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Gravity’s Influence on Human Motivation

Stephanie Schoss,Oliver Ullrich,J. Clervoy,David J. Scheffer

Published 2023 in Aerospace

ABSTRACT

Earth’s mass generates a definitive Earth-vertical reference, shaping life’s evolution. Notably, these gravity models influence self-perception and the first-person viewpoint in the CNS, tied to bodily self-awareness and spatial orientation. Transitioning from Earth’s constant gravity to microgravity potentially disrupts the CNS’s gravity-representation models, formed since birth. Our study explored if altered gravity triggers emotional and motivational responses in rapid CNS adaptations. A psychological parallel between Earth’s gravity and attachment systems in infants and adults is proposed. We measured implicit motives through vocal interactions during demanding tasks, finding that disrupted gravity impacts the implicit affiliation motive, i.e., the subconscious need to restore bonding as soon there are signals that this attachment or “gravitational” field is disrupted. As expected, this implicit need for attachment was significantly higher in the groups which experienced disrupted gravity. Causation remains unverifiable due to exploratory design.

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