Viewing Culture Shock In The Process Of Cross-cultural Adaptation

Where there is intercultural contact, there is culture shock. The anthropologist Kalvero Oberg (1960) first introduced the term culture shock to describe the signs of anxiety that can occur when people bump into a new culture that presents very few familiar symbols or behaviors. In order to uncover the causes and characteristics of culture shock and find out effective methods to overcome the negative effects of this omnipresent phenomenon, many scholars have probed the issue. Because of the complexity of the issue, researchers have proposed a variety of theories from different perspectives. The researches, however, remain unsystematic. The thesis probes the issue in the process of cross-cultural adaptation on the framework of cultural anthropology. To further the study of culture shock, the thesis has two objectives: first, it synthesizes the causes of culture shock and illustrate characteristics of it; second, it sums up the previous theories on the methods for coping with culture shock and find the way to make it a less stressful and more positive experience.The development of cultural anthropology since 1970s offers new insights into the issue of culture shock and the studies on culture shock prosper. To further the discussion of causes and characteristics of culture shock and systemize them, the thesis applies the principles of cultural anthropology and quotes cross-cultural adaptation theories developed by Y.Y.Kim (1991), and the related statements on intercultural communication as further theoretical supports. The principles of cultural anthropology serve as the basis for the concept of culture, ethnocentrism, cultural relativism and the process of cross-cultural adaptation. The theories on culture shock cited here include the disease model, the growth model.To sum up the previous theories on the remedies for culture shock, the thesis emphasizes the importance of cross-cultural training for intercultural competence and highlights that adaptation is a natural way to overcome culture shock.This thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter One serves as an introduction, which is concerned with the significance, objectives and the organization of the thesis.Chapter Two is literature review. It first introduces some relevant concepts from the perspective of cultural anthropology. Then it gives a brief review of the researches on culture shock.