What is culture shock?

1. When individuals transfer into new cultural contexts, many experience a sense of disorientation and anxiety. • The amount of culture shock experienced is related to how much the individual interacts with the new environment’s civilization • Migrants experience a great amount of culture shock from crossing cultural boundaries • Cultural training is an effective way to prepare for issues of ethnocentrism What is culture shock?

2. Adjustments for facilitating growth • Control reactions when cultural assumptions are challenged. • Embrace differences; but not all values are created equal • Engage in the culture • Be able to laugh at yourself about cultural misunderstandings. • Patience, adjusting takes time. • It’s O.K. to have moments of frustration and anger • Keep track of individual identity change -Smith, 2002 Adjustment to a new culture

3. When someone is away from home for a long period of time, they find it difficult to reenter their original environment and adjust back into their old surroundings. • The returnees experience a W-curve theory, which consists of: • The excitement of returning home • Experiencing culture shock because the environment was different than expected • Steady adjustment through the reentry process Reentry processes

4. adaptation to a new culture vs. Reentry • When the sojourner travels to a new place, they are fundamentally the same and looking to experience a new culture • Friends and family members expect the individual to be a little more educated but generally the same as they were before • When reentering the original environment, the sojourner has changed through adaptation and has become a diverse character • When an individual returns to their home, they have gained a great amount of knowledge and skill that has drastically changed them