Examples of culture shock in intercultural communication. Culture shock when mastering a “foreign” culture

Experts call the stressful impact of a new culture on a person “culture shock.” Similar concepts such as “transition shock” and “cultural fatigue” are sometimes used. Almost all immigrants experience it to one degree or another.

finding themselves in a foreign culture. It causes mental health problems, more or less pronounced mental shock.

The term "culture shock" was coined in scientific circulation American researcher K. Oberg in 1960, when he noted that entering a new culture is accompanied by a number of unpleasant sensations. Today it is believed that the experience of a new culture

is unpleasant or shocking, on the one hand, because it is unexpected, and on the other hand, because it can lead to a negative assessment of one’s own culture.

Typically there are six forms of manifestation culture shock:

Tension due to the effort put into achieving

psychological adaptation;

Feeling of loss due to deprivation of friends, of one's position,

profession, property;

Feeling of loneliness (rejection) in a new culture,

which can transform into a denial of this culture;

Violation of role expectations and sense of self-identity;

Anxiety turning into indignation and disgust after

awareness of cultural differences;

Feelings of inferiority due to inability to cope

situation.

The main reason culture shock is the difference between cultures. Each culture has many symbols and images, as well as behavioral stereotypes, with the help of which a person can automatically act in different situations. When a person finds himself in a new culture, the usual system of orientation becomes inadequate, since it is based on other ideas about the world, other norms and values, stereotypes of behavior and perception. Usually, being in the conditions of his culture, a person does not realize that it contains this hidden, outwardly

an invisible part of culture.

The range of symptoms of culture shock is very wide - from mild emotional disorders to severe stress, psychosis, alcoholism and suicide. In practice, it is often expressed in exaggerated concern for the cleanliness of dishes, linen, water quality and

food, psychosomatic disorders, general anxiety, insomnia, fear. In duration, one or another type of culture shock can develop from several months to several years, depending on individual characteristics

personality.

Of course, culture shock is not only Negative consequences. Modern researchers consider it as a normal reaction, as part of the normal process of adaptation to new conditions. Moreover, during this process the individual is not just

acquires knowledge about the new culture and norms of behavior in it, but also becomes more culturally developed, although she experiences stress.

Stages of experiencing culture shock.

The first stage is called the “honeymoon”: most migrants, once abroad, were eager to study or work, and were full of enthusiasm and hope. In addition, they are often prepared for their arrival, they are expected, and at first they receive help and may have some privileges. But this period is quickly passing.

In the second stage, the unfamiliar environment and culture begin to exert their influence negative impact. Psychological factors caused by misunderstanding of local residents are becoming increasingly important. The result can be disappointment, frustration and even depression. In other words, all the symptoms of culture shock are observed. Therefore, during this period, migrants are trying to escape from reality, communicating mainly with their fellow countrymen and complaining to them about life.

The third stage is critical, as culture shock reaches its maximum. This can lead to somatic and mental illnesses. Some migrants give up and return home to their homeland. But most find the strength to overcome

cultural differences, learns the language, gets acquainted with local culture, makes local friends from whom he receives the necessary support.

At the fourth stage, an optimistic attitude appears, the person becomes more self-confident and satisfied with his position in the new society and culture. Adaptation and integration into the life of the new society are progressing quite

At the fifth stage, complete adaptation to the new culture is achieved. From now on, the individual and the environment correspond to each other.

Depending on the factors mentioned above, the adaptation process can last from several months to 4-5 years. Thus, a U-shaped culture shock development curve is obtained, which is characterized by the following stages: good, worse, bad, better, good.

It is interesting that when a person who has successfully adapted to a foreign culture returns to his homeland, he is faced with the need to undergo reverse adaptation (readaptation) to own culture. It is believed that at the same time he experiences “shock”

return." A W-shaped readaptation curve model has been proposed for it. It uniquely repeats the U-shaped curve: at first a person is happy to return and meet friends, but then he begins to notice that some features of his native culture seem strange and unusual to him, and only gradually does he adapt to life at home again.

The severity of culture shock and the duration of intercultural adaptation depend on many factors. They can be divided into two groups - internal (individual) and external (group).

In the first group of factors, the most important are the individual characteristics of a person - gender, age, character traits.

Scientists have identified a certain universal set of personal characteristics that a person preparing for life in a foreign country with a foreign culture should have: professional competence, high self-esteem, sociability, extroversion, openness to different views, interest in other people, a tendency to cooperate, tolerance uncertainty, internal self-control, courage and perseverance, empathy. True, real life practice shows that the presence of these qualities does not always guarantee success.

Internal factors of adaptation and overcoming culture shock also include circumstances life experience person. The most important thing here is the motives for adaptation.

If a person already has experience in a foreign cultural environment, then this experience contributes to faster adaptation. Adaptation is also helped by having friends among local residents, who help to quickly master the information necessary for life. Contacts with former compatriots also living in this

country, provide support (social, emotional, sometimes even financial), but there is a danger of becoming isolated in a narrow circle of friends, which will only increase the feeling of alienation.

External factors influencing adaptation and culture shock include: cultural distance, cultural characteristics, etc. Cultural distance is the degree of difference between the native culture and the one to which a person is adapting. Features of the culture to which migrants belong - thus, representatives of cultures in which the concept of “face” is very important and where they are afraid of losing it adapt less well; They are very sensitive to the errors and ignorance that are inevitable in the adaptation process. Representatives of the “great powers” ​​have difficulty adapting, as they usually believe that it is not they who should adapt, but others. Conditions of the host country, how friendly the locals are to visitors, are they ready to help them, communicate with

How to overcome culture shock?

Prepare in advance for the possibility that you may experience culture shock. And this is completely natural.

Know that these feelings are temporary. As they become familiar with the new environment, they will gradually disappear.

Take with you your favorite book in your native language, a tape of your favorite music and photographs that will remind you of your culture when you feel homesick.

Keep yourself busy.

Try not to criticize everything around you or focus on the negative.

Try to establish friendly relations with the people around you (work colleagues, classmates...).

Try to overcome lows in mood and try to adapt to your new environment, absorbing as much knowledge and experience as possible. This alone will reduce the impact of culture shock.

If you feel like your environment is starting to weigh you down, remember that the problem is not the people around you, but rather your adjustment to them. The main thing is to try to become flexible, maintaining your cultural identity and at the same time respecting the fact that people of other cultures will also maintain their identity. Know that, no matter how difficult it may be, culture shock gives you invaluable experience in broadening your life horizons, deepening your perception of yourself and developing tolerance for other people.

The types of ethnocultural interaction we have considered develop at the level of ethnic groups and communities. Ethnic contacts at the individual level have their own characteristics and develop specifically. Representatives of various areas of ethnological science agree that with stable contacts with a foreign cultural environment, an individual develops a special state of consciousness, which in ethnology is called culture shock.

Each culture creates many symbols of the social environment, verbal and non-verbal methods of communication, with the help of which its carriers freely and confidently navigate the life around them. Spiritual world and the character of each person depends on these cultural phenomena, many of which he is not aware of. When this system of orientation in the surrounding world becomes inadequate in the conditions of a new culture, a person experiences a deep nervous shock, culture shock. The essence of culture shock is the discrepancy or conflict between old and familiar cultural norms and new and unusual ones.

The term “culture shock” was introduced into scientific use by the American researcher K. Oberg in 1960, when he noted that entering a new culture is accompanied by a number of unpleasant sensations. Today it is believed that the experience of a new culture is unpleasant or shocking, on the one hand, because it is unexpected, and on the other hand, because it can lead to a negative assessment of one’s own culture. Grushevitskaya, T.G. Basics intercultural communication: Textbook for universities/T.G. Grushevitskaya, A.P. Sadokhin, V.D. Popkov. - Moscow: UNITY-DANA, 2003. - 215-225 p.

Typically, there are six forms of culture shock:

stress due to the efforts made to achieve psychological adaptation;

a sense of loss due to deprivation of friends, position, profession, property;

a feeling of loneliness (rejection) in a new culture, which can turn into denial of this culture;

violation of role expectations and sense of self-identity;

anxiety that turns to resentment and disgust after recognizing cultural differences;

feeling of inferiority due to inability to cope with the situation.

Indicators of culture shock, according to the founders of this concept - American cultural anthropologists A. Farnham and S. Bochner, are excessive concern for drinking water, dishes and bed; fear of physical contact with representatives of another culture; a feeling of helplessness and a desire to be under the protection of a representative of one’s own culture; fear of being deceived or insulted. Culture shock is essentially defensive reaction the individual's psyche to an excessively large volume new information, the influx of which is so enormous that a person feels powerless to cope with it for some time.

Culture shock occurs not only and not so much because surrounding a person the environment suddenly becomes unpredictable and a danger to his life arises due to inappropriate behavior. This kind of acute situation is extremely rare. The essence lies in a completely unusual feeling that one can live without the usual knowledge and understanding of the world, that it is not universal, that the people around him live according to their own laws and ideas, not caring in the least about how he understands and evaluates them. The individual realizes the uselessness and uselessness of familiar knowledge and feels the need to rethink his entire life experience.

The experience of interacting with a new culture is shocking also because it can lead to a negative assessment of one’s own culture, and also because it is unexpected. IN last years many of our compatriots had to experience the impact of this shock. First of all, these are “shuttle” merchants, students, scientists, businessmen, tourists who have directly encountered a foreign cultural environment. However, people who travel abroad for permanent residence experience a particularly strong sense of culture shock. As a rule, they live there financially incomparably better than in Russia, but morally they experience a feeling of nostalgia, melancholy, and inferiority. Therefore, as established by special studies, more mental illnesses occur among migrants than among native residents. Specific links have also been established between migrant groups and the nature of mental disorders. For example, the British in Australia suffer from alcoholism, and the Indians in England suffer from schizophrenia.

Of course, culture shock does not only have negative consequences. Modern researchers consider it as a normal reaction, as part of the normal process of human adaptation to new living conditions. During this process, a person not only acquires knowledge about the new culture and norms of behavior in it, but also becomes more culturally developed.

The experience of culture shock goes through certain stages before the individual reaches a satisfied level of adaptation. To describe this process, a model is proposed that distinguishes five stages of adaptation.

The first stage is called the “honeymoon” because many migrants are full of enthusiasm and hope, as their desire to study and work abroad has been realized. In addition, relatives or official bodies often prepare for their arrival, they are expected, at first they receive help and may have some privileges. However, this period quickly passes.

At the second stage, the unfamiliar environment and culture begin to have a negative impact. Psychological factors caused by a lack of understanding of local residents and living conditions are becoming increasingly important. The result can be disappointment and frustration - symptoms of culture shock. Therefore, during this period, migrants are trying to escape from reality, communicating mainly with their fellow countrymen and complaining to them about life.

The third stage becomes critical - culture shock reaches its maximum. This can lead to physical and mental illness. Some migrants give up and return home to their homeland. But the majority find the strength to overcome cultural differences, learn the language, get acquainted with the local culture, make local friends, from whom they receive the necessary support.

At the fourth stage, as a rule, an optimistic attitude appears, a person becomes more self-confident and satisfied with his position in the new society and culture. Adaptation and integration into the life of the new society are progressing very successfully.

At the fifth stage, complete adaptation to the new culture is achieved. The individual and the environment henceforth correspond to each other. Depending on the factors influencing the adaptation process, it can last from months to 4-5 years.

The severity of culture shock and its duration depend on many factors. They can be combined into two groups: external (group) and internal (individual), among which the most important are the individual characteristics of a person - gender, age, character traits, motivation.

Among internal factors, age is the most critical moment of a person’s adaptation to living conditions in another society. How older people, the more difficult it is for them to adapt to the new cultural system, the harder and longer they experience culture shock, and the slower they perceive the norms and values ​​of the new culture. Young children adapt quickly and successfully, but schoolchildren already experience great difficulties in this process, and older people are practically incapable of adaptation and acculturation.

Gender also plays a significant role in the process of adaptation to a new culture and the duration of culture shock: women find it more difficult to adapt to a new socio-cultural environment than men. But this judgment applies to a large extent to women from traditional societies, whose lot in a new place is to do housework and limited communication with new acquaintances. Women from developed countries show no differences in their acculturation abilities compared to men. For adaptation, the education factor is more important than gender: the higher the level of education, the more successful the adaptation. Education, even without taking into account cultural content, expands a person’s internal capabilities, which contributes to an easier and faster perception of innovation.

Based on the research results, a universal set of personal characteristics was formulated that a person preparing for life in a foreign country with a foreign culture should have. This set includes: professional competence, high self-esteem, sociability, extroversion, openness to different views, interest in others, a tendency to cooperate, tolerance of uncertainty, a high level of self-control, courage and perseverance, empathic abilities. True, life practice shows that the presence of these qualities does not always guarantee success.

The duration of overcoming cultural shock also depends on the motives for adaptation. The strongest motivation is usually among emigrants and students who want to move permanently to another country or get an education abroad and therefore strive to adapt as quickly and completely as possible. The situation is much worse for internally displaced persons and refugees who, against their wishes, left their homeland and are having great difficulty getting used to new living conditions.

Among the external factors influencing overcoming culture shock, first of all it is necessary to name cultural distance - the degree of difference between the native culture and the one to which it is necessary to adapt. In this case, it is not even the cultural distance itself that is important, but a person’s idea of ​​it, his sense of cultural distance, which depends on many factors: the presence or absence of wars or conflicts both in the present and in the past; the meaning of a foreign language, customs, traditions, etc. Subjectively, cultural distance can be perceived as either longer or shorter than it actually is. In both cases, the culture shock will last and adaptation will be difficult.

The adaptation process is also influenced by the characteristics of the migrant’s culture. Thus, it is more difficult for representatives of cultures in which the concept of “face” is very important to adapt to a foreign cultural environment and where they are afraid of losing it (Japanese, Chinese and others). oriental cultures). For representatives of these cultures, it is very important to behave correctly, so they are extremely sensitive to the errors and ignorance that are inevitable in the adaptation process. Representatives of the so-called great nations and cultures also adapt poorly, who usually believe that it is not they who should adapt, but others to them.

A very important external factor in overcoming culture shock is the conditions of the host country: how friendly the locals are to visitors, are they ready to psychologically help them and communicate with them. It is clear that it is easier to adapt to a pluralistic society than to a totalitarian or orthodox one.

Culture shock is difficult and painful for a person psychological condition when existing stereotypes are broken, which requires huge expenditures of human physical and mental resources.

In this chapter we have tried to give a concept of ethnic contacts. We identified the main forms of ethnic interactions and examined the concept of culture shock

Experts call the stressful impact of a new culture on a person culture shock. Sometimes similar concepts are used - transition shock, cultural fatigue. To one degree or another, almost all immigrants who find themselves in a foreign culture experience it. It causes mental health problems, more or less pronounced mental shock.

The term “culture shock” was introduced into scientific use by the American researcher K. Oberg in 1960, when he noted that entering a new culture is accompanied by a number of unpleasant sensations. Today it is believed that the experience of a new culture is unpleasant or shocking, on the one hand, because it is unexpected, and on the other hand, because it can lead to a negative assessment of one’s own culture.

Typically, there are six forms of culture shock:

Tension due to the efforts made to achieve psychological adaptation;

Feeling of loss due to deprivation of friends, position, profession, property;

A feeling of loneliness (rejection) in a new culture, which can turn into denial of this culture;

Violation of role expectations and sense of self-identity;

Anxiety that turns to resentment and disgust after recognizing cultural differences;

Feelings of inferiority due to inability to cope with a situation.

The main cause of culture shock is cultural differences. Every culture has many symbols and images, as well as behavioral stereotypes, with the help of which we can automatically act in different situations. When we find ourselves in a new culture, the usual system of orientation turns out to be inadequate, since it is based on completely different ideas about the world, different norms and values, stereotypes of behavior and perception. Usually, being in the conditions of his culture, a person is not aware that there is this hidden part of the “cultural iceberg” in it. We realize the presence of this hidden system of norms and values ​​that control our behavior only when we find ourselves in a situation of contact with another culture. The result of this is psychological and often physical discomfort - culture shock.

Symptoms of culture shock can be very different: from exaggerated concern for the cleanliness of dishes, linen, and the quality of water and food to psychosomatic disorders, general anxiety, insomnia, and fear. They can result in depression, alcoholism or drug addiction, and even lead to suicide.

Of course, culture shock does not only have negative consequences. Modern researchers consider it as a normal reaction, as part of the normal process of adaptation to new conditions. Moreover, during this process, the individual not only acquires knowledge about the new culture and the norms of behavior in it, but also becomes more culturally developed, although he experiences stress. Therefore, since the early 1990s, experts have preferred to talk not about culture shock, but about acculturation stress.

As such, the term “culture shock” was first introduced in 1958 to describe the unpleasant sensations of a person moving to completely new living conditions. Culture shock implies a sharp apathy towards everything that is happening, a lack of knowledge of what to do, how to behave. Culture shock usually manifests itself after the first few weeks of being in a new environment.
Culture shock can also be described as the physical and emotional discomfort experienced by a person who has moved to live in another country. In a new place, everything is different, and the old life is no longer considered the norm. For example, if you don’t know the language, you will have problems using those simple everyday things that you are so accustomed to, in particular it will be difficult for you to talk on the phone or take advice from a passerby.
Symptoms of culture shock can appear at different times. However, you should not forget that culture shock is a powerful cognitive stimulus: you are not comfortable, which means you will definitely rush to learn and learn new world. Culture shock can contribute better understanding own personality and development of creative abilities.

Symptoms of culture shock:
- feelings of sadness, loneliness, melancholy;
-excessive concern about your own health;
- allergies, irritations;
- sleep disturbance: desire to sleep more than usual or, conversely, lack of sleep;
- frequent mood swings, depression, vulnerability;
- idealization of one’s previous place of residence;
- impossibility of self-identification;
- too much enthusiasm for unity with the new culture;
- inability to solve minor everyday problems;
- lack of self-confidence;
- lack of a sense of security;
- development of stereotypes regarding a new culture;
- longing for family.

Stages of culture shock:
Culture shock develops in stages. Each stage comes into effect at exactly a specific time. The first stage is called “incubation”: the newcomer may experience a feeling of euphoria, enjoying everything that he sees and does. This stage is also sometimes called the “honeymoon”, since everything new brings only positive emotions.
Shortly after this, the second stage comes into effect. A person may face minor setbacks and crises in everyday life. For example, difficulties in communication, misunderstandings. Here euphoria gives way to impatience, anger, frustration and a sense of incompetence. This is a normal reaction to the process of adapting to a completely new culture. Transferring an old way of life to new soil is a complex process and requires a long period of time to complete.
The third stage is characterized by the emergence of some sense of understanding of the new culture. Here a person can again experience a feeling of satisfaction, a sense of humor returns to him, someone can achieve a certain sense of balance. He is no longer lost, the direction of his life becomes visible to him again. By this time, the person has already become more or less familiar with the new environment and now strives to become part of it.
By the time the fourth stage begins, a person is ready to admit that the new culture has not only negative, but also positive features. A person begins to set new goals for himself.
The fifth stage is called “homecoming shock.” Already from the name it is clear that this stage occurs when a person returns to his homeland. Someone suddenly discovers that everything here has changed and is different from what the person knew before leaving.
Each person reacts differently to each of the stages, as a result of which some stages can last either a very long time or proceed very quickly. The duration and severity of culture shock is influenced by many factors, such as mental health, personality type, experience of long trips abroad, socio-economic conditions, language skills, support, level of education.

How to cope with culture shock:
- take up your favorite hobby;
- remember your own positive experience;
- remember that there are always resources that you can use;
- be patient, everything takes time;
- don’t try too hard;
- try to lead a lifestyle similar to what you led at home, this will help you suppress the feeling of melancholy;
- maintain contacts with representatives of your ethnic group. This will give you back the feeling that you are still part of this world and will brighten up your loneliness;
- have more contact with the new culture, learn the language, do not hesitate to communicate;
- set simple goals and achieve them, evaluate your progress;
- learn to get along with situations that do not satisfy you 100%;
- maintain self-confidence;
- do not refuse help, there is always a person ready to help.

Culture shock is emotional or physical discomfort, disorientation of an individual caused by being in another cultural environment, encountering another culture, an unfamiliar place.

The term “culture shock” was introduced into scientific circulation in 1960 by the American researcher Kalervo Oberg.

Kalervo Oberg). In his opinion, culture shock is “a consequence of anxiety that appears as a result of the loss of all the usual signs and symbols of social interaction,” in addition, when entering a new culture, a person develops very unpleasant sensations.

The essence of culture shock is the conflict between old and new cultural norms and orientations, old ones inherent in the individual as a representative of the society he left, and new ones, that is, representing the society he arrived in. Strictly speaking, culture shock is a conflict between two cultures at the level of individual consciousness.

Perhaps one of the most famous metaphors for describing “culture shock” is the concept of an iceberg. It implies that culture consists not only of what we see and hear (language, visual arts, literature, architecture, classical music, pop music, dance, cuisine, National costumes etc.), but also from what lies beyond our initial perception (perception of beauty, ideals of raising children, attitude towards elders, the concept of sin, justice, approaches to solving problems and problems, group work, eye contact, body language, facial expressions, self-perception, attitude towards opposite sex, the relationship between the past and the future, time management, communication distance, voice intonation, speed of speech, etc.) The essence of the concept is that culture can be represented in the form of an iceberg, where only a small visible part of the culture is above the surface of the water, and below the edge water is a significant invisible part that is not in the field of view, however, has an big influence on our perception of culture as a whole. When encountering an unknown, underwater part of an iceberg (culture), culture shock most often occurs.

American researcher R. Weaver likens culture shock to the meeting of two icebergs: it is “underwater”, at the level of the “non-obvious”, that the main clash of values ​​and mentalities occurs. He argues that when two cultural icebergs collide, that part of cultural perception that was previously unconscious reaches the conscious level, and a person begins to pay more attention to both his own and foreign cultures. An individual is surprised to realize the presence of this hidden system of behavior-controlling norms and values ​​only when he finds himself in a situation of contact with another culture. The result of this is psychological and often physical discomfort - culture shock.

There are many points of view regarding the causes of culture shock. Thus, researcher K. Furnham, based on the analysis literary sources, identifies eight approaches to the nature and characteristics of this phenomenon, commenting and showing in some cases even their inconsistency:

1) the emergence of culture shock is associated with geographic movement, causing a reaction reminiscent of mourning (an expression of grief over) lost connections. However, culture shock is not always associated with grief, so in every special case it is impossible to predict the severity of the loss and, accordingly, the depth of this grief;

2) the blame for experiencing culture shock is placed on the fatalism, pessimism, helplessness and external locus of control of the person who finds himself in a foreign culture. But this does not explain differences in distress and contradicts the assumption that most “travellers” (migrants) subjectively have an internal locus of control;

3) culture shock is a process of natural selection or survival of the fittest, the best. But this explanation oversimplifies the variables present, since most studies of culture shock are not predictive, but retrospective;

4) the blame for the occurrence of culture shock is placed on the expectations of the visitor, which are inappropriate in the new environment. However, the connection between unmet expectations and poor adjustment has not been proven;

5) the cause of culture shock is negative events and disruption of the daily routine in general. However, it is very difficult to measure ongoing events and establish causality: on the one hand, the victims themselves are the culprits of negative events, and on the other hand, negative events make these people suffer;

6) culture shock is caused by a divergence of values ​​due to a lack of mutual understanding and conflicts accompanying this process. But some values ​​are more adaptive than others, so value conflict by itself cannot be a sufficient explanation;

7) culture shock is associated with a deficit of social skills, as a result of which socially inadequate or inexperienced people are experiencing a more difficult period of adjustment. However, it downplays the role of personality and socialization, and there is an underlying ethnocentrism in this understanding of adaptation;

8) the blame is placed on a lack of social support, and this approach uses arguments from attachment theory, social network theory and psychotherapy. However, it is difficult to quantify social support or develop a social support mechanism or procedure to test and justify such a conclusion.

Basically, a person gets a culture shock when he finds himself in another country, different from the country where he lives, although he may encounter similar sensations in his own country if the social environment suddenly changes.

A person experiences a conflict between old and new cultural norms and orientations - the old ones to which he is accustomed and the new ones that characterize a new society for him. This is a conflict between two cultures at the level of one’s own consciousness. Culture shock occurs when the familiar psychological factors that helped a person adapt to society disappear, and instead, unknown and incomprehensible ones appear, coming from a different cultural environment.

This experience of a new culture is unpleasant. Within the framework of one’s own culture, a persistent illusion of one’s own vision of the world, way of life, mentality, etc. is created as the only possible and, most importantly, the only acceptable one. The overwhelming number of people do not recognize themselves as a product of a separate culture, even in those in rare cases when they understand that the behavior of representatives of other cultures is actually determined by their culture. Only by going beyond the boundaries of your culture, that is, by encountering a different worldview, attitude, etc., can you understand the specifics of your social consciousness and see the difference between cultures.

The strength of the manifestation of culture shock and the duration of intercultural adaptation depend on a number of factors that can be divided into two groups: internal (individual) and external (group).

According to researchers, a person's age is a basic and critical element of adaptation to another culture. With age, a person becomes more difficult to integrate into a new cultural system, experiences cultural shock more intensely and for a longer period of time, and is slower to perceive the values ​​and behavior patterns of the new culture.

Also important in the adaptation process is the level of a person’s education: the higher it is, the more successful the adaptation is. This is due to the fact that education expands a person’s internal potential and complicates his perception environment, which means it makes it more tolerant of changes and innovations.

We can talk about a universal list of desirable characteristics of a person who is preparing for life in another culture. Such characteristics include professional competence, high self-esteem, sociability, extroversion, openness to different opinions and points of view, interest in the environment and people, ability to cooperate, internal self-control, courage and perseverance.

The group of internal factors that determine the difficulty of adaptation and the duration of culture shock includes, among other things, a person’s life experience, his motivation to move, his experience of living in another culture; having friends among local residents.

The group of external factors includes cultural distance, which refers to the degree of differences between “one’s own” and “foreign” cultures. It is necessary to understand that adaptation is influenced not by the cultural distance itself, but by a person’s idea of ​​it, which depends on many factors: the presence or absence of wars, conflicts in the present and in the past, knowledge of a foreign language and culture, etc.

It is also worth noting a number of external factors that indirectly determine the adaptation process: the conditions of the host country, the friendliness of local residents towards visitors, the willingness to help them, the desire to communicate with them; economic and political stability in the host country; crime level; the possibility and accessibility of communication with representatives of another culture.

According to T.G. Stefanenko, there are the following stages of culture shock: “honeymoon”, “culture shock itself”, “reconciliation”, “adaptation”.

1. “Honeymoon.” This stage is characterized by enthusiasm, high spirits, high hopes. During this period, a person perceives the differences between the “old” and “new” culture positively, with great interest.

2. Actually “culture shock”. At the second stage, the unusual environment begins to have a negative impact. After some time, a person becomes aware of problems arising with communication (even if his knowledge of the language is good), at work, at school, in a store, at home. Suddenly all the differences become even more noticeable to him. The person realizes that he will have to live with these differences not for a few days, but for months or possibly years. The crisis stage of culture shock begins.

3. "Reconciliation." This stage is characterized by depression slowly giving way to optimism, a feeling of confidence and satisfaction. A person feels more adjusted and integrated into the life of society.

4. "Adaptation". At this stage, the person no longer reacts negatively or positively because he is adapting to the new culture. He again leads daily life, as before in his homeland. A person begins to understand and appreciate local traditions and customs, even adopts some behavior patterns and feels more relaxed and free in the process of interacting with local residents.

According to the American anthropologist F. Bok, there are four ways to resolve the conflict that arises during culture shock.

The first method can be called ghettoization (from the word ghetto). It is carried out in situations when a person finds himself in another society, but tries or is forced (due to ignorance of the language, religion or for some other reasons) to avoid any contact with a foreign culture. In this case, he tries to create his own cultural environment - surrounded by compatriots, fencing off this environment from the influence of a foreign cultural environment.

The second way to resolve cultural conflict is assimilation. In the case of assimilation, the individual, on the contrary, completely abandons his own culture and strives to fully assimilate the cultural norms of another culture necessary for life. Of course, this is not always possible. The reason for failure may be either the individual’s insufficient ability to adapt to a new culture, or the resistance of the cultural environment of which he intends to become a member.

The third way to resolve cultural conflict is intermediate, consisting of cultural exchange and interaction. In order for the exchange to benefit and enrich both sides, openness is needed on both sides, which, unfortunately, is extremely rare in life, especially if the parties are initially unequal. In fact, the results of such interaction are not always obvious at the very beginning. They become visible and significant only after a significant period of time.

The fourth method is partial assimilation, when an individual sacrifices his culture in favor of a foreign cultural environment partially, that is, in one of the spheres of life: for example, at work he is guided by the norms and requirements of another culture, and in the family, in religious life- its norms traditional culture.

The consequences of culture shock can be not only negative. According to modern researchers, culture shock is a completely normal reaction, and even an integral part of the process of adaptation to new conditions. In addition, in this case, a person not only receives information about the new culture and its norms and values, but also increases his level cultural development, although he experiences stress at the same time. Therefore, since the beginning of the 90s. XX century Many scientists prefer to use the phrase “acculturation stress.”

Culture shock in mastering a foreign culture

When contacting a foreign culture, one becomes acquainted with new artistic creations, social and material values, and the actions of people that depend on the picture of the world, value ideas, norms and conventions, and forms of thinking characteristic of a foreign culture. Such meetings, as a rule, enrich people, but often contact with another culture leads to problems and conflicts due to a misunderstanding of this culture.

The concept of “culture shock” and its symptoms

Experts called the stressful impact of a new culture on a person culture shock; Sometimes the similar concepts of “transition shock” and “cultural fatigue” are used. Almost all immigrants experience it to one degree or another. It causes mental health problems, more or less pronounced mental shock.

The term “culture shock” was introduced into scientific circulation by the American researcher Kalsrvo Oberg in 1954. He noted that when entering a new culture, a person experiences a number of unpleasant sensations. Today, it is believed that the experience of a new culture is unpleasant or shocking because it is unexpected and because it can lead to a negative evaluation of one's own culture.

Usually isolated following forms manifestations of culture shock:

• stress due to the efforts made to achieve psychological adaptation;
• a sense of loss due to deprivation of friends, position, profession, property;
• feeling of loneliness (rejection) in a new culture, which
• can transform into a denial of this culture; o violation of role expectations and self-identification;
• anxiety that turns to resentment and disgust after recognizing cultural differences;
• feeling of inferiority due to inability to cope with the situation.

The main cause of culture shock is cultural differences. Each culture has developed many symbols and images, behavioral stereotypes, with the help of which a person can automatically act in different situations. When a person finds himself in a new culture, the usual system of orientation becomes inadequate, since it is based on other ideas about the world, other norms and values, stereotypes of behavior and perception. It is disappointment in the adequacy of one’s own culture, the awareness of its non-universality that becomes the cause of shock, since in the conditions of one’s culture a person does not realize that it contains this hidden, invisible part of culture.

The state of culture shock is directly related to the communication process. Every person takes his ability to communicate for granted and does not realize the role this ability plays in his life until he finds himself in a situation of misunderstanding. Unsuccessful communication usually causes him heartache and disappointment. However, in this state the person realizes that the source of frustration is his own inability to communicate adequately. It's about not only and not so much about ignorance of the language, but about the ability to decipher cultural information from a different cultural environment, about psychological compatibility with speakers of a different culture, the ability to understand and accept their values.

The range of symptoms of culture shock is very wide - from mild emotional disorders to severe stress, psychosis, alcoholism and suicide. In practice, it is often expressed in excessive concern for the cleanliness of dishes, linen, the quality of water and food, in psychosomatic disorders, general anxiety, insomnia, and fear. This or that type of culture shock can develop from several months to several years, depending on the individual characteristics of the individual.

Modern researchers consider culture shock as part of the process of adaptation to new conditions. Moreover, in this process the individual not only acquires knowledge about the new culture and the norms of behavior in it, but becomes more culturally developed, although he experiences stress. Therefore, since the beginning of the 1990s. Experts prefer to talk not about culture shock, but about acculturation stress.

The mechanism of development of culture shock was first described in detail by Oberg, who argued that people go through certain stages of experiencing culture shock and gradually achieve a satisfactory level of adaptation. Today, an adaptation curve (U-shaped curve) has been proposed to describe them, in which five stages of adaptation are distinguished.

• The first stage is called the “honeymoon”: as a rule, migrants, once abroad, are full of enthusiasm and hope. In addition, they are often prepared for their arrival, they are expected, and first they receive help and may have some benefits. But this period is quickly passing.
• At the second stage, the unfamiliar environment and culture begin to have a negative impact. Psychological factors caused by misunderstanding of local residents are becoming increasingly important. The result can be disappointment, frustration and even depression. Therefore, during this period, migrants are trying to escape from reality, communicating mainly with their fellow countrymen and complaining to them about life.
• The third stage is critical, as culture shock reaches its maximum. This can lead to somatic and mental illnesses. Some migrants return to their homeland. But the majority find the strength to overcome cultural differences, learn the language, get acquainted with the local culture, make local friends, from whom they receive the necessary support.
• At the fourth stage, an optimistic attitude appears, the person becomes more self-confident and satisfied with his position in the new society and culture, considering adaptation and integration into the life of the new society to be very successful.
• At the fifth stage, complete adaptation to the new culture is achieved. From this time on, the individual and the environment correspond to each other. Depending on the intensity of the listed factors, the adaptation process can last from several months to 4-5 years.

The resulting U-shaped culture shock development curve is characterized by the following stages: good, worse, bad, better, good.

When a person who has successfully adapted to a foreign culture returns to his homeland, he is faced with the need for reverse adaptation (readaptation) to his own culture. It is believed that in this case he experiences a “return shock”, described by the W-shaped readaptation curve. It repeats the U-shaped curve: at first a person is happy to return and meet friends, then he notices that some features of his native culture seem strange and unusual to him, but gradually he again adapts to life at home.

Factors influencing culture shock can be divided into two groups - internal (individual) and external (group).

In the group of internal (individual) factors, the most important are the individual characteristics of a person - age, gender, education, character traits, life experience.

Age is a critical element of adaptation to another community: than older man, the more difficult it is for him to adapt to the new cultural system, the harder and longer he experiences culture shock, and the slower he perceives the models of the new culture. Thus, young children adapt quickly and successfully, but schoolchildren already experience great difficulties, and older people are practically incapable of adaptation and acculturation.

Floor. Previously, it was believed that women had a harder time adapting to a new environment than men. But this applies to women from traditional societies, whose lot in a new place is to do housework and have limited communication with new people. Women from developed countries have the same ability to acculturate as men, and American women are better than men at adapting to new circumstances. Therefore, recently researchers believe that the education factor is more important for adaptation: the higher it is, the more successful the adaptation. Education, even without taking into account cultural content, expands a person’s internal capabilities. The more complex a person’s picture of the world, the easier and faster he perceives innovations.

In this regard, experts have identified a universal set of personal characteristics that a person who is preparing for life in a foreign country with a foreign culture should have. These are professional competence, high self-esteem, sociability, extroversion, openness to different views, interest in others, a tendency to cooperate, tolerance of uncertainty, internal self-control, courage and perseverance, empathy. True, real life practice shows that the presence of these qualities does not always guarantee success. If the values ​​of a foreign culture differ too much from the named personality traits, i.e. The cultural distance is too great; adaptation will be very difficult.

The circumstances of a person's life experience also relate to internal factors in adapting to and overcoming culture shock. The most important thing here is the motives for adaptation. The motivation of migrants determines how fully they become acquainted with the language, history and culture of the country where they are going. There is strong motivation among emigrants who want to move permanently to another country and want to quickly become full members of a new culture, as well as among students receiving education abroad. The situation is much worse for internally displaced persons and refugees who did not want to leave their homeland and do not want to get used to new living conditions.

Faster adaptation is facilitated by the experience of living in a foreign cultural environment, the presence of friends among local residents, who help to quickly master the information necessary for life, provide support (social, emotional, sometimes even financial), and contacts with former compatriots living in this country. But there is a danger of becoming isolated in a narrow circle of friends, which will increase alienation. Therefore, many services related to emigrants try to limit their residence in homogeneous national groups, believing that this interferes with rapid adaptation and may even cause ethnic prejudice.

External factors influencing adaptation and culture shock include cultural distance, cultural characteristics, and conditions of the host country.

Cultural distance is the degree of difference between the native culture and the one to which a person is adapting. At the same time, adaptation is influenced not even by the cultural distance itself, but by a person’s idea of ​​it. his sense of cultural distance, which depends on many factors - the presence or absence of wars or conflicts both in the present and in the past, knowledge of a foreign language and culture, etc. Subjectively, cultural distance may be perceived as further or closer than it actually is; in both cases, the culture shock will last and adaptation will be difficult.

Features of the culture to which migrants belong. Thus, representatives of cultures in which the concept of “face” is very important and where they are afraid of losing it adapt less well; Such people are very sensitive to the mistakes and ignorance that are inevitable in the adaptation process. Representatives of the “great powers” ​​have difficulty adapting, as they usually believe that it is not they who should adapt, but others.

Conditions of the host country, in particular the friendliness of local residents towards visitors, willingness to help them and communicate with them. It is much easier to adapt in a pluralistic society, as well as in societies where the policy of cultural pluralism is proclaimed at the state level, such as in Canada or Sweden, than in a totalitarian or orthodox one.

It is impossible not to mention such factors as economic and political stability in the host country, the level of crime on which the safety of migrants depends, the opportunity to communicate with representatives of another culture (which is possible if there are joint activities - general work, hobbies, etc.), the position of the media that create a common emotional mood And public opinion relative to other ethnic and cultural groups.

Culture shock is a complex and painful condition for a person, but it indicates personal growth, breaking existing stereotypes, which requires a huge expenditure of a person’s physical and psychological resources. As a result, a new picture of the world is formed, based on the acceptance and understanding of cultural diversity, the We-They dichotomy is removed, resistance to new challenges, and tolerance to the new and unusual appears. The main result is the ability to live in an ever-changing world, in which borders between countries matter less and less and direct contacts between people become increasingly important.

What are the features of culture shock and the reasons for its development?

Culture shock is an individual manifestation of a person’s disorientation, when he can recognize a previously unfamiliar way of life. Often culture shock occurs when immigrating or visiting another country, changing the social environment or banal immersion in a different type of life. The most common cause of culture shock is placement in a foreign environment.

Due to its relatively standard manifestations, culture shock can be divided into at least four different phases - euphoria, disappointment, adaptation and reconciliation.

Common negative conditions that contribute to the development of culture shock include:

• information overload;
• the language barrier;
• generation gap;
• technology gap;
• interdependence on the external environment;
• increased dependence on new conditions;
• cultural homesickness;
• the endless regression of homesickness;
• boredom;
• Responsiveness is a cultural skill set.

It is worth noting that there is no surefire way to completely prevent culture shock, since people in any society react to cultural contrast quite individually.

Instead of a preface

Culture shock is a subcategory of a more universal diagnosis called transition shock. Transitional shock as a state of loss and disorientation is based on changes in one’s familiar environment, which necessarily requires adjustment. There are many symptoms of transitional shock, including:

• excessive worry;
• feeling of helplessness;
• irritability;
• anger;
• mood swings;
• glassy look;
• the desire to return home and see old friends;
• physiological responses to stress;
• homesickness;
• cook;
• ridiculous conclusions;
• getting stuck in the same thoughts and actions;
• suicidal or fatalistic thoughts;
• excessive sleep;
• increased appetite and, as a result, excess weight gain;
• stereotypes of “master-slave”, “friends-newcomers” and so on;
• hostility towards citizens of the host country.

Phases of culture shock

Euphoria phase

During this period, the differences between the familiar and the new culture are viewed in a romantic light. For example, when visiting a previously unknown country, a person may fall in love with the new food, pace of life and habits of the local people. During the first few weeks, most people are fascinated by the new culture. Interest is especially active in citizens who speak their native language and those who are especially polite to foreigners. This attitude towards the environment is sometimes called a honeymoon - a person’s experiences are very similar to the emotions that newlyweds feel during this period. However, like most honeymoon periods, this stage eventually ends.

Disappointment

After some time, usually about three months, depending on the individual, the differences between the familiar and the new culture become very obvious and begin to cause concern. Such anxiety can often lead to unpleasant feelings of frustration and anger, especially in cases where a person experiences adverse events that may be perceived as culturally offensive. Language barriers, differences in public hygiene, road safety, food availability and food quality can all add to the feeling of being out of touch with the local environment.

Different environments place particular pressure on communication skills. Practical difficulties begin to arise in overcoming such circadian rhythms, which often lead to insomnia and daytime sleepiness, and adaptation of the intestinal flora. It is worth noting that one of the most common reasons psychologists note is the difficulty in finding a treatment for any disease - medications may have other names that are very different from those accepted in medicine. home country, so they are quite difficult to recognize. In addition, specialists may use slightly different principles to provide assistance than those to which the individual is accustomed. Sometimes clearly explaining your condition can be quite a labor-intensive task.

The most important changes during this period include the following. People, adapting to a new culture, often feel lonely and homesick, because they are not yet accustomed to the new environment and have not had time to meet people who are able to understand them and provide them with any positive emotions, including support. There is no opportunity to discuss your thoughts, problems with anyone, there are no tips to help you make a decision. A language barrier can become a serious obstacle in creating new relationships - there is a misunderstanding of the culture of a foreign language, non-verbal manifestations, linguistic tactlessness, tone of conversations, linguistic nuances and customs. Often there are people around who are essentially false friends.

In the case of students studying abroad, some of them may experience additional symptoms of loneliness, which ultimately affects their overall lifestyle. Due to the forced need to live in another country without parental care, international students often feel anxious and pressured when adapting to new cultures, especially when cultural and geographical distances are large and patterns of logic and speech are too different and highly specialized.

Adaptation

After some time, usually 6 to 12 months, the first habits of the new culture begin to appear and procedures for contact with it develop. The volume of such addictions is increasing literally every day. A person becomes concerned with the basic life of the surrounding society, things become more “normal”, but most importantly, he begins to draw conclusions. The skills to solve your own problems independently, without the participation of outsiders, appear. Little by little a positive attitude towards the surrounding reality is formed. The foreign culture begins to make sense, and negative reactions and responses decrease in quality.

Reconciliation

At this stage, the person is able to participate fully and comfortably, almost fully, in the environment of the host culture. Reconciliation does not mean complete transformation - people often retain many features of the previous culture, such as accent and language skills. This phase is often referred to as the bicultural stage.

Reverse culture shock

Reverse culture shock, “own culture shock,” can develop in the event of returning to one’s own country and one’s own culture. After spending a long time in a foreign culture, returning to one's homeland or place of previous long stay can produce the same effects as described above. This is the result of the psychosomatic and psychological consequences of the process of sanitation in the primary culture. A person subsequently often finds new living conditions more surprising, so it is difficult for him to return to the conditions in which he lived previously.

Reverse culture shock typically consists of two stages: idealization and expectations. When a long period of time spent abroad orients a person towards positive emotions, it can be quite difficult to return to the gray everyday life of his life. past life. Oddly enough, in this case it will be very easy for a person to remember everything from his “native” life, but he, as a rule, quickly forgets the negativity from the life from which he just returned.

A person expects that family things remain exactly the same as when they were left. The realization that home life Now it has changed that the world continues to live without our participation, causing discomfort and psychological suffering.

General conclusions

Some people believe that it is impossible to accept another culture and integrate into it. They isolate themselves from the host country environment, which they perceive as hostile, akin to a “ghetto.” In addition, there is an uncontrollable desire to return to one’s own culture and this is seen as the only way out. These “refuseniks” also have great problems reintegrating into the home environment after returning.

Other individuals, on the contrary, are characterized by a process of complete integration into the new culture and deep immersion in all its aspects and the smallest details. Such people often lose their original identity and very often their character, behavior and even appearance changes. This is called cultural assimilation. In this case, guests of the country, as a rule, stay here forever.

Some people manage to objectively adapt to aspects of the culture of the host country - they see both its positive and negative qualities, while maintaining their own basic traits and creating unique combinations with new conditions based on them. Such individuals do not have serious problems, they can return to their homeland or not, and they can often move to other places. This group may be considered to be somewhat cosmopolitan. Approximately 30% of expats belong to this group.

Culture shock has many different effects, time intervals and degrees of severity, therefore, in the case of therapy, it must be provided individual approach.

/ For questions / 52.Culture shock

Culture shock: causes, course, psychological help. "Buffer" group.

Culture shock is a psychological reaction to encountering another culture.

Phases of culture shock (according to Oberg): honeymoon - crisis - recovery - adaptation.

Causes of k.sh. - 1) experiencing loss (loss); 2) frustration due to value differences; 3) lack of social support; 4) lack of social skills; 5) unmet expectations

A buffer group is a real or conditional group of migrants, territorially concentrated or dispersed in a certain space. The buffer group is personally significant for the migrant individual, since it is an intermediary link in the process of a potential migrant leaving his original society, entering a new society, returning to the previous society (maybe even after several generations), preserving certain, most personally and collectively significant spiritual values ​​and attributes inherent in the abandoned society. The duration of functioning and activity of these types of groups over time is different. As a "guardian of values", the Buffer Group can actively exist for several generations of active migrants. Its collapse is facilitated by the cessation of the influx of new arrivals and the final integration and assimilation of the last guardians of values ​​into the new society. In such cases, the values ​​of the previous society cease to be personally significant for the migrant and lose their unifying functions. Nevertheless, their traces can appear in a hidden, vague form, since, having taken root in the structure of newly acquired values, they can give special, personal significant orientations behavior of further generations of former migrants, which will distinguish them from other members of society.

Culture shock - Disorientation of an individual upon entering a foreign cultural environment. The essence of culture shock is the conflict between old and new cultural norms and orientations, old ones inherent in the individual as a representative of the society he left, and new ones, that is, representing the society he arrived in. Strictly speaking, culture shock is a conflict between two cultures at the level of individual consciousness.

The term was introduced by K. Oberg in 1960. The process of intercultural adaptation is accompanied by: 1) a feeling of loss of friends and status due to isolation from the familiar environment; 2) a feeling of rejection; 3) surprise and discomfort when realizing the differences between cultures; 4) confusion in role expectations, value orientations and in one’s own personal identity; 5) a feeling of powerlessness due to the inability to effectively interact with their new environment. Symptoms of culture shock may include a lack of self-confidence, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, psychosomatic disorders, depression, etc.

Causes of culture shock:

experience of loss (grief, loss). Any loss is trauma. (symptoms – physiological state – excitability; flash back effects – intrusive memories; obsessive avoidance).

rejection of values, state of frustration. (affects fixation at the “crisis” stage)

lack of social support (the presence of people who will support me and listen to me).

lack of social skills

unrealistic expectations – people tend to hope for the best. To rid a person of illusions and lead to real perception.

The course of culture shock:

Oberg curve (parabola): 1) honeymoon (euphoria - something new) 2) crisis 3) recovery 4) integration

This curve is not always confirmed in practice, it just shows what should be in order to achieve integration. The illusion of integration occurs if the “honeymoon” immediately turns into integration.

Peter Adler tried to describe the process and establish the sequence of stages of experiencing K.-sh. His model includes five stages: a) initial contact, or the “honeymoon” stage, when the newcomer experiences the curiosity and excitement of a “tourist”, but at the same time his basic identity is still rooted in his native soil; b) the second stage is associated with the disintegration of the old system of familiar landmarks, with a cut of people. feels confused and overwhelmed by the demands of the new culture; typically a feeling of self-blame and inadequacy in the face of difficulties encountered; c) the third stage involves the reintegration of new guidelines and increased ability to function in a new culture. Typical emotions associated with this stage are anger and resentment towards the new culture as the cause of difficulties and a less suitable place to live than the previous environment. Since at this stage anger is directed outward, it is very difficult for such persons to provide any assistance. help; d) at the fourth stage, the process of reintegration continues in the direction of acquiring autonomy and increasing the ability to see positive and negative elements in both the new and old culture;) the fifth stage is characterized by independence: people. has finally achieved “biculturalism” and is now able to function in both the old and the new culture.

According to Bock, there are five ways to resolve the conflict between two cultures at the level of individual consciousness:

1) ghettoization - is realized in situations when a person arrives in another society, but tries or is forced (due to ignorance of the language, natural timidity, religion, etc.) to avoid any contact with a foreign culture. In this case, he tries to create his own cultural environment - an environment of fellow tribesmen, fencing off this environment from the influence of a foreign cultural environment.

2) assimilation, which is essentially the opposite of ghettoization. In the case of assimilation, the individual, on the contrary, completely abandons his own culture and strives to fully assimilate the cultural baggage of a foreign culture necessary for life.

3) intermediate, consisting of cultural exchange and interaction.

4) partial assimilation, when an individual sacrifices his culture in favor of a foreign cultural environment partially, that is, in one of the spheres of life: for example, at work he is guided by the norms and requirements of a foreign cultural environment, and in the family, at leisure, in the religious sphere - by the norms their traditional culture.

5) colonization, representatives of a foreign culture, having arrived in the country, actively impose their own values, norms and behavior patterns on the population.

A buffer group is a real or conditional group of migrants, territorially concentrated or dispersed in a certain space. The buffer group is personally significant for the migrant individual, since it is an intermediary link in the process of a potential migrant leaving his original society, entering a new society, returning to the previous society (maybe even after several generations), preserving certain, most personally and collectively significant spiritual values ​​and attributes inherent in the abandoned society. As a “guardian of values,” the buffer group can actively exist for several generations of active migrants. Its collapse is facilitated by the cessation of the influx of new arrivals and the final integration and assimilation of the last guardians of values ​​into the new society. In such cases, the values ​​of the previous society cease to be personally significant for the migrant and lose their unifying functions. However, their traces can appear in a hidden, vague form; they can give special, personally significant orientations to the behavior of further generations of former migrants, which will distinguish them from other members of society.

Culture shock

Culture shock is emotional or physical discomfort, disorientation of an individual caused by entering a different cultural environment, encountering another culture, an unfamiliar place. Getting used to a new environment can be exciting, stressful, challenging, funny, or just downright confusing. The term was first used by the American anthropologist Kalervo Oberg. Kalervo Oberg) in 1954.

Sometimes the concept of “culture shock” is used to refer to a general situation when a person is forced to adapt to a new order in which previously learned habits do not work. cultural values and behavior patterns.

Possible reasons

Basically, a person experiences culture shock when he enters another country that is different from the country where he lives, although he may encounter similar sensations in his own country if the social environment suddenly changes.

A person experiences a conflict between old and new cultural norms and orientations; old ones, to which he is accustomed, and new ones, characterizing a new society for him. This is a conflict between two cultures at the level of one’s own consciousness. Culture shock occurs when the familiar psychological factors that helped a person adapt to society disappear, and instead, unknown and incomprehensible ones appear, coming from a different cultural environment.

This experience of a new culture is unpleasant.

People experience culture shock differently and perceive the severity of its impact differently. It depends on their individual characteristics, the degree of similarity or dissimilarity of cultures. This can be attributed to whole line factors including climate, clothing, food, language, religion, level of education, material wealth, family structure, customs, etc.

Different phases of culture shock

Acute culture shock (mainly caused by moving to another country) usually consists of several phases. However, it must be recognized that not everyone goes through these phases, just as not everyone spends enough time in a foreign environment to go through certain phases.

• "Honeymoon". During such a period, a person perceives the differences between the “old” and “new” culture “through rose-colored glasses” - everything seems wonderful and beautiful. For example, in such a state a person may become interested in food that is new to him, a new place of residence, new habits of people, new architecture etc.
• "Reconciliation". After a few days, weeks, or months, a person stops focusing on minor differences between cultures. However, he again strives for the food he was used to at home, the rhythm of life in the new place of residence may seem too fast or too slow, people’s habits may be annoying, etc.
• "Adaptation". Again, after several days, weeks or months, a person gets used to his new environment. At this stage, the person no longer reacts negatively or positively because he is adapting to the new culture. He again leads daily life, as before in his homeland.
• "Reverse culture shock." Returning to the native culture after adapting to a new one can again cause a person to experience the above-described phases, which may not last very long or as long as the first culture shock in a foreign land.

Culture shock

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RF

RUSSIAN INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF TOURISM

6th year student

Naberezhnye Chelny

Introduction

The behavior of animals, insects, and birds is programmed by a system of instincts: they are naturally given instructions on how and what to eat, how to survive, how to build nests, when and where to fly, etc. In humans, the system of instincts has faded away, although researchers argue as to whether which grade. The function that instincts perform in nature is performed by culture in human society. It gives each individual an approximate program for his life, while defining a set of options.

A lot of people live with the illusion that they themselves have chosen the purpose of their life, their behavior patterns. Meanwhile, when comparing the lives of people in different cultures, it is difficult not to be amazed at the uniformity of “free” choice in one country and era, while the same need in another culture is satisfied in completely different forms. The reason is that culture is the environment that predetermines the choice of our behavior options. Just as in water the set of behavior options for the same people differs from the options for their movement on land, in a swamp, etc., so culture dictates our “free” choice. Each culture is a micro universe. Culture is very important for the functioning of an individual. Culture strengthens solidarity between people and promotes mutual understanding.

We are dependent on our habits and living conditions. Our well-being certainly depends on where we are, who and what surrounds us. When a person finds himself in an unfamiliar environment and finds himself cut off from his usual surroundings (be it a change of apartment, job or city), his psyche usually suffers shocks. It is clear that when it comes to moving to another country, we get it all together. The experiences and sensations that a person experiences when changing familiar living conditions to new ones are called culture shock by scientists...

The choice of topic is determined, first of all, by my personal desire to try to understand, both independently and with the help of competent authors, the conflict of several cultures when representatives of one culture collide with representatives of another, when a person leaves his usual environment, changes his way of life, makes new friends.

This topic is especially relevant today, when everything more people travels abroad (to live, study, work, relax). Some are interested in beaches, others - mountains, where you can breathe fresh air and ski, others - historical and cultural monuments. There is also VIP tourism for the business elite, combining leisure with business events, extreme tourism for thrill-seekers, honeymoon tourism for newlyweds and much more.

This paper attempts to characterize the phenomenon of culture shock and explain its causes. In this connection, let us consider the influence of culture on social groups and their relationships, features of mentality.

To write this work, a number of sources on cultural studies, sociology and tourism, as well as information from the Internet, were used.

Chapter 1. The meaning of culture for humans

1.1.The concept of culture

In order to define “culture shock,” let’s first find out the meaning of the word “culture” itself. So, the word “culture” (from the Latin colere) means “processing”, “farming”. In other words, this is cultivation, humanization, changing nature as a habitat. The concept itself contains a contrast between the natural course of development of natural processes and phenomena and the “second nature” artificially created by man - culture. Culture, therefore, is a special form of human life, qualitatively new in relation to previous forms of organization of living things on earth.

In the Middle Ages of the last century this word began to mean progressive method cultivating grain, this is how the term agriculture or the art of farming arose. But in the 18th and 19th centuries. it began to be used in relation to people, therefore, if a person was distinguished by grace of manners and erudition, he was considered “cultured.” The term was then applied mainly to aristocrats to distinguish them from the "uncultured" common people. The German word Kultur also meant a high level of civilization. In our lives today, the word “culture” is still associated with opera house, excellent literature, good education.

Modern scientific definition culture discarded the aristocratic shades of this concept. It symbolizes beliefs, values ​​and means of expression(used in literature and art) that are common to a group; they serve to organize experience and regulate the behavior of members of this group. The beliefs and attitudes of a subgroup are often called a subculture.

In history and in the modern era, a huge variety of types of cultures existed and exists in the world as locally - historical forms of communities of people. Each culture, with its own spatial and temporal parameters, is closely connected with its creator – the people (ethnic group, ethno-confessional community). Culture expresses the specifics of the way of life, the behavior of individual peoples, their special way of perceiving the world in myths, legends, a system of religious beliefs and value orientations that give meaning to human existence. Culture, therefore, is a special form of people’s life activity, which allows the manifestation of a variety of lifestyles, material ways of transforming nature and creating spiritual values.

The assimilation of culture is carried out through learning. Culture is created, culture is taught. Since it is not acquired biologically, each generation reproduces it and passes it on to the next generation. This process is the basis of socialization. As a result of the assimilation of values, beliefs, norms, rules and ideals, a person’s personality is formed and his behavior is regulated. If the process of socialization were to cease on a mass scale, it would lead to the death of culture.

How important culture is for the functioning of an individual and society can be judged by the behavior of people who have not been socialized.

The uncontrolled, or infantile, behavior of the so-called jungle children, who were completely deprived of communication with people, indicates that without socialization people are not able to adopt an orderly way of life, master a language and learn how to earn a living.

Cultural values ​​are formed based on the selection of certain types of behavior and experiences of people. Each society carried out its own selection of cultural forms. Each society, from the point of view of the other, neglects the main thing and deals with unimportant matters. In one culture material values barely recognized, in another they have a decisive influence on people's behavior. In one society, technology is treated with incredible disdain, even in areas essential to human survival; in another similar society, ever-improving technology meets the needs of the times. But every society creates a huge cultural superstructure that covers a person’s entire life - youth, death, and the memory of him after death.

1.2 Tendency of ethnocentrism

Man is so constructed that his ideas about the world seem to him to be the only true ones; Moreover, they seem natural, logical and self-evident to him.

There is a tendency in society to judge other cultures from a position of superiority to our own. This tendency is called ethnocentrism. The principles of ethnocentrism find clear expression in the activities of missionaries who seek to convert the “barbarians” to their faith. Ethnocentrism is associated with xenophobia - fear and hostility towards other people's views and customs.

Ethnocentrism marked the activities of the first anthropologists. They tended to compare all cultures with their own, which they considered the most advanced. According to American sociologist William Graham Sumner, culture can only be understood by analyzing its own values, in its own context. This view is called cultural relativism.

Cultural relativism promotes understanding of subtle differences between closely related cultures. For example, in Germany, the doors in an institution are always tightly closed to separate people. The Germans believe that otherwise employees are distracted from their work. On the contrary, in the United States, office doors are usually open. Americans who work in Germany often complained that closed doors made them feel unwelcoming and alienated. A closed door has a completely different meaning for an American than it does for a German.

Each culture is a unique universe created by a person’s specific attitude to the world and to himself. In other words, studying various cultures, we study not just books, cathedrals or archaeological finds, - we discover other human worlds in which people lived (and live) and felt differently than we do. Every culture is a way of human creative self-realization. Therefore, understanding other cultures enriches us not only with new knowledge, but also with new creative experience.