Chapter 5: Understanding Culture Shock

Culture Shock

a stressful transitional period when individuals move from a familiar cultural environment to an unfamiliar one

Culture Shock Characteristics

a sense of identity loss, identity strain, identity rejection, identity confusion, identity powerlessness and others.

Affectively

sojourners often feel anxiety, bewilderment, confusion, disorientation, and intense desire to be elsewhere (ABC Dimensions)

Behavior

they are confused as to norms and rules that guide communication appropriateness and effectiveness (ABC Dimensions)

Cognitively

they lack competence to interpret or explain "bizarre" behaviors. (ABC Dimension)

Culture Shock Underlying factors

Motivation Orientation,Personal Expectations, Cultural Distance, Psychological Adjustment, Sociocultural Adjustment, Communication Competence, Personality Attributes.

Psychological Adjustment

Stress Management, Psychological-Related, Perceptual Interpretation, intrapersonal control and monitoring, and cognitive reframing

Sociocultural Adjustment

Relationship rapport management, network related, relationship quality, host culture connection and receptivity, sociocultural climate.

W-Shaped Model

consists of seven stages: the honeymoon, frustration/hostility, rebounding/humorous, in-sync, ambivalence, reentry culture shock, and resocialization stages. (intercultural adjustment model)

positive situational appraisal strategies

involve changing perceptions and interpretations of the stressful event or situation (Coping Strategy)

Reentry culture shock stage

experienced when sojourners return to there home culture and face an unexpected jolt because this shock is unanticipated

resocialization stage

when sojourners have moved past the reentry culture shock stage and they are assimilated back into their home culture. Three individual stages: Resocializers, alienators, and transformers.