It’s 10:30 a.m. and you’re sitting in class, listening intently as your instructor assigns group projects. When the groups are formed, you notice that your teammates immediately switch into rapid conversation—using slang and cultural references you don’t quite understand. You want to contribute, but when you speak up, someone chuckles at your accent. Another teammate assumes you’ll be “good with the numbers” because of your background. A flood of thoughts race through your head: Should I say something? Am I being too sensitive? What if I confirm the stereotype if I mess up? Why do I suddenly feel like I don’t belong? These moments of miscommunication, stereotype, and self-doubt are a unique form of stress—intercultural stress.
Stress is a natural human response to challenges, but intercultural interactions can create unique stressors. For example, being stereotyped because of your accent, experiencing prejudice due to ethnicity, or navigating misunderstandings across cultures can all trigger stress. In intercultural communication, stress is not just about daily hassles—it often involves identity, belonging, and respect. This chapter explores how stress appears in intercultural contexts and how we can cope and build resilience.
Additionally, stress can be three things: a stimulus event (i.e., a stressor), a process for understanding the stimulus and its context, and a reaction we have to this event. Essentially, to be stressful the event has to become an overload of incoming information into our system. Stress can cause biological responses such as sweaty palms or a racing heart, as well as psychological responses such as nervousness. It is known to have effects on our behavior, causing us to avoid others, and it also affects cognitive performance, causing us to have difficulty concentrating.
A number of genetic studies have begun to identify candidate genes that may play a role on diverse forms of stress reactions. It is highly probable that genetics account for some of our responses to stress, but other factors are also of importance. Environmental stressors can also affect our behaviors and emotions. Environmental stressors can be grouped into different types: Major Life Events (e.g., experiencing a breakup, getting married, or having a baby), Life Transitions (e.g., puberty or transition into high school), Daily Hassles (e.g., family arguments or waiting in a long line at a security checkpoint of an airport) and Disasters (e.g., experiencing a car accident or a computer crashing causing loss of important information). These types of environmental stressors can cause you to be fearful and have a racing heartbeat. And our perceptions of these responses can actually make the symptoms worse. It is also important to note that these stressors can be perceived differently by different people. For instance, two people can get stuck in the same elevator, and while one would find the experience to be a nuisance, another will tell you it was the worst situation they have ever been in. Here is a poll(opens in new window) about the role of stresses and stress responses in the natural world. This supplementary article explores what is the right amount of stress(opens in new window).
Sources of Intercultural Stress \(\PageIndex{1}\)
Stress arises when demands exceed our perceived ability to cope. Common stressors include life changes, environmental pressures, or interpersonal conflicts.
Stereotypes and Microaggressions: Repeatedly being asked, “Where are you really from?” or being assumed to like or dislike something because of cultural background.
Ethnocentrism: When one cultural perspective is considered superior, creating invalidation or exclusion of others.
Prejudice and Discrimination: Unequal treatment based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or other identities.
Language and Communication Barriers: Misunderstandings due to accents, idioms, or differing norms of politeness.
Culture Shock and Identity Conflict: Feeling torn between cultural expectations, or experiencing disorientation in a new cultural environment.
These stressors can undermine confidence, create frustration, and contribute to social withdrawal.
Physiological Vs. Psychological Stress
While most of the time we think about stress in a negative way, some stress is adaptive and can even give us an edge. Part of the stress reaction involves the secretion of hormones, which in turn will stimulate the cardiovascular system, which includes your heart. In this way, the right amount of stress may release hormones and increase our ability to focus better on an exam or to quickly maneuver our car when we are trying to avoid an accident. Most stressors in our daily life are psychological in nature—dating, exams, presentations, and deadlines, so the adrenaline and cortisol (i.e., stress hormones) released into the bloodstream do not get burned off. These types of psychological stressors can initiate an over-activation with a tendency to make the stress response worse. So, a response to an environmental stressor may start as fear and turn into a panic attack.
One of the goals of our body is to maintain stability (i.e., homeostasis). We can, therefore, define stress as an actual or perceived threat capable of throwing our homeostasis off balance. Stress exposure starts the responses. When a person is exposed to prolonged stress, overload may occur. When the stress response is triggered too often and/or remains active too long, it can cause “wear and tear” on the body from lowering your immune system and bone density, to hypertension, to heart attack.
There are two different types of stressors that we typically encounter. Acute stressors are observable stressful events that are time-limited such as an upcoming test or a family gathering. An acute stressor brings activation to our neuroendocrine system and makes us ready to act (i.e., “fight or flight”). Remember that pumped up feeling you got the last time you were getting ready to give a speech in front of the class? Chronic stressors, in contrast, are persistent demands on you; they are typically open-ended, using up your resources in coping but not having any resolution. Here is a short article and podcast(opens in new window) on stress effects on health and suggestions for stress preventive activities.
A chronic illness, poverty, and racial discrimination are all examples of chronic stressors. Prolonged stress can lead to an eventual breakdown, such as contributing to aging. A number of recent studies have shown that lower socioeconomic status is associated with higher stress load. In addition, perceptions of racism can serve as a chronic social stressor for ethnic minorities and can, in part, explain some of the health issues of African Americans and other ethnic minority groups in the US and other countries.
Robert Service(opens in new window), a Canadian Poet, cautioned, “Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out—it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.”
In addition to many stressors in our lives being psychological and chronic in nature, we should pay attention to everyday hassles, which can be as harmful, if not more harmful than life-changing events. Everyday hassles may include things like worrying about one’s weight, having too much work with too little time, or a stressful commute to school or work. Major life changes usually bring about more hassles, which may lead to more physical stress symptoms.
In summary, stress can be adaptive—in a fearful or stress-causing situation, we can run away to save our lives, or we can concentrate better on a test. Biologists might even say it is necessary. But, stress can also be maladaptive. This is especially true if it is prolonged (i.e., chronic stress) because it increases our risk of illness and health problems. Thus, reducing stress, especially prolonged stress, is essential to healthcare. This video(opens in new window) explains the effects of daily hassles on our health.
Effects of Intercultural Stress \(\PageIndex{1}\)
Stress caused by intercultural interactions has both emotional and physical effects. Students, for example, may experience:
Psychological Effects: anxiety, frustration, lowered self-esteem, and identity confusion.
Behavioral Effects: avoidance of intercultural interactions, overcompensating by self-monitoring speech and actions.
Physical Effects: headaches, fatigue, sleep difficulties, and elevated heart rate.
Repeated exposure to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination—sometimes called chronic intercultural stress—can negatively impact academic performance, career advancement, and overall well-being.
To deal with stress in your life, it is important to figure out where that stress originates and notice how you tend to react to it. Later in this chapter, we will show you how community psychologists consider the environment and ecological perspectives as intertwined in stress and coping. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) have been among the most influential psychologists in the stress and coping field, and they defined coping as efforts to manage demands that could exceed our resources. It is important to highlight from this definition that when a person perceives a life circumstance as taxing and exceeding the resources they have, this person will experience stress. Therefore, coping involves your efforts to manage stress, which is illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Overview of Stress Process and Coping Responses
Coping Defined
Lazarus and Folkman (1984) felt that when humans perceive a life circumstance as taxing and exceeding their resources, stress will be experienced, which we have already defined in the prior section as an overload of incoming information into a system. Therefore, coping involves persons’ efforts to manage stress, whether the process of dealing with stress is adaptive or not (Lazarus, 1993). When we talk about coping, we will need to consider the intensity of the stressor, the context of coping, and an individual’s appraisal of coping expectations.
Coping Types
Research on coping has usually found five types of coping styles (Clarke, 2006; Skinner, et al., 2003; Folkman & Moskowitz, 2005). These include the following: (1) problem-focused coping style involves addressing the problem situation by taking direct acting, planning or thinking of ways to solve the problem, (2) emotion-focused coping style involves expressing feelings or engaging in emotional release activities such as exercising or practicing meditation, (3) seeking-understanding coping style refers to finding understanding of the problem and looking for a meaning of the experience, and (4) seeking help involves using others as a resource to solve the problem. Finally, people might respond to stressors by (5) avoiding the problem and trying to stay away from the problem or potential solution to the problem.
Coping Strategies
Coping strategies are the choices that a person makes in order to respond to a stressor. A strategy can be adaptive (effective) or maladaptive (ineffective or harmful). The ideal adaptive coping strategy varies depending on the context, as well as the personality traits of the person responding. The coping strategies can be problem-solving or active strategies, emotional expression and regulation strategies, seeking understanding strategies, help or support-seeking strategies, and problem avoidance or distraction strategies.
Here is one example of an intervention strategy that shows how to effectively cope with daily and transitional stressors. The strategy is called Shift-and-Persist (Chen & Miller, 2012), and it requires individuals to first shift views of the problem. To shift, you need to (1) recognize and accept the presence of stress, (2) engage in emotional regulation and control negative emotions, and (3) practice self-distancing from the stressor to gain an outsider’s perspective of the stressful context. To persist, you would need to (1) plan for the future through goal setting, (2) recognize a broader perspective when obstacles arise, (3) determine what brings meaning to your life, and (4) become flexible to determine new pathways to goals. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention(opens in new window) and the American Heart Association(opens in new window) offer other coping strategies.
Coping Strategies \(\PageIndex{1}\)
Coping strategies are the ways we manage stress. In intercultural contexts, coping includes general strategies (problem-focused, emotion-focused) and approaches tailored to identity-based stressors.
Individual Coping Strategies
Perspective-Taking and Empathy: Trying to see from another’s cultural point of view to reduce misunderstandings.
Cognitive Reframing: Shifting how you interpret stressful events (e.g., changing “They don’t respect me” to “They may not understand my culture yet”).
Assertive Communication: Speaking up against bias or stereotyping in a respectful, clear way.
Intentional Self-Care: Mindfulness, journaling, and stress management techniques.
Social and Community Support
Cultural Communities and Co-Cultures: Drawing strength from those who share your background or values.
Allies and Supportive Relationships: Seeking out peers, mentors, and groups who affirm your identity.
Intercultural Dialogue: Engaging in conversations that build mutual understanding and reduce ethnocentrism.
To understand coping as a process, we need to understand people’s reaction to stress in context. This includes assessing whether the coping thoughts or actions are good or bad for that given challenge and given context. In addition, the process of coping includes the particular person, the particular encounters with the stressor, the time of the person’s reactions, and the outcome being examined. Practical Application 13.1 can help you examine your reaction to stress and understand your coping process.
Understanding Stress in Your Life \(\PageIndex{1}\)
Think about an important, stressful experience in your life:
What was stressful about it for you?
Was it a short-term or a long-term situation?
What thing did you do to cope with this experience?
What resources helped you cope with this stressful experience?
How did your experience affect you as a person?
What did you learn or how did you grow through this experience?
Individuals who experience significant and chronic stressors are often referred to as being “at-risk” of something, whether it be poor school performance, problems with alcohol or drugs, or engaging in illegal activities. However, not all individuals “at risk” of negative outcomes end up struggling with the outcomes. Some people are able to avoid negative outcomes and even thrive despite the adversity they face. Why is it that some people are successful in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles?
These questions were at the heart of early studies of resilience. Resilience is a dynamic process characterized by positive outcomes despite adversity or stress (Luthar, Crossman, & Small, 2015). In other words, resilience refers to how people maintain, or in some cases develop, healthy and positive outcomes in spite of stressful situations. The study of resilience stemmed from researchers who began to notice that a subset of their participants, often children facing significant adversity, did well despite their difficult circumstances. For example, Garmezy (1974) studied children of parents with schizophrenia. Among this group of at-risk children, all were expected to struggle in various aspects of life and likely develop schizophrenia. But a subset of children exhibited surprisingly positive and adaptive behavioral patterns despite their level of risk. Another large-scale study recruited all of the children born on the island of Kauai, Hawaii (Werner, 1996). The original goal of the study was to assess the long-term consequences of stressful living environments (e.g., family discord, divorce, parental alcoholism, mental illness). Most of the children living in these stressful environments struggled academically and behaviorally. However, one-third of these “high-risk” children did not develop learning or behavioral problems; in fact, many of them thrived. Studies like these helped to shift our focus from a deficits-only approach to one more able to consider both deficits and strengths.
Resilient children were thought to have been invulnerable and able to weather any storm. Traits found to characterize resilience include high creativity, effectiveness, competence, and ability to relate well to others. Now, resilience is viewed as the interaction between the person and their environment, and given the right combination of individual and environmental supports, it might be possible for anyone to be resilient. From a Community Psychology perspective, research had found that these children are positively affected by their immediate and extended family networks and religious organizations (Wright et al., 2013).
“Resilience does not come from the rare and special qualities, but from the everyday magic or ordinary, normative human resources in … children, in their families and relationships, and in their communities.” (Masten, 2001, pp. 235)
So far, we have considered resilience as an individual construct. Individuals can be resilient to adversity. However, it is also possible to apply this idea of resilience to groups of people. Community resilience is the collective ability of a defined group of people to deal with change or adversity effectively (Aldrich & Meyer, 2015). When adversity, like a disaster, financial struggle, or war strikes a community, will the community as a whole be able to overcome and bounce back?
Resilient communities often have many characteristics in common. Communities that are resilient frequently have access to both resources and relationships that support resilient outcomes. An important element of community resilience includes members’ knowledge of their own community, both its weaknesses and strengths. In addition, resilient communities have strong community social networks in which people work together to achieve goals, with competent governance and leadership. Often there is also an economic investment, both before and after adversity strikes. Another important factor is individual, family, and government preparedness. And finally, resilient communities have positive attitudes and an acceptance of change (Patel, Rogers, Amlôt, & Rubin, 2017). Both research and community work is now being done to help communities build these resources and relationships to protect against adversity.
Building Resiliencein Intercultural Communication \(\PageIndex{1}\)
Resilience is the capacity to recover and adapt in the face of challenges. Intercultural resilience means developing tools to face prejudice, ethnocentrism, and miscommunication while maintaining a strong sense of self.
Protective factors include:
A positive cultural identity.
Social support networks.
Confidence in communication skills.
Cultural humility and openness.
Positive intergroup contact experiences.
Reflection and Practice
Reflect on a time when you experienced or observed intercultural stress. What caused it? How did it affect communication?
Which coping strategies have you used in intercultural situations? Which new ones might you try?
How might you show resilience in the face of stereotyping or discrimination?
What can organizations do to reduce intercultural stress in schools, workplaces, or communities?
References
Aldrich, D. P., & Meyer, M. A. (2015). Social capital and community resilience. AmericanBehavioral Scientist, 59(2), 254–269.
Barker, G. (2007). Adolescents, social support and help-seeking behavior. An international literature review and programme consultation with recommendations for action. Geneva, Switzerland: Instituto Promundo, Brazil.
Chen, E., & Miller, G. E. (2012). “Shift-and-Persist” strategies: Why low socioeconomic status isn’t always bad for health. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(2), 135-158.
Clarke, A. T. (2006). Coping with interpersonal stress and psychosocial health among children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(1), 11-24.
Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2005). Coping: Pitfalls and promise. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 745-774.
Garmezy, N. (1974). Children at risk: The search for the antecedents of schizophrenia. Part I. Conceptual model and research methods. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 1(8), 14- 90.
Jason, L.A., Glantsman, O., O’Brien, J. F., & Ramian, K. N. (2019). Introduction to the field of Community Psychology. In L. A. Jason, O. Glantsman, J. F. O’Brien, & K. N. Ramian (Eds.), Introduction to Community Psychology: Becoming an agent of change. R
Jason, L. A., & Burrows, B. (1983). Transition training for high school seniors. CognitiveTherapy and Research, 7(1), 79-92.
Luthar, S. S., Crossman, E. J., & Small, P. J. (2015). Resilience and adversity. In R. M. Lerner, & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science (7th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 247-286). New York, NY: Wiley.
Lawlor, J. A., Hunter, B. A., Jason. L. A., & Rosing, H. B. (2014). Natural mentoring in Oxford House recovery homes: A preliminary analysis. Journal of Groups in Addiction Recovery, 52, 126–142.
Lazarus, R. S. (1993) Coping theory and research: Past, present, and future. Psychometric Medicine, 55, 234-247.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Springer.
Masten, A. S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56, 227-238.
Patel, S. S., Rogers, M. B., Amlôt, R., & Rubin, G. J. (2017). What do we mean by ‘community resilience’? A systematic literature review of how it is defined in the literature. PLoS currents, 9, ecurrents.dis.db775aff25efc5ac4f0660ad9c9f7db2.
Wright M. O., Masten A. S., & Narayan A. J. (2013). Resilience processes in development: Four waves of research on positive adaptation in the context of adversity. In S. Goldstein, & R. Brooks (Eds.), Handbook of Resilience in Children. Springer, Boston, MA
Skinner E. A., Edge, K., Altman, J., & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: A Review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 216-269.
Werner, E. E. (1996). How children become resilient: Observations and causations. Resiliency inAction, 1(1), 18-28.
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