1. Chapter 4 Cultural Shock

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Topics
Stages of Cultural Shock
Alleviating Cultural Shock
Aspects of Cultural Shock
Relationships and Family Considerations
Public and Private Self
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Topics
Cultural shock is
the trauma you experience when you move into a culture different from your home culture
frustrations may include
- lack of food
- unacceptable standards of cleanliness
different bathroom facilities
fear for personal safety
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Culture shock includes
- hearing yes for no
- having to bargain
- having laughter used for
anger
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On her first day of teaching at the local university in La Paz, Bolivia, Katherine Montague of Atlanta, Georgia, asked directions to the ladies’ room. Upon entering, she observed three males using urinals and made a hasty retreat. After her U.S. colleagues explained that all restrooms were unisex, Katherine decided to take a taxi to her hotel.
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6. Major Symptoms of Cultural Shock
Homesickness
Boredom
Withdrawal (avoiding contact with host nationals)
Need for excessive amounts of sleep
Compulsive eating/drinking
Irritability
Exaggerated cleanliness
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Marital stress
Family tension and conflict
Chauvinistic excesses
Stereotyping of host nationals
Hostility toward host nationals
Loss of ability to work effectively
Unexplainable fits of weeping
Physical ailments (psychosomatic illnesses)
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8. Asia Shock has five progressive stages:
Frustration with the culture, which includes the language, food, and an exasperation with local customs.
Unwillingness to understand the rationale behind the local ways of doing things.
Ethnocentricity; U.S. persons label Asians as dishonest because they say one thing and do another; consider face-saving as dishonest.
Racism – use of unflattering labels for Asians (Japs).
Avoidance of the culture; U.S. persons form clubs rather than intermingle with people of the culture.
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9. Strategies for Coping with a New Culture During Short Visits
Nonacceptance of the host culture; traveler behaves as he/she would in the home culture.
Substitution - The traveler learns the appropriate responses/behaviors in the host culture and substitutes these responses/behaviors for the ones ordinarily used in the home culture.
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Addition - The person adds the behavior of the host culture when in the presence of nationals but maintains the home culture behavior with others of the same culture.
Synthesis - Integrates or combines elements of the two cultures, such as combining U.S. dress and that of the Philippines.
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Resynthesis - The integration of ideas not found in either culture (U.S. traveler to China chooses to eat neither American nor Chinese food, but prefers Italian).
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12. Stages of Cultural Shock
Stage 1: Excitement and fascination with the new culture; the "honeymoon" stage.
Stage 2: Crisis or disenchantment period; excitement has turned to disappointment.
Stage 3: Adjustment phase; you begin to accept the new culture, try new foods, see the humor in situations.
Stage 4: Acceptance or adaptation phase; feel at home in the new culture and become involved in activities of the culture.
Stage 5: Reentry shock; follows the stages identified earlier: initial euphoria, crisis or disenchantment, adjustment, and adaptation.
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U-Curve
Honeymoon
Reentry
Crisis
Acceptance
Adjustment
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W-Curve
Theory of cultural shock that explains that reentry actually takes the form of a second U-curve (thus forming a “W”) with a repetition of the stages experienced during initial adjustment to the foreign culture.
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15. Problems Related to Reentry Shock
Finding a new niche in the corporate structure at home.
Adjusting to lower standards of living.
Problems reestablishing personal and professional relationships.
Dealing with readjustment problems of children, including the difference in their educational experience abroad.
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Repatriation
Returnee expectations—realistic positions
Returnee feelings of alienation and isolation can cause trauma
Returnee can feel cultural dissonance caused by
personnel changes
new company policies and procedures
different performance valuation methods
different benefits and compensation
different job responsibilities
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To alleviate cultural shock, try to see the environment from the perspective of the host nationals.
Replace the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you) with
The Platinum Rule (Do unto others as they would have done unto them).
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18. Alleviating Cultural Shock by Careful Selection of Overseas Personnel
Sensitive, cooperative, able to compromise
Open to others' opinions
Reaction to new situations; appreciation of cultural differences
Understanding of own values and aware-ness of values in other cultures
Reaction to criticism
Understanding of U.S. government system
Ability to develop contacts in new culture
Patience and resiliency
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Training Models
Intellectual or classroom model - involves giving facts about the host country using a variety of instructional methods
Area training or simulation model - emphasizes affective goals, culture specific content, and experiential processes
Self-awareness or human relations model - based on the assumption that the trainee with self-understanding will be more effective in the overseas assignment
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Cultural awareness model - emphasizes cultural insight and stresses affective goals and an experiential process
Interaction approach - participants interact with people in the host country
Multidimensional approach - attempts to combine cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of training
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Feedback and Rewards
Appraisal and reward system must reflect the purpose and expectations of the assignment (profit or building a presence in the country).
Reward systems include special allowances for housing, hardship, home leave, medical, taxes, etc.
Reward system must compensate for what U.S. persons are leaving behind and must be based on the idea of equity (the ratio between what is contributed and what is received).
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22. Developing Employees to Their Potential
Plan for repatriation, including reasons for the assignment and how the employee will contribute to the company upon his/her return.
Allow adequate time for readjustment before employee reports to work.
Provide appropriate compensation for transition expenses.
Assist in locating proper housing.
Show appreciation to family for their contributions.
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23. Success or Failure Due To:
Self-efficacy
Prior international experience
Age
Cross-cultural fluency
Interpersonal skills
Flexibility
Cultural sensitivity
Adaptability
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24. Aspects of Cultural Shock
Cultural Stress - alleviate stress by reading up on the country, studying the language, and becoming aware of customs and traditions in the culture.
Social Alienation - cultivate friendships with persons from home and host cultures; include host nationals in social events.
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Social Class and Poverty-Wealth Extremes - mentors in host culture can be helpful in advising U.S. persons regarding acceptable ways of dealing with poverty-wealth extremes.
Financial Information - should be provided before going to the culture; also financial counseling before reentry.
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26. Relationships and Family Considerations
Spouse or family member who cannot adapt
Family training to minimize adjustments
Encourage children to discuss their anxieties and fears
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The Johari Window
The public self may include information about a person’s work, family, and interests. The public self is small for the Japanese; it is large for U.S. persons.
The private self may include feelings, personal information, and opinions. The private self is large for the Japanese; it is small for U.S. persons.
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28. Public and Private Self The Johari Window
Things I Know Things I Don’t Know Things
Others
Know
Things
Don’t
Arena
Blind Spot
Hidden
Unknown
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"One of the byproducts of a successful adjustment to the host culture is that our old notions of our culture will never again be the same. After one lives for a while in Switzerland or Germany, the U.S. no longer seems to be the epitome of cleanliness; when compared to the Japanese, the typical American seems loud and boisterous; after a stint in a developing nation, people in the U.S. seem rushed and impersonal. Somehow home isn't what one had remembered."
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“Upon return, U.S. people encounter friends, colleagues, neighbors, and relatives complaining bitterly that they are unable to find at the grocery store the correct color of toilet tissue for the downstairs bathroom. Such complaints stir up (1) considerable anger at how unaware and unappreciative most North Americans are of their own material well-being, and (2) guilt for having mouthed many of these same insane complaints at an earlier time.”
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