Culture Shock

How people deal with culture shock, especially reentry culture shock and culture shock in young people.

What is culture shock?

Culture shock is the period of change that people go through when they move from a culture they know to a culture they are not used to. According to Ting-Toomey and Chung (2012), it is usually a short-term phenomenon, although it varies from person to person. When people move to a different culture, they can feel as though their identity has been taken from them. Culture shock can sometimes be a good thing. It can make people less ethnocentric. It can make people more flexible and aware of themselves. Sometimes, culture shock can cause someone to shut down and not fully experience the culture.

Everyone deals with culture shock differently. People can often have preconceived notions of a specific culture that can cause them to be pleasantly surprised or disappointed (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). Some cultures are also more different than other cultures. Someone moving from the United States to Canada is not going to have as much of an adjustment as someone moving from the United States to India, especially if they do not speak the language. The adjustment also can relate to certain personality attributes, like how open minded or stubborn someone is.

There are different stages to culture shock. The first stage is the honeymoon stage. Travellers are excited about their new culture.

Homesickness

Homesickness is usually a name given to certain stages of anxiety and depression associated with culture shock. It is the overwhelming desire to go back to a familiar environment. Homesickness can affect someone’s ability to learn and their physical health. Homesick people can also score lower on self-esteem a...

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... of being in a different culture. Being aware of this personal growth is also helpful. When someone knows how they have changed, it is easier to think about that in relation to the people and places they are trying to assimilate back into.

Adolescents

Adolescents can deal with culture shock and reverse culture shock in different ways from adults Werkman (1980) pointed out that young people can have more issues with the separation from the culture they are used to than adults because their support structures are not fully built. These people have more nostalgia for the past and are more uncomfortable with their new surroundings. This can be detrimental because according to Gaw (1995), people returning who experience more culture shock are more likely to be shy and have low self-esteem. It is generally agreed upon that this trait in young people can cause problems.