The Volunteers

A total of 14 individuals volunteered to live in relative psychosocial isolation for 6 months in an attempt to emulate the life-style of the 1820 English settlers in South Africa. Throughout this period, the newly formed community was monitored by a television camera crew. This study explored personal orientation changes over time through an administration of the Personal Orientation Inventory—a psychometric measure of 12 dimensions of self-actualization—on two separate occasions: immedi ately before the start of the "experiment" and 1 month prior to its termination. Significant change was found on the self-acceptance dimension only. This article outlines apparent dynamics of the group and explores possible reasonsfor the general lack of detected significant change in values and behavior. Trends in reorientation are also examined .