Theoretical models of culture shock and adaptation in international students in higher education

Introduction
Students attending universities in a culture different from their own have to contend with novel
social and educational organisations, behaviours and expectations – as well as dealing with the
problems of adjustment common to students in general. This is difficult enough when the
newcomer is aware of the differences in advance, but even more difficult when the newcomer is
unaware and falsely assumes that the new society operates like their home country. Newcomers
easily become ‘lost in translation’. The collective impact of such unfamiliar experiences on
cultural travellers in general has been termed ‘culture shock’. Student sojourners are an example
of such travellers, increasing in numbers in many English-speaking countries.
There are estimated to be more than a million students and scholars attending institutions of
higher education abroad (Hayes 1998; Taylor 2005). The quality of the psychological, sociocul-
tural and educational experiences of this large group of people is important, not least in promoting
global intercultural understanding. It is no surprise that the literature has been concerned with
students’ adaptation problems. Student sojourners are probably the best-researched group of
cross-cultural travellers, as they tend to be easily accessed as research participants. Many studies
have explored social and friendship networks (related to culture learning theory), social skill
acquisition (connected to stress and coping theory), and inter-group perceptions and relations
(linked with social identification theories).
This article reviews the development of theories of culture shock, considers their relevance to
the process of adaptation in student sojourners, and seeks to clarify and extend them in relation
to this group.
Historical perspectives on culture shock
The long established literature on migration includes many large-scale (mainly epidemiological)
cross-national studies concerned with mental health. More recent studies on student sojourners
*Corresponding author. Email: [e-mail]
ISSN 0307-5079 print/ISSN 1470-174X online
© 2008 The Authors. Published by Taylor & Francis. This is an Open Access article. Non-commercial re-use, distribution, and repro-
duction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any
way, is permitted. The moral rights of the named authors have been asserted.
DOI: 10.1080/03075070701794833
http://www.informaworld.com

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64
 Y. Zhou et al.
tend to be smaller. Systematic research on overseas students only appeared after the 1950s, when
there was a flood of research on their social and psychological problems (Ward, Bochner, and
Furnham 2001).
In describing and analysing students’ adaptation problems, researchers have been influenced
by the traditional perspectives on migration and mental health. In the past, two general explana-
tions were proposed to account for the association between migration and psychological prob-
lems. The first argued that there were predisposing factors that could lead to selective migration,
such as various characteristics of individuals, grief and bereavement (movement as response to
loss and possibly resulting in further loss), fatalism (abandonment of control or, in contrast, a
reactive attempt to seize control), and selective expectations of enhancement of life quality (that
might be more or less realistic). The second argued that mental health changes might be a conse-
quence of migration experiences, including negative life events, lack of social support networks
and the impact of value differences. Theoretical components of these two generalities (illustrating
the differences in origins and conceptual formulation) are listed in Table 1. This also includes
reference to a further formulation (’social skills and culture learning’), which goes beyond culture
shock and can be viewed as an intermediate approach with strong connections to contemporary
theories.
Many studies in the migration literature highlighted the negative aspects of exposure to
another culture, and this was perpetuated in much of the student sojourner literature. Ward,
Bochner and Furnham (2001: 36) observed that ‘the early theories applied to the study of inter-
national students were clinically oriented and strongly related to medical models of sojourner
adjustment’. There followed a gradual movement away from medical models, and researchers
started to question the implicit assumption that cross-cultural contact is so stressful as to necessi-
tate medical treatment (e.g. Bochner 1986).
By the 1980s, a different view had emerged that regarded sojourning as a learning experience
rather than a medical nuisance. It followed that appropriate positive action would include prepa-
ration and orientation, and the acquisition of skills relevant to the new culture (Bochner 1982;
Table 1.
Traditional theoretical approaches to culture shock.
Theory
Epistemological origin
Originator
Conceptual formulation
Grief and 
bereavement
Psychoanalytic tradition
Bowlby 1969
Sees migration as experience 
of loss
Locus of control
Applied social psychology
Rotter 1966
Control beliefs predict 
migration
Selective 
migration
Socio-biology (Neo-
Darwinism)
e.g. Wells 1907
Individual fitness predicts 
adaptation
Expectations
Applied social psychology
Feather 1982
Expectancy-values relate to 
adjustment
Negative life-
events
Clinical psychology
Holmes and Rahe 1967
Migration involves life 
changes, and adaptation to 
change is stressful
Social support
Clinical psychology
e.g. Brown, Bhrolchain, 
and Harris 1975
Social skill offers a buffering 
effect between life-events and 
depression
Value difference
Social psychology
Merton 1938
Value differences lead to poor 
adaptation
Social skills and 
culture learning
Social psychology
Argyle & Kendon 1967
Lacking social skills may 
cause cross-cultural problems

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Studies in Higher Education
 65
Klineberg 1982). This new perspective viewed sojourning as a dynamic experience, both for
students and members of the host culture. The social skills and culture learning perspective began
to lay the foundation for the development of the culture learning model, which is explored below.