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

Evaluation and synthesis of traditional and contemporary approaches
So, how different are contemporary approaches from the early explanations? Below we summarise
the main strengths of the ABC model and explore the connections between the eight traditional
explanations (Table 1) and the three contemporary theories (Table 2). Four aspects of the ABC
model have contributed to its usefulness. First, it is more comprehensive than previous models.
Second, it considers acculturation as a process that occurs over time, rather than at one time. Third,
it proposes an active process, rather than passive reactions to a noxious event. Fourth, it addresses
the characteristics of the person and the situation, rather than only those within the individual,
taking culture shock from the medical/clinical field into education and learning, with implications
for intervention (including self-help) that do not necessitate scarce and costly professional exper-
tise. Thus the ABC model is comprehensive, longitudinal, dynamic, systemic and pragmatic.
In contrast, none of the early explanations offered a comprehensive theoretical formulation
predicting culture shock, although some could explain some aspects of culture shock post hoc.
Nonetheless, most of the early explanations can be incorporated into the contemporary models.
For example, early studies on attitudes and values (e.g. Chang 1973), and expectations (e.g.
Feather 1982) all influenced social identification theories. Another example is Oberg’s (1960)
description of ‘culture shock’, which outlined a number of affective consequences of psycholog-
ical reactions to situational stress, such as surprise, anxiety, strain, feelings of loss and deprivation.
However, contemporary theories are not without problems. First, the ABC model is complex,
and it is difficult to research and separate out the relative effects of individual components.
Second, theories and research on the psychology of intercultural contact have not been well inte-
grated with respect to different groups of cultural travellers. It seems that efforts are still needed
to synthesise theories into a coherent framework.