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Culture Shock

I would like to make a few remarks about culture shock, a malady which afflicts most of us to some degree.  We might almost call culture shock an occupational disease of many people who have been suddenly transplanted abroad

  Customs, cues, norms

Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. 

These signs are the thousand and one ways in which we orient ourselves to the situations of daily life:

"...an occupational disease"

• when to shake hands and what to say when we meet people, 
• when and how to give tips, 
• how to make purchases, 
• when to accept and when to refuse invitations, 
• when to take statements seriously and when not.

All of us depend for our peace of mind and our efficiency on hundreds of these cues, most of which are unconsciously learned.

When an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar cues are removed. He or she is like a fish out of water. 

No matter how broad-minded or full of good will he may be, a series of props have been knocked from under him.

This is followed by a feeling of frustration and anxiety. People react to the frustration in much the same way. First they reject the environment which causes the discomfort: "the ways of the host country are bad because they make us feel bad."

For example Americans who are in a strange land get together to grouse about the host country and its people, you can be sure they are suffering from culture shock.

Another phase of culture shock is regression. The home environment suddenly assumes a tremendous importance, everything becomes irrationally glorified. 

All difficulties and problems are forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered. It usually takes a trip home to bring one back to reality.

Excessive concern over cleanliness and the feeling that what is new and strange is "dirty."  This could be in relation to drinking water, food, dishes, and bedding;  fear of physical contact with attendants or servants.   A feeling of helplessness and a desire for dependence on long-term residents of one's own nationality;    Irritation over delays and other minor frustrations out of proportion to their causes;    Delay and outright refusal to learn the language of the host country;    Excessive fear of being cheated, robbed, or injured;    Great concern over minor pains and irruptions of the skin; and finally,    that terrible longing to be back home, to be in familiar surroundings, to visit one's relatives, and, in general, to talk to people who really "make sense."

Individuals differ greatly in the degree in which culture shock affects them. Although not common, there are individuals who cannot live in foreign countries. 

Those who have seen people go through a serious case of culture shock and on to a satisfactory adjustment can discern these steps in the process.

The honeymoon stage

During the first few weeks most individuals are fascinated by the new. They stay in hotels and associate with nationals who speak their language and are polite and gracious to foreigners. 

This honeymoon stage may last from a few days or weeks to six months depending on circumstances. 

If one is a very important person he or she will be taken to the show places, pampered and petted, and in a press interview will speak glowingly about progress, goodwill, and international amity. 

If he returns home may well write a book about his pleasant if superficial experience abroad.

But this "Cook's tour" type of mentality does not normally last if the foreign visitor remains abroad and has to seriously cope with real conditions of life.

They help but they just don't understand your great concern over these difficulties. Therefore, they must be insensitive and unsympathetic to you and your worries. The result, "I just don't like them." 

You become aggressive, you band together with your fellow countrymen and criticize the host country, its ways and its people.

This criticism is not an objective appraisal but a derogatory one. Instead of trying to account for conditions as they are through an honest analysis of the actual conditions and the historical circumstances which have created them, you talk as if the difficulties you experience are more or less created by the people of the host country for your special discomfort. 

You take refuge in the company of your countrymen and this cocktail circuit becomes the fountainhead of emotionally charged labels knows as stereotypes. 

This is a peculiar kind of shorthand which caricatures the host country and its people in a negative manner.

  Stereotypes

The "dollar grasping American" and the "indolent Latin American" are samples of mild forms of stereotypes. 

The use of stereotypes may salve the ego of someone with a severe case of culture shock but it certainly does not lead to any genuine understanding of the host country and its people.

This second stage of culture shock is in a sense a crisis in the disease. If you overcome it you stay, if not, you leave before you reach the stage of a nervous breakdown.

Culture shock is lessened as the visitor succeeds in getting some knowledge of the language and begins to get around by himself. 

Stage Three

 This is the beginning of his adjustment to the new cultural environment. The visitor still has difficulties but he takes a "this is my cross and I have to bear it" attitude. 

Usually in this stage the visitor takes a superior attitude toward people of the host country. His sense of humor begins to exert itself. Instead of criticizing he makes jokes about the people and even cracks jokes about his or her own difficulties. 

He or she is now on the way to recovery. And there is still the poor devil who is worse off than yourself whom you can help, which in turn gives you confidence in your ability to speak and get around.

He can operate within the new milieu without a feeling of anxiety although there are moments of strain. Only with a complete grasp of all the cues of social intercourse will this strain disappear.

For a long time the individual will understand what the national is saying, but he is not always sure what the national means. 

When you go back home on leave you may even take things back with you and if you leave for good you generally miss the country and the people to whom you have become accustomed.

It might be well to point out that the difficulties which the newcomer experiences are very real. 

If individuals come to a tropical area from a temperate one they quite often suffer from intestinal disturbances. Strange foods sometimes upset people. 

In Rio, for instance, water and power shortages are very real. When these physical difficulties are added to those arising from not knowing how to communicate and the uncertainties presented by customs the consequent frustrations and anxieties are understandable.


In the course of time, an individual makes this adjustment. You do what is essential about water, food, and the other minutiae of daily life. You adapt yourself to water and power shortages and to traffic problems. 

In short, the environment does not change. What has changed is your attitude towards it. 

Somehow it no longer troubles you, you no longer project your discomforts onto the people of the host country and their ways. You get along under a new set of living conditions.

  Your attitude

If you are frustrated and have an aggressive attitude to the people of the host country, they will sense this hostility and in many cases respond in either a hostile manner or try to avoid you. 

In other words, their response moves from a preliminary phase of ingratiation to aggressive ridicule and on to avoidance.

To your own countrymen who are well adjusted you become somewhat of a problem. 

As you feel weak in the face of the host country people you tend to wish to increase your dependence on your fellow countrymen much more than is normal. Some will try to help you, others will try to avoid you.

The better your fellow countryman understands your condition the better he is able to help you. But the difficulty is that culture shock has not been studied carefully enough for people to help you in an organized manner and you continue to be considered a bit queer- until you adjust yourself to the new situation.

  A lack of understanding

There is a great difference in knowing what is the cause of your disturbance and not knowing.

Once you realize that your trouble is due to your own lack of understanding of other people's cultural background and your own lack of the means of communication rather than the hostility of an alien environment, you also realize that you yourself can gain this understanding and these means of communication. 

And the sooner you do this, the sooner culture shock will disappear.

--What can you do to get over culture shock as quickly as possible? 

The answer is to get to know the people of that host country.

That's why learning the language of the host counrty is vital.

Learning a new language is difficult, particularly to adults. This task alone is quite enough to cause frustration and anxiety, no matter how skillful the language teacher.

But once you begin to be able to carry on a friendly conversation with your maid, your neighbor, or to go on shopping trips alone, you not only gain confidence and a feeling of power but a whole new world of cultural meanings open up for you. 

You begin to find out not only what and how people do things but also what their interests are.

These interests people usually express by what they habitually talk about and how they allocate their time and money. 

  The source of pain

 Persons suffering from culture shock feel weak in the face of conditions which appear insufferable and it is natural for them to try to lean heavily on their compatriots.

This may be irritating to the long-term resident, but he should be patient, sympathetic, and understanding. Although talking does not remove pain, a great deal is gained by having the source explained.

Some of the steps toward a cure have been indicated. With patience and understanding, we can be reasonably sure that time, the great healer, will soon set things right.

This material is based on the original article by Dr. Lalervo Oberg, Anthropologist; Health, Welfare and Housing Division; United States Operations Mission to Brazil

Culture Shock & The Problem Of Adjustment To New Cultural Environments

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