6.3. Culture Shock Triggers
- Due No due date
- Questions 6
- Time limit None
- Allowed attempts Unlimited
Instructions
Chances are that you have selected a destination that is culturally different from your own background. This can lead to some social behaviour inducing culture shock. This section will help you to understand the various causes of culture shock, so that you can be aware of them during your own experiences.
Watch this video in which DigiPass student ambassador Laura talks about her experience with culture shock, what her triggers were and how she overcame them.
What causes culture shock?
In Module 3: Culture Shock, you learned about how in intercultural settings, nonverbal and verbal communication emphasize the differences between cultures, because the way we act and the things we say (as well as the way we say things) tells others whether we belong to a certain culture.
These cultural differences can often lead to negative emotions such as loneliness, frustration, anxiety. You might feel left out and misunderstood and instead of seeking out new contacts, you might find yourself drawn to people from your own home country instead. These are all symptoms of culture shock.
In social psychology there are two main theories that try to explain why you might feel like this:
- Similarity-attraction: We like to be around people who look like us; it reduces uncertainty.
- Ingroup-outgroup bias: We see people who look like us more positively and those who look different more negatively.
Explore the most common triggers
In this exercise you will explore the most common, but not the only, possible triggers of culture shock. You will gain awareness on how something can cause a shock, by reflecting on a few questions.
Start the exercise by clicking on the 'Take the Survey' button.
This work is licensed under a This work has been created by The DIGIPASS Consortium and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 international license..