To meet the individual's need for privacy, we must understand what this need entails and which events or conditions most threaten privacy in space. Confined individuals have shown a penchant for oversharing personal information, suggesting that this is an area requiring particular attention for spaceflight. Generally, it has been observed that friends commit fewer privacy violations than new acquaintances. Similarly, we know that when one is with friends, space limits are perceived as less pressing than when one is with strangers. If these findings are verified in the confinement of space, it suggests that established relationships would transfer well to spaceflight.
Preliminary data indicate that women adjust more favorably to a crowded environment than men.
However, there is also the suggestion that, over time, women suffer more from crowding than men. These studies require verification and extension. Perceptions of crowding have been found to relate to certain personality characteristics. We need to explore more fully just which personality characteristics are most predictive of spatial demands and how these characteristics relate to other requirements of spaceflight. An interesting question concerns the possibility of training individuals for privacy regulation in space.