Personality characteristics and trait clusters in final stage astronaut selection.

Abstract

These analyses suggest that the "Right Stuff," "Wrong Stuff" and "No Stuff" clusters originally described in airline pilots and other high performance groups also exist within this population. Consistent with findings from other high performance populations, men and women tend to differ to a lesser extent than found in the general population, particularly on traits related to achievement motivation. Personality trait testing did not predict which applicants were most likely to be accepted into the astronaut corps.