handouts9

Lecture9Culture Shock

DEFINING CULTURE SHOCK

Culture shock is a mental state that comes fr om the tr ansition that occurs when you go fr om a familiar envir onment to an unfamiliar one and find that your old,established patter ns of behavior are ineffective.61The ter m“culture shock”was first intr oduced in1960by the anthr opologist Kalver o Ober g.In the following par agr aph,he offer s a detailed definition and account of this phenomenon:

Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that r esults fr om losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social inter cour se.These signs or cues include the thousand and one ways in which

we orient ourselves to the situation of daily life:how to give or der s,how to make pur chases,when and wher e not to r espond.Now these cues,which may be wor ds,gestur es,facial expr essions, customs,or nor ms,are acquir ed by all of us in the cour se of gr owing up and ar e as much a part of our cultur e as the language we speak or the beliefs we accept.All of us depend for our peace of mind and efficiency on hundr eds of these cues,most of which we ar e not consciously awar e[of]. While Ober g’s definition is important because it was the first,it fails to mention that cultur e shock also involves a powerful disr uption of one’s r outines,ego,and self image.These feelings not only apply to sojour ner s,businesspersons,students,gover nment employees,and immigrants,but,as Br islin notes,can“be experienced by individuals who have face-to-face contact with out-gr oup members within their own cultur e.”64

REACTIONS TO CULTURE SHOCK

The reactions associated with cultur e shock var y among individuals and can appear at differ ent times.For example,the per son who is constantly encountering other cultur es might experience a mild and brief anxiety period.Cultur e shock,says Smith,can spawn a host of r eactions that have the potential to cr eate pr oblems.At the ver y least,cultur e shock can cause you to feel“out of sorts,”“fatigued,”and“not wholly in the moment.”65

Accor ding to Ryan and Twibell,cultur e shock causes str essors that demand r eadjustment befor e you can adapt to new surr oundings.These stressors may include communication pr oblems, mechanical and envir onmental differences,isolation,and the experiencing of different customs, attitudes,and beliefs.These stressors can lead to a variety of individual r eactions.66For your benefi t,we have listed some of the r eactions you may feel while adjusting to a new culture.We should add that this list is not intended to over whelm you or make you appr ehensive about venturing into another cultur e,but r ather to help you be pr epared when you experience some of these r eactions.67

?Antagonism towar d the new envir onment

?A sense of disorientation

?Feelings of r ejection

?Upset stomach and headaches

?Homesickness

?Missing friends and family

?Feeling a loss of status and influence

?Withdr awal

?Per ceiving members of the host culture to be insensitive

THE STAGES OF CULTURE SHOCK(THE U-CURVE)

Although ther e are variations in both how people r espond to culture shock,and the amount of time they need to adjust,most of the liter atur e in the ar ea of cultur e shock suggests that people normally go thr ough four stages.We should fir st mention that the veins separ ating the stages ar e almost impossible to see—that is to say,the tr ansition fr om one stage to another is not as clear-cut as our description might imply.You should view the stages as a U-shaped cur ve.“The U-cur ve depicts the initial optimism and elation in the host culture,the subsequent dip in the level of adaptation, and the following gr adual recover y.”68We will examine these four stages in mor e detail to give you a better understand of the complex culture shock pr ocess.

Excitement Phase.

The first phase,visualized as the top of the left side of the U-cur ve,is usually filled with excitement,hopefulness,and a sense of euphoria as the individual anticipates being exposed to a new culture.Mar x offers an excellent r eview of how this fir st phase might be perceived by someone undertaking an inter national management assignment:

The new life is viewed as pr oviding endless opportunities and the manager is usually in a state of exhilaration.Ther e is openness and curiosity,combined with a r eadiness to accept whatever comes. Most importantly,at this stage judgment is r eser ved and even minor irr itations ar e suppr essed in favor of concentrating on the nice things about the job,the countr y,the colleagues,the food,etc.69 Disenchantment Phase.

This second phase begins when you r ecognize the r eality of the new setting70and some initial pr oblems begin to develop.For example,adaptation and communication difficulties begin to emer ge.As Triandis notes,“The second phase is a period when difficulties of language,inadequate schools for the children,poor housing,cr owded tr anspor tation,chaotic shopping,and the like begin taking their toll.”71Dodd adds that this phase is often mar ked by feelings of disappointment, discontent,and that ever ything is awful.72It is the crisis period of cultur e shock.People become confused and baffled by their new surr oundings.This fr ustr ation can make them easily ir ritated, hostile,impatient,angr y,and even incompetent.In extreme cases these uncomfortable feelings “can bor der on hating ever ything for eign.”73

Beginning Resolution Phase.

The thir d phase is char acterized by gaining some under standing of the new cultur e.Her e the person is gr adually making some adjustments and modifications in how he or she is coping with the new cultur e.Events and people now seem much mor e pr edictable and less str essful.

Effective Functioning Phase.

In this final phase,at the top of the right side of the U-cur ve,the person now understands the key elements of the new cultur e(values,special customs,beliefs,communication patter ns,etc.).At this stage,Ryan and Twibell r epor t,people feel comfor table in the new cultur e and ar e able to function with some degr ee of success.74One’s ability to live and function within two cultur es(the old and the new)is fr equently accompanied by feelings of elation and satisfaction.

Some resear chers suggest that ther e is also a kind of reverse cultur e shock that takes place when people r etur n home.As Har ris and Mor an note,“Having objectively per ceived his or her cultur e fr om abr oad,one can have a sever e and sustained jolt thr ough r eentr y shock.”75Expatriates often

arrive home missing the new friends they made while over seas.Some bemoan the loss of prestige associated with for eign assignments.

When this happens,the r etur nee experiences the same four phases of adjustment we discussed in the U-cur ve.This gives rise to the term“W-cur ve,”because it joins two U-cur ves together.

THE LESSONS OF CULTURE SHOCK

Our discussion of cultur e shock was pr edicated on two pr emises.First,each year millions of people go abr oad to wor k,tr avel,and study.Second,many of those experiences end up pr oducing str ess,homesickness,and confusion.Although we have placed the topic of cultur e shock under the categor y of“pr oblems,”we would be r emiss if we concluded our discussion without emphasizing the idea that cultur e shock can be an explicit lear ning experience.In fact,as Adler notes,“Sever e cultur e shock is often a positive sign indicating that the expatriate is becoming deeply involved in the new cultur e instead of r emaining isolated in an expatriate ghetto.”76This involvement helps people lear n about themselves and,at the same time,other cultur es.In a study examining cultur e shock,Kawano concluded that cultur e shock“gives the sojour ners a chance to lear n about themselves.In this sense exper iencing cultur e shock has a str ong potential to make people be multicultur al or bicultur al.”77

Beyond Culture Shock

Today,widespr ead immigr ation and the movement and r elocation of millions of refugees ar e established facts.These people ar e faced with the monumental task of adapting to nearly all aspects of a new cultur e—and for a long period of time,per haps permanently.

This impact and the importance of having to adapt to a new cultur e ar e clearly articulated by Kosic and Phalet:Inter national migr ation cr eates culturally and ethnically diverse societies.As people fr om differ ent cultures inter act with each other,they face not only differ ent belief systems,values, customs,and behavior s,but unfortunately also pr ejudice towar ds each other.It seems that social r elationships between immigrants and local populations often lack cohesion and sometimes show str ong antagonism or even r acism under neath an outwar d appear ance of tolerance.In political and public debates,immigr ants are often depicted as tr ouble-maker s.78

Many of these newcomer s exper ience significant difficulty while adapting to the host cultur e.As Mak,Westwood,Ishiyama,and Bar ker point out,“Newcomer s may not be ready to lear n and pr actice social behaviors appr opriate to the new cultur e in the initial period of settlement.It is not unusual for r ecent arrivals to be overwhelmed by the immediate demands and challenges in orienting to living in a new place.”79Thus,the pr oblems facing anyone tr ying to adapt to a new and often quite differ ent cultur e ar e numer ous.

During the initial adjustment period,new ar rivals will most likely experience the fear s and feelings of isolation,being disliked,and distr ust we described earlier as cultur e shock.80A r eview of some of the r easons behind these feelings is an excellent fir st step in developing the skills needed to adjust to a new cultur e.

ACCULTURATION:ADJUSTING TO A NEW CULTURE

Acculturation,as you might guess,is the pr ocess of lear ning to live in a new cultur e.Ber r y defines accultur ation as“the dual pr ocess of cultur al and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between two or mor e cultur al gr oups and their individual members....At the

individual level it involves changes in a person’s behavior al r epertoir e.”81This pr ocess of adjustment is a lengthy pr ocess that r equir es gaining a lar ge body of useful knowledge about the new cultur e.

As you have seen thr oughout this book,gathering a fund of knowledge about another cultur e takes a variety of forms,ranging fr om the appar ent to the subtle.For example,it should be evident to you that lear ning the language of the host cultur e will pr oduce positive r esults.Now let us tur n our attention to a few issues and str ategies that will expedite and facilitate the adaptation pr ocess.We will fir st examine the issues of language,disequilibrium,and ethnocentrism.

Language.

It is obvious that someone living in a new culture“must meet the challenges of language bar rier s, unfamiliar customs and practices,and cultur al var iations in ver bal and nonver bal communication styles in or der to achieve successful understanding.”82

Noting this diffi culty,Ralph Waldo Emerson once wr ote,“No man should tr avel until he has lear ned the language of the countr y he visits.Other wise he makes himself a gr eat baby—so helpless and so ridiculous.”This pr oblem is frequently seen among long-term sojour ner s and immigr ants to the United States who have not master ed English.They experience social isolation and ar e,as Leong and Chou note,for ced“into fields that r equire less master y of English language and less inter per sonal inter action.”83

When we talk of pr oblems associated with being exposed to a new language,we ar e talking about two ideas:language acquisition and the ways of speaking unique to the new cultur e.Both of these can delay the adaptation pr ocess.Har per summarizes this view when she notes,“Lack of language skills is a str ong barrier to effective cultur al adjustment and communication,wher eas lack of knowledge concer ning the ways of speaking of a particular gr oup will r educe the level of understanding that we can achieve with our counter parts.”84People tr ying to adjust to and inter act with a new cultur e must face challenges associated not only with lear ning an additional language but also with the unique cultur al patter ns found within each language.As we demonstr ated cultur al variations in the use of language can mean many things,fr om the use of idioms,to differ ent r ules for tur n taking,to linguistic ways of showing r espect.If you cannot lear n the host cultur e’s language,then you should at least tr y to master some of its basics,such as gr eeting behavior s, pr oper polite r esponses,and wor ds that deal with public tr anspor tation and shopping for food and other necessities.

Disequilibrium.

Successful adaptation demands a certain level of knowledge about the host culture and r equires you to make cor r ect choices r egar ding that knowledge.Those choices can include ever ything fr om lear ning pr oper gr eeting behaviors(such as bowing,shaking hands,or hugging)to deciding about eating utensils(such as chopsticks,knives and for ks,or fi nger s).Accor ding to Kim,sojour ners ar e,“at least temporarily,in a state of disequilibrium,which is manifested in many emotional‘lows’of uncer tainty,confusion,and anxiety.”85

The disequilibr ium associated with adaptation r aises two conflicting issues:(1)a r elative pr efer ence for maintaining one’s native cultur e and identity,and(2)a r elative pr efer ence for having contact with and inter acting with member s of the host cultur e.86These conflicting issues lead to four forms of coping for the sojour ner moving into a new cultur e.These r ange fr om full acceptance of the new cultur e to almost total r ejection.

The first,assimilation,occur s when immigr ants no longer wish to maintain their native cultur al

identity and seek to become absor bed into the host society.The second is separ ation,which occur s when immigr ants value holding on to their native cultur e,tur n their backs on inter action with the host culture,and tur n inwar d towar d their native cultur e.The thir d form,integr ation,occurs when sojour ners have an inter est in maintaining their native cultur e during daily inter actions with people fr om the host culture.In this situation,some degr ee of the sojour ner s’native cultur e is maintained, while they simultaneously tr y to function as an integral member of their host cultur e’s social networ k.The final form is mar ginalization,which occur s wher e there is little possibility of maintaining one’s native cultur al heritage(often due to for ced cultur al loss)or little interest in having r elations with others(often for r easons of exclusion or discrimination).87As you can see, the fi rst thr ee forms of coping ar e gener ally elective on the part of the immigrant.The str ategy of mar ginalization,however,is gener ally beyond the choice of the individual and is a r esult of uncontr ollable exter nal for ces.

Ethnocentrism.

Bar riers to accultur ation often spring up because of ethnocentrism,leading to prejudice,which in tur n r esults in mistr ust,hostility,and even hate.88What is inter esting about ethnocentrism is that it affects both the immigrant and the host cultur e.Accor ding to Gouttefar de,members of the host cultur e also experience many of the adaptation symptoms associated with the sojour ner:feelings of anxiety,fear,depr ession,ineptitude,and fatigue.89This can lead to member s of the host cultur e passing judgment on outsider s while the person tr ying to adapt cannot,or will not,expunge his or her native cultur e.The key to effective adaptation is for both parties to r ecognize the str ong pull of ethnocentr ism and attempt to keep it in check.

Stress-Adaptation-Growth Dynamic.

In mor e r ecent wor k,Kim has developed a theor etical model that paints the cultur al adjustment pr ocess as being mor e complex than the U-and W-cur ve models of cultur e shock that we discussed ear lier.She sees adjustment as a pr ocess of“str ess-adaptation-gr owth.”Fr om this perspective,upon entering the new cultur e the sojour ner encounter s str ess as a r esult of developing a diminished ability to function normally.That is,he or she becomes str essed when confr onted with new and differ ent ways of dealing with daily life.To r educe the str ess,the sojour ner develops and incor porates new cultur al nor ms r equir ed to function normally and ther eby begins adaptation to the new envir onment.Thr ough continual experience of stress-adaptation,the individual’s perspectives br oaden,r esulting in per sonal gr owth.The three components of str ess-adaptation-gr owth constitute a dynamic pr ocess.90Accor ding to Kim:

The stress-adaptation-gr owth dynamic plays out not in a smooth linear pr ogression,but in a cyclic and continual“dr aw-back-to-leap”r epr esentation of the pr esent articulation of the inter relationship among stress,adaptation,and gr owth.Str angers r espond to each str essful exper ience by“dr awing back,”which in tur n activates adaptive ener gy to help them reor ganize themselves and“leap for war d.”...The pr ocess is continuous as long as ther e ar e new envir onmental challenges.91

To conclude our discussion of adapting to a foreign cultur e,we offer sever al useful strategies you may employ to ease your adjustment to your new cultur e.

ADAPTATION STRATEGIES

Make Personal Contact with the Host Culture.

Dir ect contact with the host cultur e pr omotes and facilitates successful adaptation to a new cultur e. Begley accentuates the importance of dir ect contact when she notes,“Although insight and

knowledge can be gained thr ough prior inter cultural study,additional pr actical wisdom is attained thr ough ever yday conversations with people fr om other cultures.”92Making friends is an excellent means of developing contacts within the host cultur e.In fact,studies point out“that having friends among the nationals of the host countr y,r ather than having contacts only with fellow expatriates,is an important determinant of satisfaction.”93At the same time,it is important to have periodic inter action with other expatriates so you can shar e pr oblems and solutions and find a degr ee of comfort in speaking your native language.

Learn About the Host Culture.

One of the major themes of this book has been the notion that developing a fund of knowledge about other cultur es is a useful first step towar d impr oving inter cultural communication. Adaptation becomes less tr oublesome if you become awar e of the fundamental characteristics of the cultur e in which you will be living.Chen and Star osta note,“Cultur e awar eness r efer s to an understanding of one’s own and other s’cultur es that affect how people think and behave.This includes understanding commonalities of human behavior and differ ences in cultural patter ns.”94 We ur ge you,therefor e,to lear n about the cultur e’s r eligious orientation,political system,key values and beliefs,ver bal and nonver bal behavior s,family or ganization,social etiquette,and the like.

Participate in Cultural Activities.

An excellent way to lear n about a new culture is to be an active participant in that cultur e.Attend social,r eligious,and cultural events.If possible,tr y to inter act with members of the host cultur e while attending these events.

In most instances,member s of the host cultur e will welcome the opportunity to lear n about your cultur e while they ar e sharing their s with you.