The Concepts of Culture Shock and Cultural Adjustment - Essay Example

? Number: The concepts of ‘culture shock’ and ‘cultural adjustment’ and critically assess some possible consequences of these for international mobility in organizations. The aspect of culture is more than just a set of customs. Culture makes up a way fully aspect of organizing life, of thinking and conceiving the underlying hypothesis of the prime human institutions, of relating to and interacting with other intelligent mankind. Hofstede offered a clear illustration of culture, referring to it as the joint programming of the intellect that differentiates people of one group of people to the other (Woodside&   Megehee, 2009, p 89). A culture may be thought of a network of shared meanings, which are easily taken as reality by those interacting within network. This view of culture upholds that a community of people is likely to create a general representation obtained from their shared experiences and then embrace these pre-set classes as background or setting against which incoming experiences are translated. People endeavor to structure the external world by corresponding external stimuli against internal theoretical patterns. After such a match is made, an individual is in a position to assign meaning to an outside event. If a match cannot be made, an individual may feel disoriented, frustrated or afraid. People with diverse cultures will see the world differently since they have been carefully sensitized to certain assortments of stimuli. An individual may not knowingly be conscious to the specific patterns of meanings assumed if he/she is interacting with people sharing the same view, because reality is taken for granted. It is through contact with people who view the world in a different perspective that one becomes aware of the cultural patterns he/she is embracing. It is from the movement and the interaction across cultures that the aspect of cultural shock comes about (Nelson et al, 2011, p 164). Culture shock is the distress experienced by a sojourner as an upshot of losing all the recognizable signs and symbol of social interaction, as well as their substitution with by other cues that are strange. The move to a new environment is a traumatic life event when sojourners have to cope with substantial culture change. The reason is that conflicts associated to the divergences in rules, values and meanings between the two cultures will be unavoidable. In other words, an individual may be so unfamiliar with the host surroundings that he/she has no guidance as to what, when and how to do (Cameron, 2010, p 3). People of certain occupations likely to be affected by culture shock are such as foreign students and intellectuals, teachers, business executives (expatriates), migrant workers, Peace Corps volunteers and social workers. Oberg highlighted six elements of culture shock. One is strain as a result of the effort needed to make essential psychological adaptations. Second is the sense of loss and feelings of deficiency with regards to profession, status, friends and possessions. The third element of culture shock entails being rejected and/or rejecting members of new cultures. Fourthly is the confusion in terms of role, role expectations, feelings, self identity and values. Fifthly is the anxiety, surprise and even disgust and resentment, after becoming cognizant of cultural differences. The last aspect is the feeling of helplessness as a result of the inability to handle the new environment. When living in a new environment, a student or sojourner goes through the following stages of cultural adjustment (Becker & Bhugra, 2005, p 18). Source: Becker & Bhugra, 2005, 19 Honeymoon This is the initial stage that a sojourner experiences at the commencement of the contact. The stage is characterized by fascination, euphoria, excitement and enthusiasm. Travelers experience positive attitude as similarities are considered as comfort, whilst differences are observed with interest. Crisis/hostility/ irritation This is the culture shock stage that is characterized by feelings of anxiety, inadequacy, hostility and frustration. The jubilation of the foreign and out of the ordinary has ended, and the traveler must face veracity. The manifestation of the “ailment” culture shock sets in. Recovery This is the stage where an individual takes steps to counter and get out of the crisis stage. An individual starts to comprehend the new culture and create a comfort zone. Nervousness and anxiety starts diminishing as the unfamiliar becomes familiar. Culture learning and crisis resolution result in evolution of a sojourner’s action from artificial to natural. A student learning overseas may experience difficulties at the initial stage of transition when there are numerous changes to cope with, as well as inadequate resources to cater for the transition (Pedersen, 1995, p 8). The complete adjustment/biculturalism This is the last stage of cultural transition when an individual starts to feel at home in the new country and acknowledge that there are numerous things a student will miss when they go home. When allowed enough time, a student may adapt fully and be in a position to function equally in both cultures. A sojourner or a student in a foreign nation ought to be sentient to the two dip associated with culture. One is the dip passed during the initial phase of cultural adjustment, and the other results from the mindset that one must leave the new friends as they go back home. The extent and the length of culture shock might depend on: one, cultural differences, which is the variance between the sending and the receiving culture. Second is the individual differences; how different people are able to handle difficulties. Finally, sojourn experience may determine the extent of culture shock, depending on how he/she will be introduced into a new society by close and sympathetic host culture friends (Thomas, 2001, para 4). Possible consequences of culture shock for international mobility in organizations One of the consequences of culture shock and culture transition elements is that it enables students and other sojourners to learn new culture and adapt to a fresh learning environment with real life encounters. This is extremely significant for learners who will eventually work across a range of cultures and countries upon graduation. Cross cultural comprehension ought a significant effect on business effectiveness in an increasingly global environment, and what is taught in theory to be relevant to all learners wherever geographically they follow their careers. Additionally, learners also gain the opportunity of seeking quality education through international experience, which makes them more marketable to multinational job offerers. By learning in foreign countries, students can learn the appropriate skills of negotiating with people of different cultures. Negotiation skills across culture are extremely significant in business as it can be a source of competitive merit (Nelson et al, 2011, p 165). Culture shock may also be related with role shock and culture fatigue. Culture fatigue is the exhaustion that results from the constant small adjustments needed to operate in an alien culture. Role shock is a stress reaction that results from the discrepancy between the role an individual anticipates to execute and the real role requisites in a new culture. Performance requirements may be ambiguous, that is, the related role sets and status may be different in the new setting certainly resulting from culture shock. As the workplace becomes more global, there is a mounting need for international workers. These workers have their initial culture, and as they move from one place to another, they are likely to experience culture shock, which could impact on a person’s motivational factors and orientation at work (Guru et al, 2012, p 53). This reduces workers efficiency, which translates into increased direct costs like training, relocation and housing expenses. It also leads to higher indirect costs like unacceptable service levels and lost customers. A single failed international assignment may amount between $ 100,000 and $ 300,000; while United States based organizations spend about $2 billion per annum due to ineffective or failed foreign workers. There may be hidden costs in addition to direct and indirect costs when an international worker fails to complete an assignment. A corporation may also suffer from the person’s failure, as a distraction in prime foreign contacts leads to loss of control over the assignment, and the rapport linking local operations and corporate functions may suffer (Human Capital Institute, 2006, p 3; Lugossy, Horvath & Nikolov, 2008, p 102). Mobility from one place to another may cause stress. When individuals face a new culture and go through culture shock experience, unfamiliarity and change influences their own psychological adjustment and participation in a cultural environment. This psychological confusion and emotional discomfort often causes a vast amount of psychological stress. The negative consequences of culture shock and cultural adjustment comprises a large and diverse set of symptoms. Whereas not everyone will experience all the symptoms, most people will experience some elements. Primary symptoms may be described as anxiety, feeling of helplessness and depression. In cases where depression and feelings of helplessness accumulate, individuals may have difficulties in paying attention to the learning of new cultures. Moreover, depression may influence people’s ability to solve problems and to make choices. As a result, motivation for adapting to the new situation lessens (Furnham & Bochner, 1986, p 198). Social cultural shock impacts result is in a multifaceted self. The three selves are; the endangered self, the situated self and the enduring self. The enduring self is rooted in socio-cultural practices viewed as culturally normative in an individual’s home country. The situated self grows during the cultural adjustment period to a new environment. An individual may be unable to handle the new environment if the situated self is frequently threatened by new demands for an extended period. The endangered self may resort to processes like resistance and hostility for survival. A student with an endangered/ conflicted self trying to cope with a intimidating new culture may be unable to clearly think in some settings (Xia, 2009, p 97). In order to deal with culture shock, several strategies may be employed as an attempt to lessen the effects of culture shock in order to promote international mobility. These include cultural self awareness, experimental training, social skills training and isomorphic attribution. Information giving entails giving what the title means in form of a lecture or film. Cultural self awareness entails information giving and opportunities to contrast and compare different cultures with the aim of heightening people’s consciousness of their own cultural values and that of others. Experimental training allows people to practice what they have learnt in information giving and cultural self awareness. Attribution training seeks to reduce cultural misunderstandings resulting from conflicting attributions of a similar event. Attribution training seeks to make people learn by trying to view a circumstance in the perspective of the host culture. Social skills training are founded on the supposition that individuals living in unfamiliar cultures do not have the essential social skills for successful involvement in that culture. Social skills training may entail role-modeling, role playing and videotaping (Kim, 1991, p 112). In conclusion, the aspect of culture shock is becoming more common due to cultural diversity. From one culture to another, cultural diversity among people causes them to experience feelings of unfamiliarity. It is essential for people moving from their home culture to be aware of existence of unfamiliar culture and cultural shock. A sojourner should also endeavor to learn on ways to cope with culture shock like information giving and social skills training, so as to have a successful culture transition and to reduce stress associated with transition. Bibliography Becker, M.A & Bhugra, D (2005). Migration, cultural bereavement and cultural identity. Journal of world psychiatry. 4(1), 18-24 Cameron, H. (2010). Managing culture shock for first year international students entering Australian universities. Accessed from: http://fyhe.com.au/past_papers/papers10/content/pdf/12E.pdf. 1-4 Furnham, F.A. & Bochner.S. (1986). Culture Shock: Psychological Reactions to Unfamiliar Environments. London: Taylor & Francis. Guru, R., et al (2012). Effects of cultural shock on foreign health care professionals: an analysis of key factors. Journal of environmental and occupational science. 1(1), 53-62. Human Capital Institute. (2006). Mentoring strategies-global mentoring. 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Perspectives on Cross-Cultural, Ethnographic, Brand Image, Storytelling, Unconscious Needs, and Hospitality Guest Research. West Yorkshire: Emerald Group Publishing. Xia, J. (2009). Analysis of Impact of Culture Shock on Individual Psychology. International journal of psychological studies. 1(2), 97-100. Read More