The phenomenon of culture shock. The main symptoms of culture shock

culture shock is individual manifestation disorientation of a person when he can recognize a previously unfamiliar way of life. Often culture shock is observed when immigrating or visiting another country, changing the social environment or banal immersion in a different type of life. The most common reason culture shock is a placement in a foreign environment.

Due to its relatively standard manifestations, culture shock can be divided into at least four distinct phases - euphoria, frustration, adaptation, and reconciliation.

Common negative conditions that contribute to the development of culture shock include:

• information overload;
• the language barrier;
• generation gap;
• technological gap;
• interdependence on the external environment;
• increased dependence on new conditions;
• cultural homesickness;
• an endless regression of homesickness;
• boredom
• responsiveness is a cultural skill set.

It is worth noting that there is no surefire way to completely prevent culture shock, since people in any society have quite individual attitudes towards cultural contrast.

Instead of a preface

Culture shock is a subcategory of a more generic diagnosis called transient shock. Transient shock as a state of loss and disorientation is based on changes in one's habitual environment, which necessarily requires adjustment. There are many symptoms of transient shock, including:

• excessive anxiety;
• feeling of helplessness;
• irritability;
• anger;
• mood swings;
• glass look;
• desire to return home and see old friends;
• physiological reactions to stress;
• homesickness;
• cookie;
• ridiculous conclusions;
• stuck on the same thoughts and actions;
• suicidal or fatalistic thoughts;
• excessive sleep;
• increased appetite and, as a result, weight gain;
• stereotypes "master-slave", "friends-arrivals" and so on;
• hostility towards the citizens of the host country.

Phases of culture shock

Euphoric phase

During this period, the differences between familiar and new culture are viewed in a romantic light. For example, when visiting a previously unexplored country, a person may fall in love with new food, pace of life and habits. local residents. During the first few weeks, most people are fascinated by the new culture. Particularly active interest is shown in citizens who speak their native language and those who are especially polite with foreigners. This attitude towards the environment is sometimes called honeymoon- the experiences of a person are very similar to the emotions that the newlyweds feel during this period. However, like most honeymoons, this stage eventually ends.

Disappointment

After a while, usually about three months, depending on the individual, the differences between the familiar and the new culture become quite obvious and begin to cause anxiety. Such agitation can often lead to unpleasant feelings of frustration and anger, especially in cases where a person experiences adverse events that can be perceived, oddly enough, as offensive to one's own personality. cultural attitude. Language barriers, differences in public hygiene, safety traffic, food availability and quality of products can enhance the sense of detachment from the usual environment in this place.

Another environment puts particular pressure on communication skills. Practical difficulties begin to arise to overcome such circadian rhythms, which often lead to insomnia and daytime sleepiness, adaptation of the intestinal flora. It is worth noting that one of the most common reasons psychologists point out is the difficulty in finding a cure for a disease - drugs may have other names that are very different from those accepted in their native country, so they are quite difficult to recognize. In addition, specialists may use slightly different principles to provide assistance than those to which the individual is accustomed. Sometimes it can be quite a difficult task to clearly explain your condition.

The most important changes during this period include the following. People adapting to new culture, often feel lonely and homesick, because they have not yet got used to the new environment and have not had time to meet people who are able to understand them and deliver any positive emotions, including support. There is no opportunity to discuss your thoughts, problems with anyone, there are no tips to help make a decision. The language barrier can become a serious obstacle in creating new relationships - there is a misunderstanding of the culture of a foreign language, non-verbal manifestations, language faux pas, tone of conversations, linguistic nuances and customs. Often there are people around who are essentially false friends.

In the case of students studying abroad, some of them may experience additional symptoms of loneliness, which ultimately affects their lifestyle in general. Due to the forced need to live in another country without parental care, foreign students often feel anxious and pressured to adapt to new cultures, especially when cultural and geographic distances are significant and patterns of logic and speech are too different and highly specialized.

Adaptation

After some time, usually 6 to 12 months, the first habits to the new culture begin to emerge and procedures for contact with it develop. The volume of such addictions is increasing literally every day. A person becomes preoccupied with the basic life of the surrounding society, things become more "normal", but most importantly - he begins to draw conclusions. Decision skills emerge own problems independently, without the participation of third parties. Little by little, a positive attitude towards surrounding reality. A foreign culture begins to make sense, and negative reactions and answers lower their quality.

Reconciliation

At this stage, a person is able to participate fully and comfortably, almost fully, in the environment of the host culture. Reconciliation does not mean complete transformation - people often retain many features of the former culture, such as accent and language skills. This phase is often referred to as the bicultural stage.

Reverse culture shock, "own culture shock", can develop in case of returning to one's country and one's native culture. After spending a long time in a foreign culture, returning to the homeland or place of the previous long stay can produce the same effects as described above. This is the result of the psychosomatic and psychological consequences of the sanitation process in the primary culture. A person subsequently often finds new conditions of life more surprising, so it is difficult for him to return to those conditions in which he lived before.

Reverse culture shock usually consists of two stages: idealization and expectations. When a long period of time spent abroad orients a person towards positive emotions, it can be quite difficult to return to gray everyday life his past life. Oddly enough, but in this case it will be very easy for a person to remember everything from his “native” life, but he, as a rule, quickly forgets the negative from the life from which he has just returned.

A person expects that native things remain exactly the same as when they left them. The realization that home life has now changed, that the world continues to live without our participation causes discomfort and psychological suffering.

General conclusions

Some people believe that it is impossible to accept a foreign culture and integrate into it. They isolate themselves from the environment of the host country, which they have to perceive as hostile, akin to a "ghetto". In addition, there is an irresistible desire to return to their own culture and this is seen as the only way out. These “refuseniks” also have big problems of reintegration at home after their return.

Other individuals, on the contrary, are characterized by the process of complete integration into a new culture and deep immersion in all its aspects and the smallest details. Such people often lose their original identity and very often their character, behavior and even appearance change. This is called cultural assimilation. In this case, the guests of the country, as a rule, stay here forever.

Some people manage to objectively adapt to aspects of the culture of the host country - they see both its positive qualities and negative ones, while maintaining their own basic features and creating unique combinations with new conditions on their basis. Such individuals do not have serious problems may or may not return to their home country, may move frequently to other places. This group may be considered to be somewhat cosmopolitan. Approximately 30% of expats belong to this group.

Culture shock has many different effects, time intervals and degrees of severity, therefore, in the case of therapy, an individual approach must necessarily be provided.

The types of ethnocultural interaction considered by us develop at the level ethnic groups and communities. Ethnic contacts at the individual level have their own characteristics and develop specifically. Representatives of various areas of ethnological science agree that with stable contacts with a foreign cultural environment, an individual develops a special state of consciousness, which in ethnology is called culture shock.

Each culture creates many symbols of the social environment, verbal and non-verbal ways of communication, with the help of which its bearers freely and confidently navigate the life around them. Spiritual world and the character of each person depends on these cultural phenomena, many of which he is not aware of. When this system of orientation in the surrounding world becomes inadequate in the conditions of a new culture, a person experiences a deep nervous shock, a cultural shock. The essence of culture shock lies in the mismatch or conflict of old and familiar cultural norms with new and unusual.

The term "culture shock" was introduced into scientific use by the American researcher K. Oberg in 1960, when he noted that entering a new culture is accompanied by a number of unpleasant sensations. Today it is considered that the experience of a new culture is unpleasant, or shocking, on the one hand, because it is unexpected, and on the other hand, because it can lead to a negative assessment of one's own culture. Grushevitskaya, T.G. Basics intercultural communication: Textbook for universities / T.G. Grushevitskaya, A.P. Sadokhin, V.D. Popkov. - Moscow: UNITI-DANA, 2003. - 215-225 p.

There are usually six forms of culture shock:

tension due to the efforts made to achieve psychological adaptation;

feeling of loss due to deprivation of friends, position, profession, property;

a feeling of loneliness (rejection) in a new culture, which can turn into a denial of this culture;

violation of role expectations and sense of self-identification;

anxiety, turning into indignation and disgust after the realization of cultural differences;

feelings of inferiority due to inability to cope with the situation.

Indicators of culture shock, according to the founders of this concept - American cultural anthropologists A. Farnham and S. Bochner, are excessive concern for drinking water, dishes and beds; fear of physical contact with representatives of another culture; a feeling of helplessness and a desire to be under the protection of a representative of one's own culture; fear of being deceived or offended. Culture shock is basically defensive reaction the psyche of the individual to an excessively large volume new information, the influx of which is so huge that a person for some time feels powerless to cope with it.

Culture shock occurs not only and not so much because the environment surrounding a person suddenly becomes unpredictable and there is a danger to his life due to inadequate behavior. Such acute situations are extremely rare. The bottom line is a completely unusual feeling that one can live without the usual knowledge and understanding of the world, that it is not universal, that the people around him live according to their own laws and ideas, not at all caring about how he understands and evaluates them at the same time. The individual realizes the uselessness and uselessness of familiar knowledge, feels the need to rethink all his life experience.

The experience of interacting with a new culture is shocking also because it can lead to a negative assessment of one's own culture, and also because it is unexpected. IN last years many of our compatriots had to experience the impact of this shock. First of all, these are "shuttle traders", students, scientists, businessmen, tourists, who have directly encountered a foreign cultural environment. However, especially strong feeling culture shock experienced by people who travel abroad for permanent place residence. As a rule, they live there materially incomparably better than in Russia, but morally they feel a sense of nostalgia, melancholy, and inferiority. Therefore, as established by special studies, there are more mental illnesses among migrants than among indigenous people. Specific links have also been established between migrant groups and the nature of mental disorders. For example, British people in Australia suffer from alcoholism, while Indians in England suffer from schizophrenia.

Of course, culture shock has more than just negative consequences. Modern researchers consider it as a normal reaction, as part of the normal process of human adaptation to new living conditions. During this process, a person not only acquires knowledge about a new culture and the norms of behavior in it, but also becomes more culturally developed.

The experience of culture shock goes through certain stages before the individual reaches a satisfied level of adaptation. To describe this process, a model is proposed in which five stages of adaptation are distinguished.

The first stage is called the "honeymoon" because many migrants are full of enthusiasm and hope, as their desire to study and work abroad has come true. In addition, relatives or official bodies often prepare for their arrival, they are expected, at first they receive help and may have some privileges. However, this period passes quickly.

At the second stage, unusual environment and culture begin to have a negative impact. Increasingly important are psychological factors caused by a lack of understanding of local residents and living conditions. This can result in frustration and frustration, symptoms of culture shock. Therefore, during this period, migrants are trying to escape from reality, communicating mainly with their fellow countrymen and complaining about their lives.

The third stage becomes critical - the culture shock reaches its maximum. This can lead to physical and mental illness. Some migrants give up and return home to their homeland. But most find the strength to overcome cultural differences, learn the language, get acquainted with the local culture, acquire local friends, from whom they receive the necessary support.

At the fourth stage, as a rule, an optimistic mood appears, a person becomes more self-confident and satisfied with his position in the new society and culture. Adaptation and integration into the life of the new society are progressing very successfully.

At the fifth stage, complete adaptation to the new culture is achieved. The individual and the environment henceforth correspond to each other. Depending on the factors influencing the adaptation process, it can last from months to 4-5 years.

The severity of culture shock and its duration depend on many factors. They can be combined into two groups: external (group) and internal (individual), among which the most important are individual characteristics of a person - gender, age, character traits, motivation.

Among internal factors, age is the most critical moment adaptation of a person to the conditions of life in another society. How older people the more difficult it is for them to adapt to the new cultural system, experience cultural shock more severely and longer, perceive the norms and values ​​of a new culture more slowly. Small children adapt quickly and successfully, but already schoolchildren experience great difficulties in this process, and older people are practically incapable of adaptation and acculturation.

Gender also plays a significant role in the process of adaptation to a new culture and the duration of culture shock: women have more difficulty adjusting to a new socio-cultural environment than men. But this judgment applies to a large extent to women from traditional societies, whose destiny in a new place is housework and limited communication with new acquaintances. Women from developed countries do not show differences in their ability to acculturate compared to men. For adaptation, more important than gender is the factor of education: the higher the level of education, the more successful adaptation. Education, even without taking into account the cultural content, expands the internal capabilities of a person, which contributes to an easier and faster perception of innovation.

Based on the research results, a universal set was formulated personal characteristics, which a person who is preparing for life in a foreign country with a foreign culture should have. This set includes: professional competence, high self-esteem, sociability, extroversion, openness to different views, interest in others, a tendency to cooperate, tolerance for uncertainty, high level self-control, courage and perseverance, empathic abilities. True, life practice shows that the presence of these qualities does not always guarantee success.

The duration of overcoming culture shock also depends on the motives for adaptation. The strongest motivation is usually among emigrants and students who seek to move to a permanent place of residence in another country or study abroad and therefore strive to adapt as quickly and fully as possible. The situation is much worse for internally displaced persons and refugees who, contrary to their wishes, left their homeland and with great difficulty get used to the new living conditions.

Among the external factors influencing the overcoming of culture shock, first of all, it is necessary to name the cultural distance - the degree of difference between the native culture and the one to which it is necessary to adapt. In this case, it is not even the cultural distance itself that is important, but a person's idea of ​​it, his sense of cultural distance, which depends on many factors: the presence or absence of wars or conflicts both in the present and in the past; the meaning of a foreign language, customs, traditions, etc. Subjectively, the cultural distance can be perceived as longer or shorter than it actually is. In both cases, the culture shock will last, and adaptation will be difficult.

The process of adaptation is also influenced by the peculiarities of the migrant's culture. Thus, representatives of cultures in which the concept of "face" is very important and where they are afraid to lose it (Japanese, Chinese and other Eastern cultures) are more difficult to adapt to a foreign cultural environment. It is very important for representatives of these cultures to behave correctly, therefore they are extremely sensitive to mistakes and ignorance, inevitable in the process of adaptation. Representatives of the so-called great peoples and cultures, who usually believe that it is not they, but others who should adapt to them, also do not adapt well.

A very important external factor in overcoming culture shock is the conditions of the host country: how friendly the locals are to visitors, whether they are psychologically ready to help them, to communicate with them. Clearly, it is easier to adapt to a pluralistic society than to a totalitarian or orthodox one.

Culture shock is difficult and painful for a person psychological condition when there is a breaking of existing stereotypes, which requires huge expenditures of physical and mental resources of a person.

In this chapter, we have tried to give the concept of ethnic contacts. Identified the main forms of ethnic interactions and considered the concept of culture shock

1. Introduction

2. The concept of culture shock

3. Aspects of culture shock

4. Stages of cross-cultural adaptation

5. Ways to overcome culture shock

6. References

Introduction

From the earliest times of war and natural disasters, the search for happiness and curiosity make people move around the planet. Many of them - immigrants - leave their homes forever. Visitors (diplomats, spies, missionaries, business people and students) long time live in a foreign culture. Tourists, as well as participants in scientific conferences, etc. find themselves in an unfamiliar environment for a short period of time.

One should not think that in itself the establishment of direct contacts between representatives different countries and nations leads to a more open and trusting relationship between them. All migrants, in one way or another, face difficulties in interacting with local residents, whose behavior they are not able to predict. The customs of the host country often seem mysterious to them, and people - strange. It would be an extreme simplification to believe that negative stereotypes can be destroyed by directives, and acquaintance with an unusual way of life, customs and traditions will not cause rejection. An increase in interpersonal communication can also lead to an increase in prejudice. Therefore, it is very important to determine under what conditions communication between representatives of different countries and peoples is the least traumatic and generates trust.

Under the most favorable conditions of contact, such as constant interaction, joint activities, frequent and deep contacts, relatively equal status, the absence of obvious distinguishing features, a migrant or visitor may experience difficulties and tension when communicating with representatives of the host country. Very often, migrants are seized by homesickness - nostalgia. As the German philosopher and psychiatrist K. Jaspers (1883–1969) noted, feelings of homesickness have been familiar to people since ancient times:

“Odysseus is tormented by them and, despite external well-being, we are driven around the world in search of Ithaca. In Greece, especially in Athens, exile was considered the greatest punishment. Ovid later found many words to complain about his longing for Rome... The expelled Jews wept by the waters of Babylon, remembering Zion.”

The pain of separation from the homeland is also felt by modern migrants. According to a sociological survey of many of the "fourth wave" emigrants, i.e. those. who left former USSR in recent years, nostalgia has been tormenting: in Canada - 69%, in the USA - 72%, in Israel - 87%

That's why great importance acquires the study of intercultural adaptation, in a broad sense understood as a complex process by which a person achieves compliance (compatibility) with a new cultural environment, as well as the result of this process.

Concept of culture shock

Culture shock- the initial reaction of individual or group consciousness to the collision of an individual or group with a foreign cultural reality.

concept culture shock introduced into scientific use by an American anthropologist F.Boas(created a school of cultures in the USA in the 1920s, the ideas of which were shared by many researchers. Founder of ethnolinguistics.

The study of cultures led him to the conclusion that it is impossible to draw conclusions about the discovery without complex factual data. general laws development). This concept characterized the conflict between old and new cultural norms and orientations: the old ones, inherent in the individual as a representative of the society that he left, and the new ones, i.e. representing the society in which he arrived.

Culture shock was seen as a conflict between two cultures at the level of individual consciousness.

Culture shock- a sense of embarrassment and alienation, often experienced by those who are unexpectedly exposed to culture and society.

The interpretation of culture shock can be different, it all depends on what definition of culture you take as a basis. If we take into account the book of Kroeber and Kluckhohn "Culture: a critical review of concepts and definitions", then we will find more than 250 definitions of the concept of culture.

Culture shock symptoms very varied:

Constant concern about the quality of food, drinking water, cleanliness of dishes, bed linen,

Fear of physical contact with other people

general anxiety,

Irritability,

Lack of self-confidence

Insomnia,

feeling of exhaustion

Alcohol and drug abuse,

psychosomatic disorders,

Depression, suicide attempts

The feeling of loss of control over the situation, of one's own incompetence and failure to fulfill expectations can be expressed in bouts of anger, aggressiveness and hostility towards representatives of the host country, which does not at all contribute to harmonious interpersonal relations.

Most often, culture shock has negative consequences, but attention should also be paid to its positive side, at least for those individuals whose initial discomfort leads to the adoption of new values ​​and behaviors and, ultimately, is important for self-development and personal growth. Proceeding from this, the Canadian psychologist J. Berry even suggested using the concept of “acculturation stress” instead of the term “culture shock”: the word shock is associated only with negative experience, and as a result of intercultural contact, positive experience is also possible - assessing problems and overcoming them.

Aspects of culture shock

Anthropologist K.Oberg singled out 6 Aspects of Culture Shock :

1) the tension to which the efforts required to achieve the necessary psychological adaptation lead;

2) a sense of loss or deprivation (of friends, status, profession and property);

3) a feeling of rejection by representatives of a new culture or their rejection;

4) failure in roles, role expectations, values, feelings and self-identification;

5) unexpected anxiety, even disgust and indignation as a result of awareness of cultural differences;

6) feelings of inferiority from the inability to "cope" with the new environment.

Stages of cross-cultural adaptation

Anthropologist Kaferi Oberg, In 1960, he first coined the term culture shock. The definition was presented in the form of 4 main stages of a person's stay in a foreign culture:

1. The stage of the "honeymoon" - the initial reaction of the body to

cordial, friendly welcome of the hosts. A person is fascinated, perceives everything with admiration and enthusiasm.

2. Crisis - the first significant differences in language, concepts, values, seemingly familiar symbols and signs, lead to the fact that a person has a feeling of inconsistency, anxiety and anger.

3. Recovery - exit from the crisis is carried out different ways, as a result of which, a person masters the language and culture of another country.

4. Adaptation - a person settles into a new culture, finds his niche, begins to work and enjoy the new culture, although sometimes he feels anxiety and tension.

The first stage, called the "honeymoon", is characterized by enthusiasm, high spirits and high hopes. Indeed, most visitors seek to study or work abroad. In addition, they are expected in a new place: the people responsible for the reception try to make them feel “at home” and even provide them with some privileges.

But this stage quickly passes, and at the second stage of adaptation, the unusual environment begins to have its negative impact. For example, foreigners coming to our country are faced with uncomfortable from the point of view of Europeans or Americans living conditions, overcrowded public transport, a complex criminal environment and many other problems. In addition to such external circumstances, in any culture new to a person, psychological factors also influence him: feelings of mutual misunderstanding with the locals and rejection by them. All this leads to frustration, confusion, frustration and depression. During this period, the "stranger" tries to escape from reality, communicating mainly with fellow countrymen and exchanging impressions of the "terrible natives" with them.

In the third stage, the symptoms of culture shock can reach a critical point, which manifests itself in serious illness and a sense of complete helplessness. Unsuccessful visitors who have not been able to successfully adapt to the new environment “get out of it” - they return home ahead of schedule.

However, much more often visitors receive social support environment and overcome cultural differences - learn the language, get acquainted with the local culture. In the fourth stage, depression is slowly replaced by optimism, a sense of confidence and satisfaction. A person feels more adapted and integrated into the life of society.

The fifth stage is characterized by full - or long-term, in Berry's term - adaptation, which involves relatively stable changes in the individual in response to environmental requirements. Ideally, the process of adaptation leads to a mutual correspondence between the environment and the individual, and we can talk about its completion. In the case of successful adaptation, its level is comparable to the level of adaptation of the individual at home. However, one should not equate adaptation in a new cultural environment with simple adaptation to it.

Based on the latest model, the Galahori spouses in 1963 singled out the concept of a curve similar to English letter U, along which a person, as it were, passed, getting into a foreign culture, in the process of adaptation.

The rosy idea of ​​a foreign culture is replaced by depression, which, reaching its peak, transforms into a stage of adaptation. But continuing their research, Galahori came to the conclusion that when returning home, a person experiences feelings identical to the adjustment process (this phenomenon is often called reverse or return shock). Now man is adapting to his native culture. The U model has been converted to the W model.

The emergence of the term "culture shock"

The term was coined by the anthropologist Calvero Oeberg in 1954. He defined culture shock as fear that is caused by the loss of familiar identification marks when communicating. Even if a person is fluent in the language of the country where he arrived, many non-verbal cues may be very different from those he usually saw in his homeland.

Culture shock is temporary mental disorder. Fortunately, this is temporary.

The main symptoms of culture shock

The person becomes irritable and whiny. It would seem that ordinary things can cause him an inadequate reaction. He begins to idealize the state from which he came.

From a person who experiences culture shock, one can often hear complaints about the weather, traditional food, and the attitude of the people around him. He begins to show dissatisfaction with the sanitary conditions and shows a complete denial of the customs of the country in which he arrived. Often people who are in a state of culture shock refuse to learn the language and get acquainted with the traditions of the country. They constantly think that they are being deceived and feel a sense of their worthlessness.

There are five main stages of culture shock.

The first stage of culture shock

The person is in a state of euphoria. Everything new and unusual seems extremely interesting to him.

The second stage of culture shock

Over time, there are many small annoying factors. Everyday problems spoil the mood. A person begins to face difficulties in paying bills, often they simply do not understand him, sometimes they laugh at his accent. Not everyone manages to survive this difficult psychological moment. A person begins to feel completely alone and unnecessary to anyone. He withdraws into himself and reduces his communication with others to a minimum.

The third stage of culture shock

At this stage, a person begins to treat the surrounding reality extremely critically. He internally does not accept everything that is connected with the country where he is now forced to be. At the third stage, a person seeks communication with people from his native country. Their communication often comes down to criticism of local customs and ridicule of the natives. At the same time, the native country is idealized. Some go the other way: they, on the contrary, try to completely dissolve in a culture alien to them, trying to copy the locals in almost everything. It looks ridiculous and ridiculous, but the behavior is driven by a psychological need and helps to better cope with what is happening.

The fourth stage of culture shock

Gradually, feelings become dull, and a person no longer feels so sharply his differences from the people around him. In time he finds his place in new reality. He makes new friends from the local population, Full time job. The foreigner begins to adapt to life.

Fifth stage of culture shock

This stage occurs at the moment when a person finally decides to visit his former homeland. He suddenly realizes with horror that during his absence here everything has completely changed. Now everything is completely different in his native country, and a person begins to feel extremely uncomfortable.

How to deal with culture shock

A few things to remember simple rules, which will help to quickly cope with culture shock:

• Culture shock is temporary and should not be forgotten. He will definitely pass.


• Don't be afraid of those around you. Often a person in a foreign country begins to get lost and embarrassed if he notices the curious looks of others.


• Don't sit at home. Find yourself a useful hobby, for example, sign up for a gym. You can just walk more often and communicate with people, gradually learning the intricacies of the language.


• Before the trip, find out the traditions and customs of the country in which you plan to live in the near future.


• Remember that learning local culture and language takes time and effort. Set yourself up for long and hard work.

a state of social isolation, anxiety and depression that develops with a sudden change in the environment (getting into the conditions of an alien culture or returning to one's own after a long break) or a forced need to adapt to different traditions and foundations of society. The condition is often found among immigrants, but can also develop with radical changes in society.

CULTURE SHOCK

An emotional breakdown often experienced by people when they for a long time live in a society that is different from their own. Typical manifestations are confusion and a feeling of alienation, which can last quite a long time depending on individual characteristics of a person and on how the new culture differs from the native one.

Culture shock

ICD 309.2) - a state of social isolation, anxiety and depression that develops with a sudden change in the environment (getting into the conditions of an alien culture or returning to one's own after a long break) or the forced need to adapt to various traditions and customs of society. The condition is often found among immigrants, but can also develop with radical changes in society.

Culture shock

disorientation of the individual when entering a foreign cultural environment. The term was introduced by K. Oberg in 1960. The process of intercultural adaptation is accompanied by: 1) a feeling of loss of friends and status due to isolation from the familiar environment; 2) a feeling of rejection; 3) surprise and discomfort when realizing the differences between cultures; 4) confusion in role expectations, value orientations and in their own personal identity; 5) a sense of powerlessness due to the inability to effectively interact with their new environment or in fundamentally new circumstances. Symptoms K. sh. may be lack of self-confidence, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, psychosomatic disorders, depression, etc. Most often K. sh. associated with negative consequences, but it is necessary to pay attention to its positive side, at least for those individuals whose initial discomfort leads to the adoption of new values, attitudes, behaviors and, ultimately, is important for self-development and personal growth. T.G. Stefanenko

Culture shock (CS)

culture shock) - 1. the term, presumably by K. Oberg, denotes anxiety, emotional distress among people unprepared to accept the values ​​of a different culture, living for a long time in a society that is in many ways different from their own. According to PB Pederson (2005), the problems that arise in this case are as follows: a) the behavioral guidelines familiar to the individual are absent or their meaning has been changed; b) the values ​​previously accepted by the individual may lose their meaning in his eyes; c) the mentioned disorientation and devaluation can lead to the development of anxiety, depression, hostility, reactions of blind, unbridled rage; d) there is dissatisfaction with the new way of life and a tendency to idealize the former; e) the usual ways of restoring strength and peace of mind no longer “work”; f) there is a feeling that this condition is permanent and will never pass. There are various hypotheses explaining the nature of this phenomenon (sleep disturbances, differences in values, inadequate expectations of the individual, etc.).

T. Koffman formulates a number of strategies for coping behavior (coping strategies) that help to cope with KS. First, the individual should be aware that any major change in his life usually results in stress and distress. Secondly, the main goal of the one who experiences KSH is to maintain personal integrity and self-respect. Thirdly, we must remember that it takes time to adapt to new conditions of life, and everyone has their own time. Fourth, the individual's awareness of existing adaptation patterns helps him quickly develop new skills and understanding of the situation. Fifth, verbal labeling of CS symptoms can help interpret and manage emotional reactions to stress. It is believed that KSh is not a disease, but a learning process, no matter how unpleasant and painful it may be; 2. more often understood as distress resulting from the collapse of the traditions of one's own culture and borrowing from another cultural space. A typical example of "2" is the forcible planting in one's own country of alien cultural property(For example, foreign language, and therefore, to some extent, relations, corresponding structures of thinking, ethical standards, religious beliefs etc.), which violates the systemic, balanced cultural tradition, often leading to the rejection of alien values, opposition social groups or even to their antagonism, fraught with various kinds of distress for many people (for example, the confrontation between “Westerners” and supporters of the Russian cultural tradition in our country or real and undisguised hatred of everything American in South Korea, many residents of which, when addressing them on the street with requests for English language, they defiantly do not respond to these requests). However, culture shock can also play a positive role, for example, freeing consciousness from the influence of certain prejudices, greater depth understanding socially significant connections, evaluating one's culture from the standpoint of other social and spiritual values, realizing the true value of one's own culture.

CULTURE SHOCK

a concept accepted in Western cultural studies and ethnopsychology to denote: a) the conflict between old and new cultures, norms and orientations inherent in an individual as a representative of the society that he left, and new ones, i.e. representing the society in which he arrived; b) the difficulties that a person has when entering a new culture for him when communicating and interacting with representatives of other ethnic communities. The concept of K.sh. introduced into scientific use the American anthropologist F. Boas (see). According to the American scientist K. Oberg, when entering a foreign cultural environment, the individual becomes disoriented, manifested in the following characteristic states: 1) tension due to the efforts required in the process of psychological adaptation, called cultural fatigue, and causing irritability, insomnia, psychosomatic disorders; 2) feelings of anxiety due to the loss of friends, professional and social status due to isolation from the usual environment; 3) a feeling of rejection due to the hostility of the surrounding representatives of the other ethnic community; 4) contradictions in individual consciousness and psychology associated with changes in role expectations, value orientations and in one's own personal identity (see: Ethnic Identity); 5) psychological discomfort, indignation or disgust when realizing the differences between one's own and others' national values; 6) a feeling of powerlessness from the inability to effectively interact with representatives of other ethnic groups. The phenomenon of K.sh. complemented by the concept of "V-curve" in adaptation to a new culture, during which the individual, as a rule, goes through three stages. The first of these is characterized by enthusiasm and high spirits; the second - frustration, depression and a sense of confusion, which in the third, final stage slowly turns into a feeling of confidence and satisfaction. Most important factors, which affect the severity of K.sh. and the duration of cultural adaptation are: the degree of similarity or difference both between cultures and values national character; socio-demographic differences (e.g. young people with higher education and good intelligence tend to adapt faster); individual experience of staying in a new social and ethnic environment (usually those people who have well-developed intellectual qualities, a culture of communication, and volitional characteristics adapt more successfully). Psychologists distinguish four stages of K.sh., three of which practically coincide with the three periods of adaptation, but with the addition of phenomena of intergroup relations. Thus, the stage of frustration is accompanied by a pronounced preference for one's own group, identification of oneself with it. The fourth stage is called successful adaptation and is characterized by the complete assimilation and acceptance of the norms and values ​​of a foreign ethnic community.