Culture Shock:

A stressful transitional period when individuals move from a familiar environment into an unfamiliar one.

Steps of Culture Shock:

1)      A sense of identity loss and identity deprivation with regard to values, status, profession, friends, and possessions;

2)      Identity strain as a result of the effort required to make necessary psychological adaptation.

3)      Identity rejection by members of the new culture

4)      Identity confusion, especially regarding role ambiguity and unpredictability

5)      Identity powerlessness as a result of not being able to cope with the new environment.

ABC’s:

Affective, behavioral, and cognitive disorientation dimensions.

Identify the underlying factors that influence the culture shock experience:

Psychosomatic problems (headaches, stomachaches) due to prolonged stress, affective upheavals consisting of feelings of loneliness, isolation, depression, and drastic mood swings, interaction awkwardness due to the inability to perform optimally in the new language and nonverbal postures.                                                                                                              

Sociocultural Adjustment:

The ability to fit in and execute appropriate and effective interactions in a new cultural environment. Quality or quantity of relations with host nationals and the length of residence in the host country.

Psychological Adjustment:

Feelings of well-being and satisfaction during cross-cultural transitions. Chronic strain, low self-esteem, and low mastery have a direct effect on adjustment depression.

                                        Sojourners:

temporary residents who voluntarily go abroad for a set period of time that is usually related to task-based or instrumental purposes.

W-Shaped Model:

Consists of seven stages: The honeymoon, hostility, humorous, in-sync, ambivalence, reentry, culture shock, and resocialization.

1)                   Honeymoon stage:

               Individuals are excited about their new cultural environment.

1)      Hostility Stage:

        Sojourners experience major emotional upheavals. This is the serious culture shock stage in which nothing is working out smoothly.

1)      Early Returnees:

T    end to use either fight or pounce strategies and blame all the problems on the new culture.

1)      Adjusters:

Tend to use segmentation strategies to function adaptively in new culture.

1)      Humorous stage:

Sojourners learn to laugh at their cultural faux pas and start to realize that there are pros and cons in each culture- just as there are both good and evil people in every society.

1)      In-sync adjustment stage:

sojourners feel “at home” and experience identity security and inclusion. The boundaries between outsiders and insiders become fuzzier, and the sojourners experience social acceptance and support. They are now easily able to “make sense” of the “bizarre” local customs and behaviors.

1)      Ambivalence stage:

sojourners experience grief, nostalgia, and pride, with a mixed sense of relief and sorrow that they are going home.

1)      Reentry culture shock stage:

sojourners face an unexpected jolt. Because of the unanticipated nature of reentry shock, its impact is usually much more severe, and returnees usually feel more depressed and stressed then they did with entry culture shock.

Resocialization stage:

Some individuals may quietly assimilate themselves back to their old roles and behaviors without making much of a “wave” or appearing different from the rest of their peers or colleagues.

Reentry shock:

Involves the realignment of one’s new identity with a once familiar home environment. After living abroad for an extensive period of time, reentry culture shock is inevitable.