Cultural Adjustment is Natural and Empowering

© 2009, Dr. Sandi M. Sm i t h, Di rect or of I nst i tut i onal Rel at i ons, G l obal Learni ng
Sem est er s

I have literally had students tell me tha t they are seriously “afraid” of
experiencing “culture shock” and this very real fear influences…
1) whether a student actually decides to participate in study abroad,
2) stressful preparations before going on study abroad, and
3) anxiety upon arrival at study abroad location and weeks into the
program.

Because of a choice of words (i.e., shock, hostility phase) and lack of

meaningful information for students ab out transition adjust ment, so me
students experience unnecessary e mot ional stress related to their study
abroad experience.

There is no reason why we should be contributing to the anxiety of

students exploring international experience with o minous descriptions and
synony ms. It is important that we use meaningful language when
describing cultural adjust ment and that we look to standardize a relevant
curriculum that will be read, understood, and practiced by students.

Al most every student preparing for study abroad has already experienced
a significant transition adjust ment in life, and thus can draw fro m previous
experience to make sen se of cultural adjust ment. I would like to offer a
curriculum that dra ws fro m a student’s cache of kno wledge and
experience, and then make meaningful connections to teachable mo ments
in guiding students through cultural adjust ment.

W hy would we ever use the word “shock” to describe transition

adjust ment? Does anyone ever arrive in another country and experience
what the O xford American Dictionary describes as “a sudden violent effect
upon a person’s mind or e motion” or an acute state of physical [or
e motional] collapse caused by pain or mental unpreparedness.” W hether
conscious or not, when students hear so meone mention “culture shock”,
they imagine so mething akin to a jolt, or a zap, or a tre mor, or a shake-
up. Shock is not a relevant word to use to describe what students
experience in a new culture. Oh, I just saw a wo man in my host country
with hairy armpits and legs – zzzaaaap ppp! !!! Yikes, I just realized that it
is common for people to arrive later to meetings than the announced time
– punch in the gut! W ell, I just sa w a tattered looking child on the street
take a pee in the bushes – physical an d mental collapse! No, I don’t think
so. But the o minous language that some people use to describe what
students will experience when they go to study abroad may plant
co mpletely irrelevant images in their mind and seeds of anxiety.

The culture learning that all of us experience when going to a new place
is a transition or adaptation process. W hether moving fro m Stockton,
California to Manhattan, or from Catho lic school to public school, or from
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the U.S. to Cyprus… there is an inevitable transition adjust ment that

impacts e veryone.
T ransition adjustme nt is a physical and psyc hological process of
adapting to people, place, values, or routi ne that is differe nt from
what you a re used to.
Likewise, when transferred to another culture, we lose all the familiar
cues we kne w fro m our o wn culture (body language, familiar signs and
symbols...).

Adaptation is necessary in everyday life when encountering differences.

You may feel that new things are too difficult to deal with or you may feel
that differences are “wrong” because it is not the way I do things
(co mmunicating, making friends, getting around, etc.). Everyone,
regardless of maturity, te mpera ment, p revious experience or knowledge
will experience effects of transition adjustment. For so me, ad just ment
may see m effortless and for others, problematic. Transition adjust ment is
a natural process, and nothing for which you should be afraid or ashamed.

Forcing us to “make sense” of differences aro und us, tra nsition

adjustme nt challe nges eve ry one of our natural se nses (sight, sound,
smell, taste, and touc h) along with o ur cac he of knowledge and
experience.

If your fa mily ever moved, you e xperienced transition adjust ment.

If you ever changed schools, you expe rienced transition adjust ment.
W hen you started attending college, you experienced transition
adjust ment.
W hen you get married, you e xperience transition adjust ment.
W hen you change jobs, you e xperience transition adjust ment.

I found an interesting blog from a stud y abroad student (source:

http://www.ifsa-butler.org/blog/?p=71, January 28, 2009)

“I’ve been told several times that when you study abroad there are 5 phases you
typically go through. I don’t remember all of them, but I do remember it included a
honeymoon phase, a low period of frustration, and then getting used to your new
surroundings. It sounded unlikely to me, however it has actually happened somewhat
like that. At first I was uber excited about everything and ready to learn and explore
everything new. I thought it would just be like that all semester, but the honeymoon is
definitely over.”

The student goes on to describe her first fe w days at her host institution
and the differences she is experiencing. I have no doubt that she
progressed from the “honeymoon phase” as she says and entered into a
phase of disillusionment or frustration. Ho wever, it is important that the
student also realize that there will be other phases co ming and what to
expect.

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Phases of Ad just ment

There has been a lot of “cut and paste” publication of the “stages of
culture shock”. Culture shock was a te r m supposedly coined by Kalvero
Oberg in 1960, along with a description of the U-curve “stages”. Oberg
characterized the symp to ms of cultural shock as “the fear of the
possibility to lose the originality and typical features of the personal
culture” based on a psychological response to adaptation.

Oberg, Kalvero (1960): Culture Shock and the Problem of Adjustment in New Cultural Environments. In:
Weaver, Gary R. (Ed.)(1998): Culture, Communication and Conflict. Readings in Intercultural Relations.
Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster Publishing.

Ho wever, there is overwhel ming conse nsus that the anecdotal explanation
of the “stages of culture shock” is a very real phenomenon that students
should understand.

Again, I will not choose to use the inappropriate term “shock”, and thus
speak of ad just ment instead. Furthermore, ad just ment is not a
consistently linear process and thus I prefer not to use the ter m “stages”.

Transition adjust ment (and more specifically adjust ment in a ne w country)

see ms to be a fluid, cyclical and reoccurring dynamic. Thus, every person
does not experience ad just ment in the sa me ti me fra me, influenced by the
sa me characteristics, neither in a linear fashion. Adjust ment so meti mes
feels like one step forward and t wo ste ps back.

Ho wever, I do find it useful to describe the process through multiple

distinct phases and then allow for the dyna mics of reoccurring phases.

Habitually, the phases are described as a “honey moon” phase, “hostility”

phase, “adjust ment” and then “adaptation. So me will also add in a
“recovery” phase after “hostility” and others will also add the “re-entry” or
“re-acculturation” phase when travelers return ho me.

Unsupported by e mpirical evidence, I would say that the first stage of any
transition is usually felt through either exhilaration or anxiety. Because
most students self-select study abroad, thus begin the process with
positive feelings about the impending experience, most a ssert that the
first phase will be exhilaration and excitement. Ho wever, I would e xpect
that there are plenty of students beginning their study abroad experience
with just as much (if not more) an xiety as excite ment. And then, those
initially feeling more an xiety will soon grow into the e xcite ment once they
find their fears to be abated by reality or their fear of the unknown to be
manageable.

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7. 9. I nt egr ati on

5. A dapt at ion

2. E xh il ar at i on
8.

3. Fr ustr at io 4 . R ec o v e r y

6. Dis illusionment
1. An xi et y

St ud y A br oad T r ans it i on A dj us t m en t , S an d i M . S mi th , Ed .D. 2 0 09 .

1. An xiety: unans wered questions, misinformation, unfounded concerns,

lack of support, fear of the unknown.

2. Exhilaration: excite ment, adventure , exploring, quaint, beautiful,

delicious, comforting similarities.

3. Frustration: communications, transportation, logistics, utilities, things

unfa miliar.

4. Recovery: try again, so meone listened, so meone e mpathetic, so meone

helped, reme mbered goals.

5. Adaptation: adjust ment, ne w skills, new kno wledge, ne w perspective.

6. Disillusionment: misunderstanding, anger, marginalization, loneliness.

7. Understanding: values, deeper aspects of culture, acceptance, respect.

8. W eariness: tired of learning and adapting, irritability.

9. Integration: making meaning of ne w e xperiences and influences and

incorporating broader perspectives into acade mics, career pursuits, and
core being.