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Cultural Shock and Adaptation
Abstract
Provides guidelines for managing cultural shock (CS) using strategies that foster awareness, learning, and adaptation. Two approaches are taken: (1) understanding the characteristics, phases, and causes of CS; and (2) developing knowledge and attitudinal and behavioral strategies for overcoming CS. The phases of CS include the honeymoon or tourist phase, the crises phase, the adjustment and reorientation phase, and the adaptation, resolution, or acculturation phase. The causes of CS are stress reactions, cognitive fatigue, role shock, and personal shock. Strategies for managing CS and adaptation include predeparture preparation, transition adjustments, personal and social relations, cultural and social interaction rules, and conflict resolution and intercultural effectiveness skills. Resolution of CS is best achieved by a proactive cognitive orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Cultural shock is a feeling of discomfort, confusion, or anxiety that arises due to differences in culture, values, or norms between individuals and the new environment they face. Cultural shock can affect students' perceptions, attitudes, and behavior towards the information they receive from the media [12][13][14]. By understanding cultural shock, students can be more open, tolerant, and critical of information that is different from their views or beliefs. ...
... According to Winkelman [13], cultural shock is a complex feeling that results from a number of stressors that arise when coming into contact with a different culture. People who are in a society that is distinct from their own culture sometimes experience feelings of doubt, perplexity, and worry [12]. ...
... People who are in a society that is distinct from their own culture sometimes experience feelings of doubt, perplexity, and worry [12]. The nature of the feeling of culture shock suggests that it can be resolved by behavioral and cognitive changes [13]. This entails identifying the symptoms of cultural shock and putting remedial measures in place [13]. ...
This research aims to explore the impact of cultural shock experienced by Santri while interacting with social media in the Pondok Pesantren environment to understand the crucial implications of media literacy in countering hoaxes. The underlying theoretical framework for this study encompasses cultural shock theory and the concept of media literacy. The research methodology employed is the content analysis approach, which will delve into cultural shock experiences among Santri, identify common themes of hoaxes, and assess their impact on the Santri community. The findings of this research reveal that Santri are becoming increasingly aware of how cultural shock influences their level of media literacy, as well as the mechanisms of hoax dissemination. Furthermore, the Santri develop media literacy strategies to combat hoaxes and strive to find solutions to mitigate the negative consequences resulting from the challenges of filtering information acquired through social media. Keywords: cultural shock, media literacy, hoax, Santri
... The causal factors are low role clarity, high role novelty, high role discretion, and low Japanese language skills. Lack of role clarity at the internship site causes students to experience role shock due to the abrupt change [37]. Twenty students, including six high-level students, 13 moderate-level students, and one low-level student, faced challenges in performing their jobs due to a lack of information regarding roles at the internship site. ...
The purpose of this study is to evaluate internship programs in Japan held by Japanese departments at universities in Indonesia as an implementation of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture's policy on independent study on campuses in 2020, examining the students’ culture shock level and the difficulties they encountered during the internship program. This study used a mixed-methods approach with case studies. We used quantitative data to measure the students’ culture shock level, and qualitative data to uncover the difficulties they encountered. Data were collected through a questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview with 100 intern students took place. This research found that Indonesian intern students’ culture shock was at a moderate level and encountered difficulties due to language, job performance, Japanese work culture, negative local attitude toward intern students, and the intern's personalities such as low adaptability and lack of confidence. This study also found that all of the students at each level of culture shock faced difficulties in performing jobs because of their low Japanese ability and work culture differences, but student personalities and locals’s responses are the determinants of the student’s culture shock level. The implications of this study highlight the need for an evaluation of Japanese language and culture learning curricula and methods in Indonesia.
... Culture shock is a multidimensional stressful experience resulting from experiencing an unfamiliar lifestyle or contact with a different culture in a new environment [31,32]. This is commonly experienced by refugee women and described as ''dropping from the moon to the earth'' [33]. ...
Approximately half of the global refugee population are women, yet they remain largely understudied from the perspective of gender. The aim of this review was to investigate the impact of refugee women's resettlement and socio-cultural experiences on their health. This review also explored factors promoting resilience in refugee women. Eight databases were searched for peer-reviewed manuscripts published from 2005 to 2014. Grey literature was also reviewed. Data were extracted for population, data collection methods, data analysis, and findings. The Resource-Based Model was used as an overarching framework for data synthesis. Following the screening of titles and abstracts, 20 studies met the study inclusion criteria. Cultural factors, social and material factors, personal factors, and resilience factors were identified as main themes influencing the health of refugee women. Promotion of factors that enables resettlement is important in promoting the health and wellbeing of refugee women. Keywords Health Á Integrative review Á Refugee women Á Socio-cultural Key Points What do we know? • Refugee women are at greater risk of mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, due to lack of social support, violence, poverty, adverse health conditions, and discrimination. • As wives and/or mothers, women bear extra burdens in the process of immigration in order to support family members adjust to a new way of living and often undertake the role of protecting and upholding family values, culture, and beliefs. • Refugee children and the elderly have been at the center of attention in health research; however, women remain an understudied refugee population. What does this paper add? • This review outlines specific issues facing refugee women. These issues can impact on their health and integration into host societies. • Refugee women develop resilience strategies that help them mitigate adverse experiences associated with migration. • The review incorporates a conceptual framework based on the Resource-Based Model and argues that the addition of resilience factors can lend a better explanation to immigrant population experiences. Recommendations: • Targeted policies and services are needed to support the capacity of communities empowering refugee women with social and cultural supports. • Providing health information and services such as counselling can enable refugee women to & Sara Shishehgar Sara.Shishehgar
This study investigated the lived experiences of 11 teachers who immigrated recently from four African countries to teach in Florida schools. The study explored their perceptions, expectations, lived experiences and realities during their first year of teaching in US public schools in south-west Florida. In this qualitative, phenomenological research design, using field notes and in-depth individual semistructured interviews with the immigrant teachers, three themes emerged from the thematic analysis. These were: 1) challenges facing immigrant teachers from African countries during their first year of teaching; 2) adaptation to a completely different culture and the related culture shock; and 3) support from their employers (the school district) and local communities.
This chapter investigates the culture shock and adaptation processes experienced by eight Canadian pre-service teachers during a two-week international internship in Beijing, China, as part of the Teacher Education Reciprocal Learning Program (RLP) among the University of Windsor (UW), Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), and Southwest University (SWU). By utilizing narrative inquiry, the authors delve into the cross-cultural encounters and adjustments of these pre-service teachers, highlighting their initial cultural disequilibrium, particularly in food culture, and their subsequent adaptation efforts. The narrative reveals the challenges faced by these teachers, such as navigating dietary restrictions and learning Chinese dining etiquette, as well as their engagement with Chinese school culture and history. Through these experiences, the pre-service teachers not only navigated their culture shock but also began appreciating the depth of Chinese culture and education system and developed a better understanding of the importance of bicultural education in bilingual education. The study extends its analysis to the reciprocal learning and reflections of both the Canadian pre-service teachers and the authors, who served as program facilitators, thereby enriching the dialogue on cross-cultural understanding in teacher education. This chapter contributes to the literature on international teacher education by offering insights into the complex dynamics of culture shock, adaptation, and reciprocal learning within a Sino-Canadian educational context.
This study explores the mental health perceptions, expectations for mental healthcare, and use of existing mental health services among international engineering students at a Western Canadian university. Employing a phenomenological qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 international undergraduate engineering students to understand their mental health challenges and service usage. The thematic analysis revealed three significant themes: students’ understanding of mental health; their experiences within the engineering programme, and recommendations to enhance and facilitate a positive mental health experience at the university. Findings suggest that mental healthcare for international engineering students should be responsive to the students’ unique needs, providing support and accessible services during their transition from their home countries and recognising the impact of the environmental and cultural factors on their experiences as members of the Faculty of Engineering and the broader university community.
International students often face numerous challenges upon
arrival in the host country that can result in culture shock and
increased stress. Malaysia is a prominent destination for international students from diverse nations, particularly Asia,
Africa, and the Middle East. It is actively striving to expand its
current market share in the future. The study seeks to investigate the firsthand experiences of a group of Arab PhD students who enrolled in a PhD program at a Malaysian university, particularly to identify the psychological, sociocultural, and educational obstacles they face, determine the factors that contribute to these challenges, and assess the effectiveness of Malaysian higher education institutions in attracting and meeting the needs of international students. The study employs a qualitative, phenomenological research design to understand participant's lived experiences. It utilizes in-depth, semi-structured interviews and applies Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to analyze the data. The study found eight overarching themes, which included elements that appeal and areas that need improvement. Additionally, it recognized other subthemes. The study advised prioritizing students' perspectives and considering their feedback as a useful resource for enhancing the higher education sector in Malaysia.
The prevailing picture of intercultural adaptation among international student sojourners features a reified process of overcoming culture shock or culture-related stress and anxiety. In the context of increasing recruitment of Chinese students by German higher education institutions, there has been a growing interest in understanding Chinese students' intercultural adaptation experiences, and in exploring approaches that can be adopted by Chinese and German higher education to support these sojourners' learning experience. Drawing on a six-month mixed-methods study of 84 Chinese students attending German universities, researchers explored their intercultural experience regarding psychological, sociocultural, and educational aspects to university life. The challenges faced by these students are discussed in terms of psychological, sociocultural, and educational adaptations.
Although more and more ethnic minority group (EMG) users are willing to present cultural content on live streaming platforms and advertise cultural products, the influence of their cultural content is still weak compared to mainstream culture. To narrow the research gap, it is essential for the current study to analyse online viewers' intention to watch EMGs' cultural content. This paper extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model based on the cross-cultural adaptation theory. It adds the propensity to cross-cultural adaptation factor and cross-cultural adaptation factor, aiming to clearly explain online viewers' psychological changes. The data analysis based on the partial least squares path modelling and variance-based structural equation modelling (PLS- SEM) supports that the propensity to cross-cultural adaptation positively affects online viewers' cross-cultural adaptation. Meanwhile, the cross-cultural adaptation will positively influence online viewers' attitudes towards EMG cultural streaming, motivate their watching intention, and drive their final behavioural responses. More findings are uncovered via the importance-performance map analysis (IPMA), and the cross-cultural adaptation factor has significantly high performance and importance for online viewers’ watching intention.
Increased internationalization in the economic, political, and social arenas has led to greater interpersonal cross-cultural contact. Because much of this contact has not been successful, cross-cultural training has been proposed by many scholars as a means of facilitating more effective interaction. A review of the cross-cultural training literature is presented, and it is determined that cross-cultural training in general is effective. The article also offers a theoretical framework based on social learning theory for understanding past research and for guiding future research; this is important because in this context variables seem to operate differently in international versus domestic areas.
Culture shock tends to be an occupational disease of people who have been suddenly transplanted abroad. Like most ailments, it has its own symptoms, cause, and cure. Many missionaries have suffered from it. Some never recovered, and left their field. Some live in a constant state of such shock. Many recover beautifully. As will be clear from the implications of Dr. Oberg's article, the state of culture shock in which a Christian lives will have great bearing on his temperament and witness.
American technical assistants abroad frequently experience a range of frustrations and stresses in carrying out their overseas professional and work roles. They manifest these frustrations particularly in the antagonism and criti cisms directed against the American work organizations, their American colleagues, and, to a lesser extent, host nationals and their bureaucracies. Recent studies provide evidence of the role-shock phenomenon and help to identify these major professional problems of the United States technical assistant abroad: ambiguity in the professional role, relationships with host-country counterparts, communication and participation in the indigenous hierarchy, the administrative context of the project, and the complex demands of development. Despite their frustrations, most respondents view their own efforts as successful and their professional qualifications as more than equal to the challenges of the overseas situations. They re port a vast range of personal dividends for themselves and their families, although most assess the professional returns from the experience as being minimal. Through the mech anism of technical assistance, several thousand additional Americans each year find their first opportunity to travel, live, and work abroad. In so doing, they are helping to build and define a "third culture" of intersocietal relationships.
The present study investigated some of the major dimensions of intercultural effectiveness. Based upon a review of the literature, 24 “abilities” thought to be important for intercultural effectiveness were generated. Fifty-three subjects who had reported functioning effectively in other cultures rated these abilities in terms of their importance in facilitating intercultural effectiveness. Factor analysis of the data yielded three dimensions of intercultural effectiveness: (1) the ability to deal with psychological stress; (2) the ability to communicate effectively; and (3) the ability to establish interpersonal relationships. Results of the study were then related to previous work on intercultural effectiveness.
Foreign students say that because university representatives rarely reach out to them, they rely on each other for advice on everything from academic schedules to American culture. But administrators say foreign students do not always take advantage of the resources, and stick together rather than mix with Americans. (MLW)
Presents a model of the steps in the transitional experience (TE) (i.e., the active movement toward high self-awareness). Five phases of TE are analyzed, within a culture-shock paradigm, as a set of intensive situations in which the individual perceives and experiences other people in a distinctively new manner. Self-awareness is potentiated when the individual, in these situations, is confronted with the task of coping with the experiential validity of the notion that one's behavior arises out of a complex of motivations and intentions that stem primarily from his/her own cultural vocabulary. The model offers potential frameworks for the development of training experiences that prepare people undergoing changes in lifestyle and for counseling strategies that are developmental rather than adjustive. Further implications of the proposed relationships between phases of TE, perceptions, emotions, and behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)