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Social Sci LibreTexts

7: Culture Shock

  • Page ID
    305316
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    Learning Objectives
    • Define culture shock and identify common causes
    • Describe the affective, behavioral, and cognitive components of culture shock
    • Illustrate W-Shape Model of Culture Shock
    • Summarize tips to manage feelings of culture shock

    • 7.1: Introduction to Culture Shock
      This page explores culture shock, illustrated through a family's immigration journey from Taiwan to the U.S. It highlights the challenges faced in adapting from a collectivistic to an individualistic culture, explaining the term as coined by anthropologist Kalervo Oberg. The necessity for cultural adaptation in a globally mobile world is emphasized, supported by travel trend statistics. The page concludes with strategies for effectively handling culture shock.
    • 7.2: The ABCs of Culture Shock
      This page explores culture shock as an emotional response to adapting to new cultures, detailing its affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions. Factors like motivation, cultural distance, and sociocultural adjustment are evaluated, along with personality traits affecting individual experiences.
    • 7.3: Models of Culture Shock
      This page explores culture shock and various models of cultural adjustment, including Lysgaard’s U-Curve Model, W-Curve Model, and Ting-Toomey and Chung’s Revised W-Shape Model. It outlines the emotional journey involved, detailing stages such as preparation, honeymoon, hostility, humor, and resocialization upon returning home, emphasizing the complexities and challenges of adapting to new cultures.
    • 7.4: Growing Your Intercultural Communication Skills to Manage Culture Shock
      This page explores strategies for managing culture shock in new environments, emphasizing the importance of acknowledgment, research, essential language skills, and local relationships. It advises balancing familiar and new experiences while tolerating ambiguity and reducing uncertainty to combat ethnocentrism. Social media's role in cultural understanding is noted, along with the risks of FOMO. Ultimately, preparation and openness are vital for successfully navigating cultural transitions.
    • 7.5: Conclusion
      This page discusses culture shock and emphasizes the importance of attitude in coping with it. Developing a positive mindset and trusting oneself and others enhances experiences beyond mere sightseeing. It highlights the role of genuine connections in overcoming stress during travels.


    7: Culture Shock is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Angela Hoppe-Nagao & Kim Yee, Cerritos College..