Table of contents introduction

Assimilation is the degree to which an individual relinquishes an original culture for another. When individuals are assimilated into a mainstream cul­ture, they lose their previous culture. The assimilation process usually occurs as an immigrant gradually learns the language of the host culture, forms friendships with a network of host nationals rather than with fellow immigrants, becomes increasingly exposed to the mass media of the host nation, and gradually cuts ties and identification with the original homeland. This assimilation process may occur over two or more generations. Some cul­tures resist any acculturation into the host society even after many, many generations. Examples in the United States are Orthodox Jews and the Old Order Amish, who maintain their original culture. The Gypsies are another example.
Acculturation is the process through which an individual is socialized into a new culture while retaining many aspects of a previous culture. In contrast to assimilation, the acculturated individual becomes a mixture of two or more cultures. The process of acculturation incorpo­rates similar stages as the stranger modifies some aspects of the original cul­ture, retains others, and adopts some of the norms of the new culture. Accul­turation involves a less complete integration of an individual into the host culture than does assimilation.
Culture shock is the traumatic experience that an individual may encounter when entering a different culture. We often become anxious when we lose our familiar surroundings. This fish-out-of-water feeling is due to losing the familiar signs and symbols of everyday communication. Alvin Toffler (1970) described culture shock as what happens when one finds one­self "in a place where yes may mean no, where a 'fixed price' is negotiable, where to be kept waiting in an outer office is no cause for insult, where laugh­ter may signify anger." The shock of finding oneself in unfamiliar territory, overloaded with stimuli one cannot process, unable to ask directions or to understand the answers to carefully rehearsed questions, in weather more extreme than ever experienced at home, with food that is unrecognizable and water that cannot be used to brush one's teeth, is somewhat like experiencing a snowstorm while everyone around you calmly negotiates daily activities.
The term culture shock was coined by an anthropologist, Cora DuBois, in 1951. Much of the early research on culture shock was conducted by social psychologists who investigated individuals' adjustment to new cultural set­tings. As the field of intercultural communication got underway in the 1960s, culture shock became a favorite topic of research. In these investigations, sojourners (an individual who visits another culture for a period of time but who retains his/her original culture) are typically personally interviewed (1) before their departure for another culture, (2) while they are suffering from culture shock, and (3) upon their return to their home culture, where they often experience reentry prob­lems (also called reverse culture shock). For some individuals, the reentry process is more serious than the earlier shock of living in another culture. Both culture shock and reverse culture shock show us that culture is an important influence on human behavior.
The cultural display might be an Italian (probably from Rome) who turns up half an hour late for a scheduled meeting. In her own cultural environment this will make no waves, for most of the others will be late too. Were she to turn up 30 minutes late in an alien cul­ture, say Germany, she would deliver a culture shock. Germans do not like to be kept waiting for 3 minutes, let alone 30. Immediate resistance and protest by the German leads to Italian defense (traffic jam, ill daughter, etc.) and eventually a defense of the Italian way of life: "Why are you Germans so obsessed about time? You are like clocks!" Such confrontation often leads to deadlock and even withdrawal from a business project, for example.
In a friendly culture (say the French), the criticism will be couched in cyni­cism but will be less final or damning: "You stole half an hour of my time, old chap!" The Italian, sensitive to Latin objections, next time comes only 20 minutes late. The Frenchman, no great believer in punctuality himself, eventually settles for 15 minutes.
Culture shock can be very serious. Over recent decades, the Peace Corps has had to return about 30 percent of its volunteers to the United States before the end of their two-year overseas stay. Volunteers (as well as other sojourners) return home due to the mental problems caused by culture shock. Paul Bohannan and Dirk van der Elst (1998) describe the mental and emo­tional discomfort as the result of "finding yourself understanding behaviors resulting logically from premises alien to your own culture" (p. 52). As they warn, no amount of training prepares you to look into yourself and become aware that you have cultural limitations.
What are common symptoms of culture shock? Excessive washing of hands; extreme concern over drinking the water, eating local food, and the cleanliness of bedding; an absent-minded, far-away stare; loss of appetite; an overdependence on being with long-term residents of one's own nationality; fits of sudden anger over minor delays; overwhelming fear of being cheated or robbed; great concern over minor skin irritations and slight pains; and a terrible longing to be back home (Oberg, 1960). Most individuals, who travel to another country, especially for the first time, experience at least a certain degree of culture shock. Some individuals are rendered completely incapable of daily functioning. For example, the wife of a U.S. military attache in Bogota, Colombia, remained in bed for two years, fearful of the germs that she felt pervaded the local environment. Her husband's Colombian friends and acquaintances considered her behavior shocking.