Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory Submarine Base , Groton , Conn

Exploratory in nature, this study was designed to identify some of the personality trait configurations and attitude change patterns related to individual differences in cold coping capacity (CCC). Three enlisted marines participated in a week-long cold weather North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) combat exercise in upper Norway. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered prior to the exercise. Designed to measure the attitudes and expectancies associated with exposure to cold, a 50-item Cold Exposure Attitude Scale (CEAS) was administered to the 3 subjects before and after the exercise. The results showed that attitudes related to the perceived disorganization of the mission and its justification changed most negatively. On the other hand, attitudes regarding the encumbrance of cold weather gear and risk to health changed the most in a positive direction. Based upon selected patterns of MMPI scores, 2 of the subjects were assumed to typify persons with low and high cold coping capacity (CCC). Arguing at least for preliminary validity for this typology were significantly (5% level) different patterns of CEAS item changes (preand postcold exposure) for the two types. The results of the study suggest novel methodological approaches to analyzing "cold" data and, at the same time, provide some plausible hypotheses as to possible trait configurations predictive of individual differences in CCC.