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Welcome to iCaT.
Today I am going to explain to you what culture
shock really means.
But first we must define the term “culture”.
"Culture is the product of the interaction
between universal biological needs and functions,
universal social problems that thematize them
and the context ([the environment]) in which
people live."
Thus, culture is humanities solution to the
problems of the environment, survival, and
society.
That is why, there are different cultural
approaches for different regions, thus also
different social behaviors, and norms.
Accordingly, culture can be anything: food,
clothing, music, the perception of situations
or the language.
Culture surrounds us since we were little
and is taught to us through our social contacts
(e.g. parents, family, friends).
A more detailed definition of the term "culture"
can be found in the video on the info card!
Now let us see if the following example is
a culture shock:
“In Japan I pointed at a small tree with
apples growing on it.
Everyone looked at me offended.
It turned out that "pointing at something"
is impolite in Japan.
Pointing at something is unproblematic in
the origin culture of the person, while in
Japan it represents impolite behavior.
Is this already a cultural shock?
Let us define culture shock:
“Culture shock is used in everyday language
today for all possible forms of uncertainty
abroad.
From a psychological point of view, it is
a profound loss of orientation in view of
the massive experience of foreignness when
staying in a foreign cultural environment,
which can also affect one after successful
[cultural adaptation (acculturation)] when
returning [to the origin culture]."
According to this, a culture shock is a very
intense and persistent emotional subjective
experience of a person.
This leads to a conflict between one's own
cultural identity and the foreign culture.
Only if the person lives in the foreign culture,
interacts with it and experiences stress of
adaption it can lead to a loss of orientation
in the long term.
For most people, this takes a longer period
(weeks to months).
Single misunderstandings, as in the example,
are therefore excluded.
A culture shock can also take place when returning
to the culture of origin, because an adjustment
process to the foreign culture has been carried
out and thus one's own culture appears strange.
The process of adapting to a foreign culture
is called acculturation.
The first to speak of this was the anthropologist
Oberg (1954).
He divided this process into the incredibly
famous four stages of honeymoon, crisis, recovery,
and adjustment.
This was followed by the "u-curve" by Lysgaard
(1955), which added the time factor to those
phases and then the "w-curve" by Gullahorn
& Gullahorn (1963), which added the culture
shock upon return.
These theories are sufficient as a simple
explanation, but this process does not take
place in definable phases and has no tangible
end.
Cultural adaptation is never complete, just
as there is no end to the development of a culture.
Therefore the “Stress-Adaptation-Growth-Dynamics”
by Kim (2001) describes adaptation best.
It shows the cultural adjustment process as
an alternation between cultural adjustment
success and failure, which in the long term
develops positively towards success if there
is a willingness to adapt.
Cultural adaptation is never finished, but
a continuous process of change and irritation.
A culture shock is therefore the result of
changing or defending one's own cultural identity
and the following stress that is perceived
subjectively.
The consequences of this adjustment process
can include:
Emotional and physical problems (e.g. depression,
diarrhea)
A feeling of alienation or racism
a reduction in emotional, mental and physical
performance
an early return
So, we can conclude that a "culture shock"
includes:
Subjectively perceived suffering or stress
of the person (feeling of alienation)
Collection of problems due to cultural difference
Dealing with one's own culture and the foreign
one
A change or defense of one's own cultural
identity takes place
Thanks for listening.
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