 from the Ministry of Health of Brazil and weather from the National Institute of Meteorology of Brazil. These are Brazilian public organizations that, on a daily basis, record this information on a systematic basis of dates. They are central federal organizations, responsible for data analysis and public policy planning to combat Covid-19. The data are reliables and obtained from reliable government sources. We systematically record all information for 51 days, during a period of high disease growth in the country. The components of weather include low temperature (°C), high temperature (°C), temperature average (°C), humidity (%), and amount of rainfall (mm). Pearson-rank correlation test showed that high temperature (r=.643;p<.001), low temperature (r=.640;p<.001) and humidity (r=.248;p<.005) were significantly correlated with deaths caused by Covid-19 pandemic used for data analysis. Social isolation rate (β = -.254;p<.001) and daily record of new cases (β =.332;p<.001), with adjusted R-squared of.623, were the predictors of deaths acummuled by Covid-19. The finding serves as an input to reduce the incidence rate of Covid-19 in Brazil. Statistical results show evidence of the relationship between climate elements and COVID-19 indicators, such as the number of deaths, spread of contamination and social isolation rate. The study of dimensions of climate as a seasonal pattern and its relationship to COVID-19 benefits epidemiological surveillance. The more geographic spaces are known, more will help to understand the differences in disease behavior in different places. The results of this research showed that environmental conditions influence the contagion and speed of transmission of Covid-19. Policies that contribute to benefits to health and sustainability need to be planned. The contribution of climate and other factors, such as air pollution, for example, require additional studies. Environmental changes, such as climate change and biodiversity, must also be investigated for their impact on human health. Acting in prevention, including the promotion of socially acceptable behaviors on the part of the population, seems to be the best way to deal with Covid-19. © 2021 Instituto de Geografia. All rights reserved.