Culture

shock
and encountering difference
ANTH 2300 – Lecture 1
Today’s learning outcomes
• Define culture shock and appreciate the significance of
culture shock to the intercultural experience
• Know some of the symptoms of culture shock
• Understand psychological and anthropological (cultural)
interpretations of culture shock
• Learn the five stages of culture shock (Oberg), adaption
paths and stages of adaptation (Bennett), and
associated concepts like expatriate community,
biculturalism, and “going native.”
• Learn and reflect on fifteen adjustment strategies
Culture shock

• Rachel Irwin (Anthropologist): “Culture shock is

the depression or anxiety experienced by many
people when they travel or move to a new social
and cultural setting.”
• Overseas study abroad student - Culture shock,
“is knowing that someone is talking about me,
but not understanding if what they are saying is
derogatory or complimentary.”
• Iranian student in America – culture shock “you
don’t have eyes, you can’t see anything.”
Symptoms of culture shock
• Depression
• Anxiety and self-doubt
• Difficulty sleeping
• Homesickness
• Feeling ill, obsessive preoccupation with health
• Fear of physical contact or robbery
• Feeling of helplessness
• Staying indoors
The psychological
• Psychological understanding is that cultural
shock is a psychological reaction to being
socially incompetent and unable to interpret
social codes.
• Psychological understanding is fine, but
somewhat reductionist (simplifying, limiting in
perspective).
The psychological and cultural
• Anthropology understands humans as cultural beings
embedded in systems of meaning
• meaning is an outcome of shared encounters and
experiences that is constantly recreated (it is made
between people, moment by moment)
• It is not just an inability to decode meaning, it is the loss
of shared participation in meaning making with others
• Not just an inner reaction, it is a participatory loss, the
inability to recreate your identity…identify yourself to
others
What do you see?
What do you see?
Primer: associated concepts
• The Expat or Expatriate Community: expatriates
are people living or permanent residing in a
country other than that of their citizenship.
• What are some examples of expatriate
communities?
• Biculturalism: assume a new cultural identity and
new cultural knowledge and integration.
Identification with two cultures.
• What would be some examples?
• “Going Native”: attempting to assume a new
cultural identity that mimics native levels of
identification, and generally involves the rejection
or dis-identification with one’s original culture or
nationality.
Kalervo Oberg’s
Stages of Culture Shock
1. Honeymoon
2. Crisis
3. Recovery
4. Adjustment
5. Acceptance
Culture shock is process of
entering crises and finding
adaptation paths
• At crisis stage – some leave and go home, and some shelter
themselves almost entirely in expat community, and
recently, engage in “online tethering”
• Otherwise, adaptation and integration continues
• Eventually may adapt somewhat and stay close to
original cultural identity – exist in the space with some
adaptation
• “Going native” – attempt to assume a new “native”
identity
• Possibly develop a bicultural identity or move toward
integration
Milton Bennett’s stages of
adaptation (1986)
• Ethnocentric stages
1. Denial
2. Defense
3. Minimization
• Ethnorelative stages
1. Acceptance
2. Adaptation
3. Integration
Other aspects of culture shock
• Sensual Shock – experience is embodied, senses are
experienced through a cultural lens – so shock is also
sense based – leading to sensual shock
• proxemics (personal space use and feeling it)
• Jetlag (desynchonosis) – bodily changes due to rapid
trans-east-west travel over long distances
• Ecoshock “necessity for the body to physiologically adapt
to the new environment”
Shakespeare in the Bush article
• Laura Bohannan (Anthropologist) 1966
• What are the insights of her experience:
• What was she expecting of Hamlet generally?
• Why? What belief?
• Could we name three examples of different
interpretations of the same plot elements?
• What about the attitude of the anthropologist? What can
we learn from this?
Practicalities: Simple adjustment strategies
for preventing and dealing with culture
shock (why?)
1. Allow time before 2. Give yourself rest 3. Take with your
departure to mentally and adjustment time some comfort
process because of jetlag, activities or items
illness

4. Avoid excessive 5. After a few weeks, 6. Be unfailingly

ranting about the reread your reactions polite, at least at first
place in letters, texts (diary, other) and see
and to family and how far you have
friends come
7. Know the place of 8. Learn some of the 9. Observe people in
humour language (or try at terms of greetings
least!)

10. Observe people in 11. Let your hosts 12. Watch for
terms of physical guide the standards of clothing,
space conversations – drinking, smoking,
observe native and indulging.
conversations
13. Plan to buy some 14. Learn about being 15. Focus on the
clothing there noticed and how positives
people cope
Today’s learning outcomes
• Define culture shock and appreciate the significance of
culture shock to the intercultural experience
• Know some of the symptoms of culture shock
• Understand psychological and anthropological (cultural)
interpretations of culture shock
• Learn the five stages of culture shock (Oberg), adaption
paths and stages of adaptation (Bennett), and
associated concepts like expatriate community,
biculturalism, and “going native.”