The Causes and Effects of Culture Shock: Understanding the Challenges of Adapting to a Foreign Cultural Environment

Introduction

Culture shock is a term used for the anxiety and frustration experienced by an individual when he or she is subjected to a different cultural or social setting different from what they are used to (Irwin, 2007). It involves feeling out of place in a given time or place.  According to Oberg (2006), culture shock is often triggered by the fear or anxiety of losing touch with all the symbols and signs of the social intercourse of a culture with which we are familiar. Once a person encounters a foreign culture, they undergo various phases. They start by rejecting the new environment and its people as it is associated with the discomfort they are experiencing. They are also likely to regress in which they attach a lot of value to their home environment as they share fond memories with it.  This essay endeavors to determine the causes of cultural shock and the effect it has on individuals.

One of the causes of stress and anxiety reactions experienced by an individual exposed to a strange culture is what is known as uncertainty and uneasiness (cognitive dissonance) owing to diminishing ego-identity and disconfirmed expectations (Mingli, 2015). This uneasiness occurs since an individual’s cognitions regarding the world around them are not compatible with their cognitions. When an individual is living in a foreign culture, he or she is likely to experience disconfirmed expectations and these in turn add to the individual’s uneasiness about the foreign culture, further escalating their levels of stress, security, and anxiety (Wren, 2006). An individual could also experience stress and anxiety associated with cultural shock owing to their diminishing ego-identity. Our home culture, along with its sociocultural and physical environment provides a strong basis for our identities. After we have abandoned our home culture and the physical and socioeconomic factors associated with it, we are in essence also abandoning the very roots that nourish and support our personalities. This will then pave the way for a cultural shock because we encounter new values that we are not accustomed to.

Different cultures are characterized by different cultural values. When a person moves from one culture to another, they are likely to encounter different values from what they are used to, and this may be the cause of considerable anxiety and stress, and hence cultural shock. When confronted with a strange culture, there is a clash of our views with divergent cultural values, beliefs, and norms (Mingli, 2015). For example, an individual is likely to discover that some of the assumptions and values that are highly cherished or held dearly by their own culture regarding life may not be held in high esteem by the individuals in the host culture. An individual is likely to experience a lot of cultural relativism between their home culture and a foreign culture in such areas as fairness and justice, religion, work ethic, religion, privacy, and moral behavior (Oberg, 2006). For example, religion impacts their cultural behaviors, including the mode of dressing and food. If for example, a British citizen moves to a Muslim-dominant state, they are likely to experience cultural shock in the form of mode of dressing, greetings, and type of food eaten. If such an individual has not studied the culture of a foreign country, he/she is likely to experience a higher level of cultural shock.

The inability to do all the things that we are used to back in our home country may also lead to anxiety, frustration, and stress that could in turn trigger cultural shock. These include the activities of our everyday life such as home, leisure, and work-related activities. For example, an individual accustomed to moving freely in a developed country owing to an efficient transport network may not be able to do so if they relocate to a remote third-world country where such efficient public transport is non-existent. Consequently, they may have to realize that such an activity as traveling that they had hitherto taken for granted is a luxury to the inhabitants of the host country. Such realization and the stress and anxiety associated with not being able to travel could be the cause of cultural shock. Likewise, not having access to the foods that you are used to in your home country can also be another source of cultural shock. This demands that you make considerable changes to your diet o that you get accustomed to the local foods.

Conclusion

In sum, cultural shock describes the feigns of anxiety and stress experienced by an individual subjected to a cultural setting different from what they are accustomed to. Such feelings could be a result of uneasiness due to diminishing ego-identity because of non-compatibility between your cognitions and those around you. Variations in cultural values could also trigger anxiety and stress that in turn causes cultural shock while an individual may also experience cultural shock because they can no longer do some of the activities that they might have taken for granted in their home country. Such as the ability to travel freely owing to an efficient transport network.

References

Irwin, R. (2007). Culture shock: negotiating feelings in the field.

Oberg, K. (2006). Culture Shock: Adjustment to New Cultural Environments.

Mingli, W. (2015). Culture Shock-One of Common Problems in Intercultural Communication. Cross-Cultural Communication, 11(8),72-75.

Wren, G. (2006). An essay on ‘culture stress’.