The original diaries of 13 members of British polar expeditions of the Heroic Age (mid-19th to early 20th century) were subjected to content analysis. Entries were categorized into 5 areas: the physical and social environments and their effects, positive and negative affective appraisals of the experience, and altered states of consciousness. Individual words were rated on pleasantness and arousal. Antarctic explorers showed more negative responses than did Arctic expeditioners, but there were many positive as well as negative experiences in both polar regions. Surprisingly, the least stressful phase of the journeys was the polar midwinter. Arousal and tension were high during the trip from home port to the polar base, and just before beginning the voyage home. The authors conclude that the polar experience was not generally aversive or stressful, and that the popular bias to the contrary is at least partly a result of overgeneralization, dramatization, and cognitive assimilation.
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