Kalervo Oberg

Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse．These signs or cues include the thousand and one ways in which we orient ourselves to the situations of daily life：when to shake hands and what to say when wemeet people，when and how to give tips，how to give orders to servants，how tomake purchases，when to acceptand when to refuse invitations，when to take statements seriously and when not．Now these cues which may be words，gestures，facial expressions，customs，or norms are acquired by all of us in the course of growing up and are asmuch a part of our culture as the language we speak or the beliefswe accept．All of us depend for our peace ofmind and our efficiency on hundreds of these cues，most of which we do not carry on the level of conscious awareness．

Now when an individual enters a strange culture，all or most of these familiar cues are removed．He or she is like a fish out of water．Nomatter how broadminded or full of good will you may be，a series of props have been knocked from under you，followed by a feeling of frustration and anxiety．People react to the frustration in much the same way．First they reject the environmentwhich causes the discomfort：“the ways of the host country are bad because theymake us feel bad．”When Americans or other foreigners in a strange land get together to grouse about the host country and its people，you can be sure they are suffering from culture shock．Another phase of culture shock is regression．The home environment suddenly assumes a tremendous importance．To an American everything American becomes irrationally glorified．All the difficulties and problems are forgotten and only the good things back home are remembered．It usually takes a trip home to bring one back to reality．

Individuals differ greatly in the degree in which culture shock affects them．Although not common，there are individualswho cannot live in foreign countries．Thosewho have seen people go through culture shock and on to a satisfactory adjustment can discern steps in the process．During the first few weeksmost individuals are fascinated by the new．They stay in hotels and associate with nationalswho speak their language and are polite and gracious to foreigners．This honeymoon stagemay last from a few days orweeks to sixmonths depending on circumstances．

But this Cook’s tour type ofmentality does not normally last if the foreign visitor remains abroad and has seriously to cope with real conditions of life．It is then that the second stage begins，characterized by a hostile and aggressive attitude towards the host country．This hostility evidently grows out of the genuine difficulty which the visitor experiences in the process of adjustment．There ismaid trouble，school trouble，language trouble，house trouble，transportation trouble，shopping trouble，and the fact that people in the host country are largely indifferent to all these troubles．They help but they just don’t understand your great concern over these difficulties．Therefore，they must be insensible and unsympathetic to you and your worries．The result，“I just don’t like them．”You become aggressive，band together with your fellow countrymen and criticize the host country，its ways，and its people．But this criticism is not an objective appraisal but a derogatory one．Instead of trying to account for conditions as they are through as honest analysis of the actual conditions and the historical circumstanceswhich have created them，you talk as if the difficulties you experienced are more or less created by the people of the host country for your special discomfort．You take refuge in the colony of your countrymen and its cocktail circuit which often becomes the fountain-head of emotionally charged labels known as stereotypes．This is a peculiar kind of invidious shorthand which caricatures the host country and its people in a negative manner．The“dollar-grasping American”and the“indolent Latin American”are samples ofmild forms of stereotypes．The use of stereotypes may salve the ego of someone with a severe case of culture shock but it certainly does not lead to any genuine understanding of the host country and its people．This second stage of culture shock is in a sense a crisis in the disease．If you overcome it，you stay；if not，you leave before you reach the stage of a nervous breakdown．

If the visitor succeeds in getting some knowledge of the language and begins to get around by himself，he is beginning to open the way into the new cultural environment．The visitor still has difficulties but he takes a“this ismy cross and Ihave to bear it”attitude．Usually in this stage the visitor takes a superior attitude to people of the host country．His sense of humor begins to exert itself．Instead of criticizing he jokes about the people and even cracks jokes about his or her own difficulties．He or she is now on the way to recovery．And there is also the poor devil who is worse off than yourself whom you can help，which in turn gives you confidence in your ability to speak and get around．

In the fourth stage your adjustment is about as complete as it can be．The visitor now accepts the customs of the country as just another way of living．You operate within the new milieu without a feeling of anxiety although there are moments of strain．Only with a complete grasp of all the cues of social intercourse will this strain disappear．For a long time the individual will understand what the national is saying but he is not always sure what the nationalmeans．With a complete adjustment you not only accept the foods，drinks，habits，and customs，but actually begin to enjoy them．When you go on home leave you may even take things back with you and if you leave for good you generallymiss the country and the people to whom you have become accustomed．

Now before going on to consider the nature of culture shock，itmight be well to point out that the difficultieswhich the newcomer experiences are real．If individuals come to a tropical area from a temperate one they quite often suffer from intestinal disturbances．Strange food sometimes upsets people．In Rio，for instance，water and power shortages are very real．When these physical difficulties are added to those arising from not knowing how to communicate and the uncertainties presented by strange customs the consequent frustrations and anxieties are understandable．In the course of time，however，an individual makes his adjustment．You do what is essential about water，food，and the otherminutiae of daily life．You adapt yourself to water and power shortages and to traffic problems．In short the environment does not change．What has changed is your attitude towards it．Somehow it no longer troubles you，you no longer project your discom forts onto the people of the host country and their ways．In short，you get along under a new set of living conditions．

Another important point worth considering is the attitude of others to a person suffering from culture shock．If you are frustrated and have an aggressive attitude to the people of the host country，they will sense this hostility and inmany cases respond in either a hostilemanner or try to avoid you．In otherwords，their responsemoves from a preliminary phase of ingratiation to aggressive ridicule and on to avoidance．To your own countrymen who are well adjusted you become somewhat of a problem．As you feel weak in the face of the host country people you tend to wish to increase your dependence on your fellow countrymen much more than is normal．Some will try to help you；others will try to avoid you．The better your fellow countryman understands your condition the better he is able to help you．But the difficulty is that culture shock has not been studied carefully enough for people to help you in an organized manner and you continue to be considered a bit queer-until you adjust yourself to the new situation．In general，we might say that until an individual has achieved a satisfactory adjustmenthe is notable to fully play his parton the job or as amember of the community．In a sense he is a sick person with a mild or severe case of culture shock as the case may be．Although Iam not certain，I think culture shock affectswivesmore than husbands．The husband has his professional duties to occupy him and his activitiesmay not differ toomuch from what he has been accustomed to．Thewife，on the other hand，has to operate in an environmentwhich differs much more from the milieu in which she grew up，consequently the strain on her is greater．

The question now arises：What can you do to get over culture shock as quickly as possible？The answer is to get to know the people of the host country．But this you cannot do with any successwithout knowing the language，for language is the principal symbol system of communication．Now we all know that learning a new language is difficult，particularly to adults．This task alone is quite enough to cause frustration and anxiety，nomatter how skilful language teachers are in making it easy for you．But once you begin to be able to carry on a friendly conversation with your maid，your neighbor，or go on shopping trips alone you not only gain confidence and a feeling of power but a whole new world of cultural meanings opens up for you．

You begin to find out not only what and how people do things but alsowhat their interests are．These interests，people usually express by what they habitually talk about and how they allocate their time and money．Once you know this value or interest pattern itwill be quite easy to get people to talk and to be interested in you．When we say people have no interest，we usually admit the fact thatwe have not bothered to find out．

At times it is helpful to be a participant observer by joining the activities of the people，to try to share in their responses．These activities could be a carnival，a religious rite or some economic conferences．

Yet the visitor should never forget that he or she is an outsider and will be treated as such．He or she should view this participation as a role playing．Understanding the ways of people is essential but this does notmean that you have to give up your own．What happens is that you have developed two patterns of behavior．

Finally a word on what your fellow countrymen can do to help you get over culture shock．It is well to recognize that persons suffering from culture shock feel weak in the face of conditions which appear insuperable．It is natural for them to try to lean heavily on their compatriots．They may be irritating to the long-term resident but he should be patient，sympathetic，and understanding．Although talking does not remove pain，I think a great deal is gained by having the source of pain explained，some of the steps towards a cure indicated，and the assurance given that time，the great healer，will soon set things right．

（Culture Shock：Adjustment to New Cultural Environments，

Practical Anthropology，1960，7：177-182．）