Week 10/11

1. Week 10/11 • Intercultural Communication

2. What is Culture Shock? • Culture shock is the stress and the feeling of disorientation you experience in a new culture • Sojourners, or temporary visitors are most susceptible to experiencing some degree of culture shock • Learning more about people’s culture shock experiences, you can: • develop new knowledge • display more respectful attitudes • learn to apply more flexible intercultural skills

3. Understanding Culture Shock • Culture shock is experienced whenever anyone uproots themselves from a familiar setting and moves to an unfamiliar one • an emotional experience of highly intense emotions followed by behavioral confusion and cognitive disorientation • short-term sojourners and long-term immigrants can experience culture shock occurs at different stages of adaptation • Ex. of sojourners: international students, businesspersons, diplomats, journalists, military personnel, or Peace Corps volunteers

4. Characteristics • Text’s def. of culture shock - a stressful transitional period when individuals move from a familiar environment into an unfamiliar one • every interaction moment could create unintentional awkwardness or stress. • unfamiliarity creates a perceived threat, and a perceived threat triggers fear and emotional vulnerability. • According to Oberg (1960), culture shock involves: • 1) a sense of identity loss and identity deprivation with regard to values, status, profession, friends, and possessions • 2) identity strain as a result of the effort required to make necessary psychological adaptation

5. Characteristics (cont.) • 3) identity rejection by members of the new culture • 4) identity confusion, especially concerning role ambiguity and unpredictability • 5) identity powerlessness as a result of not being able to cope with the new environment • ABC’s of culture shock: • Affectively: anxiety, bewilderment, confusion, disorientation, perplexity as well as the intense desire to be somewhere else • Behavioral: confusion stage in terms of norms and rules • Cognitive disorientation: lack cultural interpretive competence to explain “bizarre” behaviors

6. Pros & Cons • negative: • psychosomatic problems (stomachaches etc.) due to stress • affective upheavals such as feelings of loneliness, isolation, depression, and drastic mood swings • interaction awkwardness due to the inability to perform optimally in the new language and nonverbal postures • cognitive exhaustion due to difficulties in making accurate attributions • positive: • a sense of well-being • heightened positive self-esteem • emotional richness and enhanced tolerance for ambiguity • behavioral competence in social interaction, cognitive openness and flexibility • an enhanced optimism about self, others, and everyday surroundings

7. Underlying Factors • motivational orientation - voluntary vs. involuntary • personal expectations - realistic and positive expectations generally results in successful adaptation • cultural distance - cultural values, language, verbal styles, nonverbal gestures, learning styles, decision-making styles, and conflict negotiation styles, as well as religious, sociopolitical , and economic systems • sociocultural adjustment - ability to fit in and execute appropriate and effective interactions in a new cultural environment • factors include the quality or quantity of relations with host nationals and the length of residence in the host country; culture-specific knowledge , language fluency as well as the previously mentioned factors are related to lower levels of sociocultural difficulty • psychological adjustment - feelings of well-being and satisfaction during cross-cultural transitions (Table 5.1); primary vs. secondary strategies • personality attributes - personality traits such as tolerance for ambiguity, internal control, personal flexibility, and mastery can contribute to good adjustment and positive psychological well-being

8. Managing Culture Shock • 1) increase motivations to learn about the new culture • 2) keep realistic expectations and increase familiarity concerning the various aspects of the new culture • 3) increase linguistic fluency and learn why, how, and under what situations certain phrases or gestures are appropriate as well as understanding the core cultural values linked to specific behaviors • 4) work on tolerance for ambiguity and other flexible personal attributes • 5) develop strong ties (close friends), and weak ties (acquaintanceships) to manage identity stress and loneliness • 6) be mindful of the host culture’s interpersonal behaviors and get rid of ethnocentric evaluations

9. Intercultural Adjustment • short-term and medium-term adaptive process of sojourners in overseas assignments • Tourists don’t count towards IA although they can experience culture shock • Sojourners try to achieve instrumental goals (task-based) as well as socio-emotional (relational, recreational, and personal development) goals

10. U-Curve Adjustment Model • Lysgaard U-Curve: honeymoon phase, “slump” or stressful phase followed by pulling themselves back up to an effective phase in the IA process • Gullahorn six-stage W-shaped model: successive honeymoon, hostility, humorous, at-home, reentry culture shock, and re-socialization stages

11. The Revised W-Shaped Adjustment Model • Figure 5.1 Seven stages: • the honeymoon • hostility • humorous • in-sync • ambivalence • reentry culture shock • re-socialization

12. Peaks & Valleys • 1) need to understand the peaks and valleys, or positive and negative shifts; the roller-coaster ride is part of the process • 2) need to be aware and keep track of their instrumental, relational, and identity goals in the new culture • 3) need to give themselves time and space to adjust • 4) need to develop strong ties and weak ties to support themselves and seek help in times of crisis • 5) need to reach out to participate in the host culture’s major cultural events and immerse themselves in a once-in-a-lifetime experience • model consist of back-and-forth looping movements

13. Reentry Culture Shock a.k.a Reverse Culture Shock • the realignment of one’s new identity with a once familiar home environment • Elements that affect reentry culture shock: • sojourners’ identity change • nostalgic and idealized images of their home culture • difficulty in reintegrating themselves into their old career path • letdown in their expectations as to close ties • family and friends’ lack of interest in listening • home culture’s demand for conformity • absence of change in the home culture

14. Resocialization • Three profiles: • Resocialized returnees • Alienated returnees • Proactive returnees

15. Culture Shock Video • After reading Ch. 5, can you think of any additional ways to deal with/overcome/battle culture shock? • OR What do you think is the most important tip for managing culture shock? • Video: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjQ1OTI4ODQ=.html • What are some more examples of manifestations/experiences of culture shock we saw in the video of Kyrgyzstan students in London?

16. Project 2 • First, I have listed 31 cultures/ethnicities/ethnic identities/cultural identities/ethnocultural groups/cultural communities on separate pieces of paper, not including dominant cultures in China or America.   • I will then have us each pick out one slip of paper from a bag.  • You’ll informally present the project during May 9, or week 11’s class (make up class from 2-3:50 p.m. in SC312). • The assignment will be as follows:  • Explore the perceptions, stereotypes, or generalizations you have for that culture/community/ethnicity OR what cultural knowledge you possess.  • After doing some general research (Wikipedia is acceptable), you will report your findings to the class. Are your perceptions, stereotypes, or generalizations true? Not true?  • Give one tip for managing culture shock in your selected cultural community/ethnicity... • During our make up class, you will discuss your findings, NOT present them. No visuals allowed. I will also participate. 2-3 minutes worth of discussion. I'll let you discuss from your seat or informally in front of the class.  

17. Project #2 • 1) drug cartels, poverty, strong sense of familial ties, day of the dead (holiday) • 2) a. hold an elaborate ceremony such as velorio, which appears like a big party celebrating the person’s life as she or he actually lived it fully • b. like to experience life and people around them fully in the present; comes from the cultural belief in the concept of “limited good” - “there is only so much good in the world and therefore, only so much good is possible in any one person’s life.” Therefore, experiencing the rhythms of life in the present and temporarily forgetting about he day’s worries is a learned cultural art. Living life fully and relating to family and friends through meaningful connections make a lot of sense to traditionally-oriented Mexicans. • 3) If we were to travel to Mexico it would be good to know what’s served for breakfast to manage any adverse culture shock. A typical Mexican breakfast: Chilies with eggs, beans, or spicy sausages, sweet bread or rolls.

18. Culture Shock group work • Culture Shock group work: • Find one real world example of culture shock.  • Multimedia format such as video, photo, article, OR blog entry  • Keep it short. You do not need to email it to me prior to class. Therefore, you need to consider giving a VERY BRIEF summary or introduction. • Prepare to discuss your findings, observations, analysis, commentary etc., NOT present it. • Only one item per group  • Prepare for May 13 or week 12‘s class

19. Week 10 Assignments • Review Culture Shock chapter • Prep Project #2 for our make up class on Friday, May 9, week 11’s class. • Students will present Culture shock group work on Tuesday, May 13, week 12’s class.