Mobilization and cultural exchange are characteristic phenomena of human societies. They have generated, among other things, the need to rearrange the ways we relate and identify ourselves. Such rearrangement is a process that might seem simple, but is characterized by significant experiences of astonishment, estrangement and even some discomfort, which we know as “culture shock”.

Next we will see in more detail what a culture shock is, what elements compose it according to sociology and psychology , and which are the stages by which it is characterized.

What is a culture shock?

The term “shock” can refer to a violent confrontation, a confrontation, an impact, a friction, or a feeling of strangeness. In this sense a “culture shock” can be defined as a feeling of strangeness that occurs due to the confrontation between different cultures . As it is a confrontation, culture shock can be visible from different phases and can also generate psychological and social conflicts.

For example, njnjf tells us that the term culture shock also refers to the state of disorientation and frustration that it generates in the face of the recognition of differences that exist between cultures. Such recognition can involve surprise, stress, anxiety, nostalgia, anger, uncertainty, helplessness and feelings of incompetence.

On the other hand, García and Verdú (2008) tell us that culture shock is an inherent and characteristic conflict of the global context of the 21st century, which among other things has been distinguished by a cosmopolitan discourse that defends the advantages of globalization and cultural exchange. These advantages, however, converge with a series of psychosocial elements that force the internalization of new norms and values, as well as the re-accommodation of imaginaries and identities.

3 characteristic elements of culture shock

Culture shock is a phenomenon that occurs on the margins of the stage where the integration of different cultures takes place. Therefore, it is an experience that especially accompanies the migratory process, where it is inevitable to face new forms of communication, new social hierarchies, new identities and cultural codes .

However, culture shock can occur beyond migration; for example, during the encounter of two people with different cultural backgrounds but who have shared the same group since birth. In both cases, culture shock generates firstly strangeness and secondly the need to re-arrange the codes of interaction. To explain this we will see below some elements that characterize the culture shock .

1. Language and Communication

It is to be expected that one of the elements that can facilitate or hinder the experience of culture shock is language. Facing a different language and the communicative difficulties that this poses is one of the factors that can make the experience of culture shock more or less intense. The same can occur with non-verbal language elements such as gestures or body postures or forms that are expected within one culture and not in another.

2. Modify the interaction codes

Communicative encounters are mediated by different codes of interaction. Thus, a person who speaks natively the language of a destination, does not necessarily share the rules of integration of that place .

For the latter to take place, there must also be a negotiation of the codes of interaction. For example, roles, ways of speaking or moving around, ways of greeting or saying goodbye, gratitude, manners and rules of space transit, among others.

3. Identity

This ultimately affects the process of individual and collective identification, i.e., the ethnic identity of origin which is necessarily linked to the behavioural expectations of the culture of destination.

The people involved modify their own representation of themselves through communicative meetings. In addition to linguistic and communicative skills, this representation includes tastes, desires, interests and lifestyles . It also has to do with a process of rearranging the imaginaries of both the society of origin and the society of destination.

Culture shock in the migration process

As we have said, culture shock is a phenomenon that occurs almost inevitably in the migration process. For the same reason, it is in this context that different studies have been developed from sociology and psychology. García and Verdú (2008), for example, speak to us of 7 stages that are characteristic of the cultural shock around the migratory fact.

Specifically, these stages have to do with the evolution of the imaginary of the reference society and the society to which the person who migrates belongs :

1. Idealization

At the beginning there is a utopia about international migration; where fantasy images about migratory processes (that have to do with the idea of “better opportunities” and “trying one’s luck”), are articulated with the imaginaries of the society of origin that are generally negative .

2. Frustration

There follows a stage of disillusionment or frustration, where initial illusions or aspirations are confronted with the systems of exclusion and the real difficulties of integration.

3. Nostalgia

A phase of idealization of the place of origin continues, which is characterized by a process of longing for family or friends and for the codes that form part of the communicative reference meeting.

4. Merging

After the idealization and before the permanence in the place of destination, the process of maintaining certain own cultural practices occurs, and at the same time incorporating practices of the society of belonging.

5. Solidarity

This converges with new survival strategies, which consist of creating migratory support networks , often centred on the nuclear family. At the same time there is a process of psychological adaptation and cultural learning of the knowledge and skills that are necessary for socialization.

6. Settlement

As a result, the need to articulate the sense of stability in the destination society (with the permanence of both positive and negative aspects), and its correlation that often goes in the opposite direction on the country of origin, becomes visible.

Bibliographic references:

  • García, J.T. and Verdú, A.D. (2008). Social imaginaries on migration: evolution of the self-image of the immigrant. Papers, 89: 81-101.
  • Zlobina, A., Basabe, N. and Páez, D. (2004). Adaptation of foreign immigrants in Spain: overcoming culture shock. Migrations, 15: 43-84.
  • Cortés, G. (2002). El choque cultural. Recovered 23 July 2018. Available at https://www.azc.uam.mx/publicaciones/tye/elchoquecultural.htm.