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摘 要

文化休克是跨文化交际中的一种普遍现象。如今，日益发展的全球化趋势加速了跨文化交际的进程，使得越来越多的人体验到文化休克。文化休克也因此得到了人们更多地关注。在跨文化交际的过程中，文化休克会引发人们一系列的身体和心理的不适，因而旅居者们必须充分了解文化休克才能顺势缓解其带来的不适或压抑感。本文概述了文化休克的涵义和表现症状，指出了其普遍的发展阶段，并提供了一些缓解其消极影响的对策，其中尤其强调了跨文化训练措施的使用。本文旨在为人们缓解文化休克的消极影响及促进跨文化交际贡献一份力量。

关键词：文化休克；跨文化交际；旅居者；对策；跨文化训练

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. The Phenomenon of Culture Shock 2

3.1 Definition of Culture Shock 2

3.2 Symptoms of Culture Shock 3

3.3 Causes of Culture Shock 4

4. Phases of Culture Shock 5

4.1 The Honeymoon Phase 6

4.2 The Negotiation Phase 6

4.3 The Adjustment Phase 6

4.4 The Mastery Phase 7

4.5 The Re-entry Shock Phase 7

5. Strategies for Managing Culture Shock and the Significance 9

5.1 Intercultural Communication Competence 9

5.2 Contact with the Host Culture 10

5.3 Intercultural Training 11

5.4 Significance of Culture Shock 12

6. Conclusion 13

Works Cited 15

1. Introduction

The continuous development of our society, science and technology makes the earth a village. Distance is not a barrier of communication any more. Countries around the world are closely related. At the same time, international communications like international education and trade create lots of opportunities for exchanges and cooperation between different countries, which will result in frequent contact with people of different cultural backgrounds. Due to different values, life styles, customs and so on, people from different cultures must get over these differences to adapt themselves to the new environment. Thus, psychological and physical discomfort appears during the process of intercultural communication. People may feel upset and confused for things are not turning out as they had expected. This is the emergence of culture shock.

Culture shock is a significant concept in intercultural communication. “It is a feeling of frustration, uneasiness, or uncertainty that many people experience in unknown settings” (Chang Junyue, 2011:128). Usually, people suffer a lot from the discomfort caused by culture shock. As globalization goes on, it is common to see more and more people go abroad, and it is inevitable for sojourners to experience culture shock.

In order to draw people’s attention to this issue and let them be more aware of this cultural phenomenon, this paper further provides the symptoms and causes of culture shock. It summarizes the previous interpretation of culture shock and presents its own understanding. It also explores some strategies for managing culture shock. Among the coping strategies, great attention is attached to the enhancement of intercultural training and intercultural communication competence.

2. Literature Review

Culture shock, “the present selection is an adaptation from a talk that Oberg gave to the Women’s Club of Rio de Janeiro on August 3, 1954. Bobbs-Merrill published this talk in 1954 and it was then republished in Practical Anthropology in 1960” (Fu Siyi amp; Chenyan, 2011: 37). According to Oberg, “culture shock might be called an occupational disease of people who have been suddenly transplanted abroad. Like most ailments it has its own etiology, symptoms, and cure. Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse” (Oberg, 1960: 177). Oberg also proposed the four phases of culture shock.

Since Oberg’s time, lots of scholars have dedicated themselves to probing into the phenomenon of culture shock. Adrian Furnham and Stephen Bochner coauthored the book Culture Shock: Psychological Reactions to Unfamiliar Environments. They considered culture shock as psychological reactions to unfamiliar environments. Generally speaking, when a person moves from one place to another, the set of symbols, customs, behavior patterns, social relationships and values which he is familiar with are replaced by another set that he is unacquainted with, the psychological anxiety or depression thus occurs. Researchers Taylor and Kaye have exploited and examined simple models to forecast who suffers most from culture shock. Shupe proposed a model to understand international student conflict. Kim holds that cross-cultural adaptation is a process that the sojourners are pressed by the unfamiliar cultural environment, making constant adjustments to adapt to the new way of life and ultimately leading to the formation of intercultural identity. She also points out that culture shock is a precondition for cross-cultural adaptation in intercultural communication and expounds the potential positive effects of it.

A series of researches has been done by scholars to elaborate on the causes, symptoms and phases of culture shock, to search for effective countermeasures of minimizing its negative effects and maximizing its positive effects. However, the issue of culture shock is rather complex. Thus many of the researches have still remained unsystematic up to now.

3. The Phenomenon of Culture Shock

3.1 Definition of Culture Shock

A very significant aspect in the field of intercultural communication is the issue of culture shock. Many scientists investigate the phenomenon of culture shock and find their own definitions, but most of them adhere very closely to the one Oberg gave in 1954. Hofstede, for example, states that culture shock is a human distress accompanied by transferring to an unfamiliar cultural following some physical symptoms. For Bock, it is a disturbing feeling of helplessness and disorientation evoked by exposure to a strange society directly while Marx just called it “the experience of foreignness”.

Nowadays, there are myriad definitions of culture shock. But all these definitions have something in common, that they view culture shock as a disagreeable reaction when facing an unfamiliar culture. To conclude, culture shock is a common experience of people who have been transplanted abroad. It is a feeling of uneasiness or frustration. Also, it refers to phenomena extending from mild irritability to profound psychological panic and crisis. Two important points require to be noted concerning the concept of culture shock. First, when people go to a new country, most of them experience some degree of culture shock. Culture shock is not the traveler’s personal character but a product of the situation of being in a new culture. Second, culture shock is normally transient. It’s a process which passes with time.

3.2 Symptoms of Culture Shock

People going abroad for various reasons: for academic or professional expertise, for better job opportunities, for relaxation, or just to do something significant. Besides, the time spend in interacting with another culture varies from a few days to several days. However, most of the sojourners will experience some symptoms of culture shock.

According to Oberg, when entering an alien culture, the individuals are like fish out of water. Replaced by a feeling of frustration and anxiety, all or most of their familiar cues, which may be gestures, words, customs or facial expressions are detached. People’s reactions to the frustration are almost the same and Oberg describes them vividly and concretely, such as excessive concern over food dishes, drinking water and bedding; fear of contact with attendants; an inattentive, wandering stare.

The actual culture shock can appear in a number of disguises, from mild to severe homesickness, suffering alienation and isolation. Commonly, people may experience these following symptoms of culture shock: first, weariness caused by constant psychological adaptation; second, a feeling of loss of friends, deprivation of status, possessions and occupation; third, being unable to accept members belongs to a new culture or being refrained by them; fourth, bewilderment sensed from expectation, emotion and self-identification; fifth, surprise, anxiety, and even detest and rage perceived from the awareness of cultural differences; sixth, a feeling of disability for unable to deal with the new environment.

Symptoms and severity of culture shock are different from people to people due to individual’s different span of duration, personality, emotional support and language competence. Besides, symptoms of culture shock are both psychological and physical. The psychological effects of culture shock are more obvious to see. They are easier brought into relation with this phenomenon. Nevertheless, there might also be serious physical symptoms accompanying culture shock. It can cause illnesses and injuries, like digestion problems, loss of appetite and sleep disorder.

3.3 Causes of Culture Shock

Culture shock can be caused by a number of reasons. This thesis summarizes some of the most important ones.

Cultural differences is the most direct and significant cause of culture shock. It is widely believed that all cultures differ from each other. The key that each culture varies lies in the value systems of the culture. Although everyone has unique personal values, there exist values that may permeate a certain culture, which are called culture values. Culture values exert a subtle influence on how people regard themselves and how they see others. So when intercultural communication takes place, people usually assume that others hold the same culture values until the differences become obvious and disagreement occurs. Under such circumstance, people would easily undergo discomfort and upset. Besides culture values, beliefs, customs, social practices, and environment of the culture all make it different. These cultural differences are all of extreme possibility to give rise to sojourners’ culture shock in a new environment.

The breakdown of communication is another significant cause of culture shock. It is said that the process of intercultural communication itself can cause culture shock. In fact, that communication process is a great chance for sojourners to learn the host culture and overcome the obstacles to intercultural communication. It puts emphasis on interpersonal interaction to regard the breakdown of communication as a cause of culture shock. Conscious or not, sojourners experiencing the breakdown of communication feel twitchy and frustrated. A breakdown of communication is a source of estrangement from others which brings about misunderstandings and discomforts with the host culture. The breakdown of communication can be caused by language problems, stereotypes and nonverbal misunderstandings and it will generate the occurrence of culture shock.

Apart from culture differences and breakdown of communication, there are still some other causes of culture shock, like cognitive fatigue, role shock and personal shock.

Cognitive fatigue is a result of information overload. The change from a normally effortless, automatic functioning within one’s native culture to the conscious attention and efforts required to comprehend new information is really fatiguing.

Roles central to one’s identity will probably be lost in a new culture. Changes in interpersonal relationship and social roles can affect sojourners’ feelings of happiness and self-concept, resulting in “role shock” (Higbee, 1969: 71). In a new culture environment, the previous roles are largely removed and replaced with unacquainted ones. This loss of prior roles and social relations can lead to culture shock.

The concept of personal shock as a cause of culture shock roots in various changes in personal life, including loss of interpersonal contact with significant others and loss of personal intimacy. People’s identity, self-esteem and psychological disposition are all generated and maintained by cultural system. The loss of this cultural system can cause emotional disorder, deteriorating one’s feeling of well-being and increasing the sense of conflict in the new cultural environment.

4. Phases of Culture Shock

Most people undergo various stages of culture shock before they finally adapt to the host culture. Oberg detailed four general phases of culture shock which are at the basis of studies in the domain of culture shock. Knowing what these stages are will help people recognize and cope with them appropriately. It may also help people accept culture shock for what it is: a completely natural and often unavoidable phenomenon that needs to be understood in order to be overcome.

4.1 The Honeymoon Phase

This phase is the one experienced at the beginning of the intercultural communication, and it is featured by excitement, enthusiasm and curious. Positive attitudes play a dominant role in this phase: everything is new and exciting. Similarities are regarded with comfort while dissimilarities are regarded with interest. During this period, the differences between the host and native culture are seen in a romantic perspective. The stresses related to cultural differences are tolerated by people and some may even consider the differences to be interesting and fun. For example, in moving to a new country, an individual might be fond of the new food, the pace of life, and the locals" habits. The honeymoon phase usually lasts from several weeks to half a year. Most people are obsessed with the new culture in this phase.

4.2 The Negotiation Phase

When people stay in a new environment for a while, they may move to the phase two, the negotiation phase, which is often characterized by emotional fluctuations caused by minor issues or without obvious reason. In this phase, sojourners start to realize that not everything is as good as they thought. Differences between the host and native culture become evident. Tired of many things about the new culture, people become depressed, and may experience such physical symptoms as fatigue and headaches. They may find difficulties in understanding the local dialects, may yearn for food cooked in hometown, may feel upset, anxious, anger, or incompetence. “The more different the two cultures are, the more intense negative feelings the person has” (Zhao Xiaohong, 2009: 12).

4.3 The Adjustment Phase

This phase is about learning how to adapt to a new cultural setting effectively. After several weeks or months of efforts, many sojourners begin to appreciate certain elements of the new culture and to develop more accurate expectations. They become accustomed to the new culture’s difference and form a way of routine life. They also develop problem-solving skills for coping with the culture and start to accept the ways in which the culture works with a positive attitude. The culture begins to make sense as sojourners realize that maladjustments are resulting from the incapacity to understand, accept, and adapt. During this phase, sojourners recover from the symptoms of the first two stages, starting to accept and appreciate the new culture and developing sensitivity towards cultural differences. Their anxiety and depression are alleviated by a lot of methods. Some people may even feel pride in adjusting to the host culture. As a result, the sojourners become familiar with the customs, language, nonverbal signs of the host culture and can see the host country dialectically of both its disadvantages and advantages.

4.4 The Mastery Phase

This phase reflects enjoyment and functional competence in the new culture. It occurs when people feel that they function well and almost automatically in the new culture. Sojourners may feel confident and relaxed when they become more familiar with situations and more skilled at handling new situations based on growing experience. They have learned to accept things the way they are and have embraced some of the peculiarity of the host country. A greater enjoyment of the host culture is now conceivable, and they may regain some of the initial positive attitudes they had in the honeymoon phase. However, mastery phase does not mean total assimilation here. People may still keep lots of traits of their native culture, like accents and customs. This phase is also often called as bicultural phase. Sojourners will come to acculturation and may go through personal change caused by the development of bicultural identity and cultural adaptation. Achieving the mastery phase calls for a constructive response to culture shock with effective methods of adjustment.

4.5 The Re-entry Shock Phase

According to some scholars’ researches and the author’s own understanding, this paper proposes another phase of culture shock, the re-entry shock phase. This phase does not necessarily follow the other four. It is the process that an individual undergoes when returning to the native culture after a sojourn and it depends on the level that the individual has reached before returning home. Sometimes, returning home is more troublesome than going abroad. To some extent, re-entry shock is a surprise to the individual for it is unexpectable that there lie adjustment problems in returning home. One may find lots of differences between the native culture and the host culture. Some are even insufferable. In brief, it is a reverse culture shock.

When sojourners return to the country of origin, family members’ and friends’ welcome can make them feel secure. Everything may seem pleasant and calm at home. However, they will find that things are no longer the same. Sometimes one will be in a state of dilemma without knowing what to perform or act. The sojourner’s expectations do not fit the reality because of the changes that have occurred during the time overseas and the changes of the home country. Thus, the sojourner becomes depressed again when returning home.

Based on the cultural values of China, this thesis will take Chinese students who study abroad as an example to analyze the re-entry shock phase. China is now changing fast. After going abroad for several months or a couple of years, these students who make great efforts to adapt to the host culture may feel unfamiliar with Chinese culture. The people and friends that they used to know well become unfamiliar. Their ideas and thoughts become closer to the foreign culture instead of Chinese culture. After returning home, they will feel different from the people around. Thus, depression and anxiety arises. It is acknowledged that China’s interpersonal relationship is more complex than that of the other countries. Chinese attach great importance to interpersonal communication. It takes more time to communicate and maintain a good relationship, which can cause fatigue of the newly returning home students. They may be bombarded with all kinds of questions which seem to be private coming from their relatives. This makes the students uncomfortable and anxious. Gulbahar Huxur, university professor in Columbia, describes the re-entry shock as a feeling of both gain and loss. Gain of new concepts and values, of new experiences, of new perspectives, and loss of an environment that was familiar for a longer or shorter period of time, regain of what he or she has left at departure and loss of what he or she has found in the new culture.

5. Strategies for Managing Culture Shock and the Significance

Traveling to or living in a foreign country can be a fabulous unique and diverse experience. However, the discomforting process of culture shock may obstruct sojourners from enjoying life abroad. It is of apparent significance that sojourners adapting to the new culture rapidly to operate effectively in whatever they are doing. The duration of sojourners’ culture shock lies in their ability to manage it. Although culture shock adaptation varies with individual’s characteristics, needs and intents, there are some widespread countermeasures suitable for managing culture shock.

5.1 Intercultural Communication Competence

Intercultural communication competence refers to the degree to which an individual is capable of exchanging information both effectively and appropriately with individuals who belong to a different culture. The basis of successful intercultural communication is intercultural sensitivity along with emotional competence. Spitzberg once described intercultural communication competence in an unadorned form as “a behavior that is appropriate and effective in a given context” (Samovar, 2010: 375), while Kim detailed the definition of intercultural communication competence as “the overall internal capability of an individual to manage key challenging features of intercultural communication: namely, cultural differences and unfamiliarity, inter-group posture, and the accompanying experience of stress” (Kim, 2001: 259). These two definitions, one general and one specific, both highlight the importance of analyzing the context and selecting the proper pattern of behavior.

It is obvious that the improvement of personal intercultural competence is of great help to mitigate the negative impacts of culture shock. To improve intercultural communication competence, first, individuals must gain more knowledge about foreign language and culture. Intercultural communication competence is contextual, sojourners need to learn more about the foreign language and culture in order to understand and deal with the context correctly and effectively. “It is obvious that knowing the language of the host culture produces positive results, because language is the basic tool for communication” (Xiong Lijun amp; Liu Xuehua, 2010: 351). Speaking the host culture’s language will make it easier to achieve effective communication. If a sojourner can master that language proficiently, he will understand others and express himself better. Besides, language cannot be isolated from its culture, so individuals also need to acquire noteworthy cultural facts before they go abroad, and keep learning the host culture and display respect towards the culture during their sojourn. Sojourners are supposed to endeavor to distinguish cultural differences and adapt themselves to the personalized communication style, trying to learn how to react to strange situations. Second, in the process of intercultural interaction individuals should develop the ability to initiate, take turns in, and end a conversation. Acquiring high interaction management skills is significant because it makes people realize how to provide equal opportunity for all interactants. Third, developing empathy is also necessary which cannot be ignored in an effective communication. Individuals should learn to explain and evaluate others’ behavior according to others’ culture and points of view instead of their own. Empathetic behaviors include both verbal statements and nonverbal behaviors so one should be careful in listening and observing when communicating.

5.2 Contact with the Host Culture

Direct contact with the host culture facilitates successful adaptation to the new culture. Daily conversations with people from other cultures gains people practical knowledge and wisdom. Although it is necessary to maintain contact with the people back home and share feelings with them, sojourners must enhancing contact with the host culture. First, sojourners should open their minds to accept the different culture in front of them. Keeping a flexible and open mind is of great help to alleviate the negative impacts of culture shock. It helps build active contacts with the local people and immerse in the host culture. Second, sojourners ought to maintain an intimate social network. Taking part in the local social activities; concerning more about host culture and trying best to make oneself a member of them; paying attention to the host culture’s mass media to discover some culture values and noticing people’s words and deeds. Active contact can help sojourners mitigate some symptoms of culture shock, improving the enjoyment of their overseas life.

5.3 Intercultural Training

Intercultural training aims at preparing people to survive and succeed in a cross-cultural environment. It is to improve trainees’ cultural awareness and promote their intercultural communication competence.

Intercultural training can help trainees adapt to a new culture in a shorter period of time by using various methods and techniques. “According to Brislin’s summary, there are roughly six intercultural training methods” (Hu Wenzhong, 1999: 193).

Knowledge-giving method: this method is a traditional one and is easy to approach. It provides knowledge of some certain country’s history, culture and custom by means of lectures, lessons, videos, reading materials, and discussions.

Cause analysis method: this method is much welcomed by intercultural training personnel. The usual practice is to describe an event, which is real rather than fabricated, about cultural conflict occurred in the target or host country, and then to provide several different explanations. The learners choose one explanation that is considered to be reasonable. After that the learners will compare and discuss the correct answer with each other. Through this process of describing, choosing, comparing and discussing, learners can gain a lot about the host culture. This method uses the technique of case studies and culture assimilators. “Through case studies, trainees may maximize their knowledge of the host culture’s value system, problem-solving situations, and their mastering of some practical intercultural skills by studying different cases that describe and analyze complex cultural events” (Dan, Janet and Milton, 2004: 127). In fact, a culture assimilator is a variant of case study. It is a very effective intercultural training technique consisting of a set of scenarios in which individuals from two different cultures interact. For each scenario, the trainee is given a set of explanations for the miscommunication process, and he has to choose the correct one. This technique is effective because it puts the trainees in the position of learning from their own assumptions rather than presenting facts. This can give trainees a feedback on what they already knows and on how prepared they are for a future contact. Besides, it makes learning more practical and attractive to have actual situations as examples.

Sensitivity training method: this method is to enhance learners’ cultural sensitivity and awareness. Learners get to know their own culture and draw inferences about culture differences by doing some designed activities, thus to improve themselves’ cultural sensitivity.

Cognitive behavior changing method: this method is not frequently used. Its essence is to improve trainees’ cognitive ability in order to change their modes of behavior. For example, helping trainees to analyze their own culture about what aspects are to their advantage and what aspects are negative to them. Then, the trainees will be encouraged to analyze another culture to alter their patterns consciously.

Experimental training method: this method often uses the technique of role play. Trainees imitate true-life behaviors by playing the role of people involved and provide solutions spontaneously to different problem-solving situations. This training technique can make trainees experience the problems in intercultural communication and try to deal with the problems by themselves. It is a good chance for trainees to change their role from an observer to a participant of a new culture.

Interactive training method: it emphasizes learning from daily interaction. The trainees are required to communicate with some guests who are representatives or experts of another. This kind of real interaction makes trainees more capable in communicating cross culture.

These methods mentioned above are usually used interchangeably, complementing each other rather than appearing alone. Alternatively using of these methods and appropriate techniques of intercultural training will guarantee a more ideal outcome and achieve more in enhancing trainees’ intercultural communication competence and their ability of managing culture shock.

5.4 Significance of Culture Shock

Culture shock is a multifaceted experience occurring in the communication with a different culture. Intercultural communication makes culture shock an important source of interpersonal stress and conflict for many. Most people will encounter psychosomatic problems, cognitive confusion, and affective disorder when facing culture shock. The negative implications of culture shock are so obvious to see that most of us ignore its positive ones. In fact, culture shock can serve both positive and negative implications. In a positive sense, culture shock may be conducive to personal growth. First, it provides a learning opportunity for sojourners to adapt to changing environment. Second, it makes sojourners be willing to take the challenge and achievement resulting from communication with people from different backgrounds. Third, the experience from culture shock can provide new ideas for sojourners’ better adaptation to future unfamiliar environments.

Culture shock can make our intercultural communication experience unpleasant and painful, or it can provide us the opportunity to learn and grow. To mitigate the negative impact of culture shock making intercultural communication a more enjoyable process, it is essential to understand the phenomenon of culture shock, to know some strategies for managing it and be positive towards it.

6. Conclusion

Culture shock is an important concept in intercultural communication. It is a ubiquitous cultural phenomenon accompanying intercultural communication. Culture shock was first introduced by Kalervo Oberg in 1954. Since then, a lot of scholars have been studying this phenomenon and proposed many theories about it. This thesis elaborates on the definition, symptoms, causes, and phases of culture shock, and suggests some effective methods to deal with it.

Culture shock is a feeling of uncertainty, uneasiness, or frustration that many people undergo in unknown settings. The symptoms of culture shock vary from people to people, but generally there are both psychological and physical reactions. This thesis presents the causes of culture shock mainly from the perspective of cultural differences and culture change. It also puts forward some other causes. Sojourners should be aware of the basic knowledge of culture shock in order to make it less stressful. The four phases of culture shock proposed by Oberg are introduced in this paper, and then it further presents another phase, the re-entry shock phase which is typical to those sojourners who return home. This thesis also provides strategies to handle culture shock and some implication of intercultural training. These strategies can help sojourners facing culture shock more easily.

Many researches have been done to study culture shock. However, culture shock is of great complexity. There are still many issues yet to be solved. Further researches can explore from more perspectives, like the influence of personality conflict and development towards culture shock, social support to cope with it, and so on. In addition, the study of culture shock should not be confined to the area of intercultural communication. It can be extended to some other areas like foreign language learning, sociology and sociopsychology. Moreover, the positive effects of culture shock require further exploration and more experiments need to be carried out to rich the existing empirical data. With the development of culture shock theories and strategies for managing culture shock, it will be more effective and enjoyable for people to communicate across the world.

Works Cited

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[3] Kim, Y. Becoming Intercultural: An Integrative Theory of Communication and Cross-Cultural Adaptation. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications Inc, 2001.

[4] Oberg, K. “Cultural shock and the problems of adjustment to new cultural environments.” Practical Anthropology: General 7 (1960): 177-82.

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