culture shock

Abstract

In recent years, international communication has become a common phenomenon because of the trend of globalization. This makes culture shock start to be experienced by more people and causes growing concern. This project takes the negative effects of culture shock into account and pays attention to how to minimize psychological discomfort when entering new cultural patterns. First of all, the introduction of culture shock and the negative impact of culture shock are given. Next, it describes the process of understanding the four phases of culture shock. Finally, this paper justifies the preferred choice of solution. Considering that character and disposition may be various among different people, it is found that in order to attain satisfactory results, choosing appropriate methods and reducing psychological stress to the controllable level are very important. This may be helpful for people who are experiencing culture shock to keep a healthy psychology.

1.      The introduction of Culture Shock and its negative impact

a.      Defenition of culture shock

Each society has its own beliefs, attitudes, customs, behaviors and social habits. These give people a sense of who they are, how they should behave, and what they should not do. These “rules” reflect the “culture” of a country.

            People become conscious of such rules when they meet people from different cultures. For example, in some cultures, being on time can mean turning up several hours late for an appointment, even for a business meeting. Also, the rules about when to eat vary from one culture to another. Many North Americans and Europeans are used to having three mealtimes a day and organize their timetable around them. In some countries, on the other hand, people often do not have strict rules like these people eat when they want to, and every family has its own timetable.

            When people visit or live in a country for the first time, they are often surprise at the differences that exist between their own culture and culture in the other country. The common way of comparing two cultures is in terms of their differences-not their similarities. For some people, traveling abroad is an exciting experience; for others though, cultural differences make them feel uncomfortable, frightened, or even insecure. This is known as ”cultural shock ”.

It appears that all people may experience culture shock when they encounter other circumstances which are dissimilar to their former cultural contexts. For expatriates, this change or unfamiliarity makes them fail to understand the ideology and behaviour of local people so that they do not know why those people behave as they do and how they themselves should behave. When these people lose all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse, they have to try to adapt themselves to different lifestyles, living conditions and business practices in a new cultural setting. However, this is a long term and difficult process. In this condition, feelings of alienation accumulate sharply because of poor adaptation.

Consequentially, culture shock occurs, followed by a series of psychological confusion and emotional discomfort (Hess, 1994). and people often feel a strong need to explain their opinions in detail. Verbal language plays the most important role in communication, while nonverbal language such as body language and facial expression are secondary. However, high-context cultures are opposite. In most areas of Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, people usually focus less on what is being said, and nonverbal cues are significant methods of communication (Mitchell, 2000). It appears that all people may experience culture shock when they encounter other circumstances which are dissimilar to their former cultural contexts. For expatriates, this change or unfamiliarity makes them fail to understand the ideology and behaviour of local people so that they do not know why those people behave as they do and how they themselves should behave. When these people lose all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse, they have to try to adapt themselves to different lifestyles, living conditions and business practices in a new cultural setting. However, this is a long term and difficult process. In this condition, feelings of alienation accumulate sharply because of poor adaptation. Consequentially, culture shock occurs, followed by a series of psychological confusion and emotional discomfort (Hess, 1994).

b.      Negative impact

Change may cause stress. When people encounter a new culture and experience culture shock, change and unfamiliarity influences their own psychological adjustment and participation in a cultural environment. This psychological confusion and emotional discomfort usually causes a tremendous amount of psychological stress (Eschbach et al, 2001). The negative impact of culture shock on individual psychology often includes a large and diverse set of symptoms. Although not everyone will experience all the symptoms, almost all people will experience some parts. The major symptoms may be described as depression, anxiety and feelings of helplessness (Mio, 1999). If depression, anxiety and feelings of helplessness accumulate, the degree and extent of psychological disorientation may be deeper and deeper so that people may have difficulties in paying attention to the learning of new cultures. Moreover, psychological disorientation may influence people’s abilities to solve problems and to make decisions. This decreases the motivation for adapting to the new conditions. Most important is that when people fail to defeat the symptoms of culture shock, they are likely to become hostile to host nationals, which may lead to a handicap of interpersonal relationship (Ferraro, 2006). Therefore it appears that dealing with psychological stress caused by culture shock such as depression, anxiety and feelings of helplessness is significant for those people who come into contact with a new culture.

2.      Understanding the process of four phases of culture shock

It has four phases, and each stage can appear only at certain times and show different features.

a.      Honeymoon phase

During this period, the differences between the old and new culture are seen in a romantic light, wonderful and new. For example, in moving to a new country, an individual might love the new foods, the pace of the life, the people's habits, the buildings and so on. During the first few weeks, most people are fascinated by the new culture. They associate with the nationals that speak their language and are polite to the foreigners. This period is full of observations and new discoveries. Like most honeymoon periods, this stage eventually ends.^[3] "When an individual sets out to study, live or work in a new country, he or she will invariably experience difficulties with language, housing, friends, school, work..."

b.      Negotiation phase

After some time (usually three months but sometimes sooner or later, depending on the individual), differences between the old and new culture become apparent and may create anxiety. Excitement may eventually give way to unpleasant feelings of frustration and anger as one continues to experience unfavorable events that may be perceived as strange and offensive to one's cultural attitude. Language barriers, stark differences in public hygiene, traffic safety, food accessibility and quality may heighten the sense of disconnection from the surroundings.^[4]

While being transferred into a different environment puts special pressure on communication skills, there are practical difficulties to overcome, such as circadian rhythm disruption that often leads to insomnia and daylight drowsiness; adaptation of gut flora to different bacteria levels and concentrations in food and water; difficulty in seeking treatment for illness, as medicines may have different names from the native country's and the same active ingredients might be hard to recognize.

Still, the most important change in the period is communication: those people who are adjusting to a new culture would feel lonely and homesick because they must get used to the new environment and meet people with whom they are not familiar every day. The language barrier may become a major obstacle in creating new relationships: special attention must be paid to one's and others' culture-specific body language signs, linguistic faux pas, conversation tone, linguistic nuances and customs, and false friends.

Due to the strain of living in a different country without parental support, some students might develop additional symptoms of loneliness, ultimately affecting the lifestyle as a whole. International students therefore often feel anxious and have a higher pressure in adjusting to the new cultures. This is even more valid when the cultural distance is wide, as logical and speech patterns are different and a special emphasis is put on rhetorics.

c.       Adjustment phase

Again, after some time (usually 6 to 12 months), one grows accustomed to the new culture and develops routines. One knows what to expect in most situations and the host country no longer feels all that new. One becomes concerned with basic living again, and things become more "normal". One starts to develop problem-solving skills for dealing with the culture, and begins to accept the culture ways with a positive attitude. The culture begins to make sense, and negative reactions and responses to the culture are reduced.

d.      Mastery phase

In the mastery stage assignees are able to participate fully and comfortably in the host culture. Mastery does not mean total conversion; people often keep many traits from their earlier culture, such as accents and languages. It is often referred to as the biculturalism stage.

The four phases of culture shock suggest that adaptation to a new culture is a chronic process, so how to shorten the time of adjust to the new conditions is very helpful for those people who face a new cultural pattern. It appears that becoming familiar with the new environment before departing may be the best method to attain this goal. The main reason is that it can provide an intellectual tool for better understanding why other individuals or groups of people are similar or different. Through the familiarity with the new culture, people can imagine many possible obstacles they will encounter. This makes new surroundings become more acceptable and easier to adjust to (Ferraro, 2006). Therefore, being familiar with a new culture may be considered as the second solution to reduce the negative impact of culture shock on individual psychology.

3.      The solution of culture shock

Here are several things to do in order to avoid culture shock.

1.      Avoid quick judgements; try to understand people in another culture from their own point of view

2.      Become more aware of what is going on around you, and why

3.      Don’t think of your cultural habits as “right”and other people’s as “wrong”

4.      Be willing to try new things and to have new experiences

5.      Try to appreciate and understand other people’s values

6.      Think about your own and how it influences your attitudes and actoins

7.      Avoid having negative stereotypes about foreigners and their cultures

8.      Shoe respect, sincerity, interest, acceptance, and concern for things that are important to other people.

Understanding and appreciating cultural differences can help people avoid misunderstandings, develop friendships more easily, and feel more comfortable when traveling or living abroad.

First of all, in order to decrease the negative impact of culture shock on individual psychology, it is necessary for people to find out its origins. It seems that culture is a vague concept, which includes extensive content such as sight, smell, sound, value, tradition, custom, behaviour and the way of thinking. All these elements may be different from one country to another. Therefore when people are away from home and enter a new environment, they have to come into contact with many new values, new practices and ways of living. This is especially true for those people who face a new cultural pattern which is different from their own ones. Take the differences between high-context and low-context cultures as an example. In the latter, such as the United States and Britain, more attention is paid to the content of talk, and people often feel a strong need to explain their opinions in detail. Verbal language plays the most important role in communication, while nonverbal language such as body language and facial expression are secondary. However, high-context cultures are opposite. In most areas of Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, people usually focus less on what is being said, and nonverbal cues are significant methods of communication (Mitchell, 2000).

Conclusions

In the process of international communication, culture shock is becoming more and more common because of cultural diversity. From one culture to another, the differences among them cause people’s feelings of unfamiliarity. This results in a large amount of psychological stress such as depression, anxiety and feelings of helplessness. This paper has given five solutions and evaluations about how to deal with these symptoms caused by culture shock. Before entering a new cultural environment, it is very important for all people to make full preparation. Understanding the process of culture shock and features of a new culture may be useful for all people, because knowledge can be acquired through a number of channels. Then, when experiencing culture shock, self-confidence and optimism, accepting new cultures and seeking social support may be three effective ways for most people to overcome psychological discomfort. In addition, a certain amount stress can stimulate passion for cultural learning which may speed up people’s adaptation to new cultural circumstances. Therefore, reducing psychological stress to a controllable level should be more feasible than thorough elimination.

For those people who are on the point of entering new cultural environments to study or work, this project may provide advice and assistance for them to minimize the negative effects of culture shock and maintain healthy psychology. However, People who have lived abroad often find that the adjustment to returning home is more difficult than their adjustment to the foreign culture. This phenomenon is called reverse culture shock, which has been experienced by most people who return from abroad. Therefore, more scientific researches on reverse culture shock should be made in future years.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pedersen, Paul. 1995. The Five Stages of Culture Shock: Critical Incidents Around the Worldd. Contributions in psychology. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press

Junzi Xia. 2009. Analysis of Impact of Culture Shock on Individual Psychology. International Communications Department, University of Nottingham Ningbo