Cultural Adaptation and Culture Shock

Cultural Adaptation

• Cultural adaptation is a relatively new concept
• It explains the capacity of humans and civilizations to adapt to changes in natural and social environments through cultural adaptations
• Culture changes can range from minor changes in livelihood systems to major transformations of the entire cultural system

Culture Shock

• Culture shock is the psychological disorientation that people experience when exposed to a different culture for an extended time
• Cultural differences can undercut or threaten one's sense of purpose in life
• A sense of meaning in life is made up of identity, self-worth, competence, security, and belonging
• Contact with unfamiliar ways of doing things and social signals can undermine these components, leading to anxiety, fatigue, negative emotions, discomfort, incompetence, and confusion
• Culture shock builds over time and results from learning new ways of seeing, thinking, and acting

Cultural adaptation in contemporary behavioral study

• A major focus across various fields like psychology, archaeology and anthropology
• Research focuses on behavioral systems as a model for interactions between human behavior and natural environment components
• Cultural adaptation gained popularity in the second half of the 1990s due to behavioral selection and flow

Stages of Cultural Adaptation

• Honeymoon/Contact Stage: Initial stage of learning about a new culture with excitement and fascination. Issues aren't viewed negatively and there's no direct contact with local communities
• Disintegration and Disorientation: The new environment triggers culture shock; frustrations surface as comparisons to the previous way of life emerge
• This can lead to sleep disorders, adapting to a new food system, robberies and housing problems
• It can also lead to loneliness, anxiety, disappointment, boredom, cognitive exhaustion, anger, stress, and the desire to return home
• Reintegration/Irritation and Hostility: Stage is influenced by individual personality and length of stay
• People may remain patient for a brief time before returning to their original location, because they are struggling to cope with this new culture
• Autonomy/Adjustment and Integration: Requires a change to your mentality, overcome difficulties, develop an integration strategy, manage and resolve issues, and finding a sense of belonging
• Independence/Biculturality: Requires individuals to return to their home town and rethink their original practices and discover that some have been altered or reduced

Cultural Competence

• Cultural competence is defined as the awareness, knowledge, skills, practices, and processes needed to function effectively and appropriately in culturally diverse contexts
• It's a lifelong learning process involving personal and organizational cross-cultural experience, language acquisition, training, and education
• Without cultural competence and awareness, you may be at a disadvantage

Levels of Cultural Competence

• Systemic cultural competence requires proper norms, procedures, monitoring mechanisms, and sufficient resources to encourage culturally competent behavior and practice at all levels
• Cultural competence in the workplace requires the skills and resources to satisfy a variety of customers, and also a corporate culture that fosters, develops, and evaluates cultural competency as a core business function
• Professional cultural competence is founded on education and professional development, and cultural competence standards are required to guide individuals in their work lives
• Individual cultural competence requires the maximum of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors inside a company, allowing individuals to cooperate with a diverse variety of colleagues and customers
• Individual and team cultural competence is a continual process of learning about cultures, cultural adaptation, and cross-cultural communication
• Cultural competence must be guaranteed with the following:
  • Plan ahead of time and discover various civilizations and cross-cultural relationships
  • Be aware of your own cultural beliefs, expectations, and biases
  • Explain key differences as needed

Additional actions to take

• Assist immigrants in assimilating into the society
• Involve immigrants in the communication process
• Work with ethnic groupings

Benefits of Cultural Competence

• Cultural Self-Awareness: A better understanding of our own worldviews and how we come to hold them; Improved understanding of our own culture and ability to convey it to others.
• Confidence: Improved control and competence in cross- cultural relationships, there is less tension and uncertainty in complex situations
• Mutual Knowledge and Openness: People who understand one another better have a higher level of confidence in one another, increased cultural awareness leads to greater openness to various points of view and more creative problem-solving
• Interpersonal Skills: Improved listening and communication abilities, improved ability to build bridges between people from different cultures, as well as establish and sustain good relationships and collaborations
• Functional Fitness: Learning, effective communication, compatibility, and adaptability
• Discovering a 'Third Culture': Discovering the 'third culture' via intercultural identity
• When both parties in an intercultural encounter learn and utilize cross-cultural communication skills, meeting as equals in a “third culture.”
• Must realize that when dealing with or managing diversity, we are dealing with individuals, not categories