Culture Shock Psych Mid-term (Slides definitions)

Berry's Acculturation Strategies

Integration - maintaining aspects of the home culture while integrating the new culture Assimilation - no desire to maintain the home culture, immersion in the new culture Separation - great value placed on home culture, avoidance of the new culture Marginalization - no interest in maintaining the home culture and little interest in the new culture

Subtypes

"Different then the group they should be associated with* - A subset of a group that is not consistent with the stereotype of the group as a whole. - When the individual disconfirms the stereotype, stereotypes are not revised - Only when the disconfirming target is different in one specific way but is otherwise seen as a typical group member, that stereotype revision may occur, especially if repeatedly encounter others with same variation. Like let's say the stereotype thinking woman aren't as smart as men, but if you see many women winning competitions, getting better grades, etc. than men, could make you revise your stereotype if it keeps happening

cross-cultural psychology

(Lesson 1) "The systematic study (comparison!) of behavior, cognition, and affect in many cultures." Barry's definition: Study of similarities and differences in individual psychological functioning in various cultural and ethnocultural groups; of the relationships between psychological variables and socio-cultural, ecological and biological variables; and of ongoing changes in these variables

Culture in Science

(Lesson 1) Narrow definition is limited to race, ethnicity, and/or nationality. Broad definition includes any and all potentially salient ethnographic, demographic, status, or affiliation identities. Under the broad definition an individual can identify with more than one culture.

Critique of the Culture Adaptation U Curve

(Lesson 2) -Oversimplified, it assumes everyone experiences that same pattern (the same fixed time period in which each stage occurs, and even that everyone experiences each stage) so trying to apply it to all sojourners, AND this is only from one study not really empirical evidence - biggest thing to remember is that not everyone experiences everything the same! people have different phases that hit them more, or sometimes they don't experience all of them! It really depends on who you are as a person, what you have gone through already, etc.

Why is the U Curve still used even with critiques?

(Lesson 2) -gives some normality to the process -helps to set at least some realistic expectations of the adjustment process -helps to prepare people (show them that it won't be a perfect and easy transition automatically, that you might experience these things and how could you best prepare yourself) -creates a vocabulary, something you can talk about and somewhat understand- so that you can describe your feelings as you adjust during this process

Culture Shock Definition by Oberg

(Lesson 2) Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. These signs or cues include the thousand and one ways in which we orient ourselves to the situations of daily life (1960)

Adjustment as a process over time seems to follow a U-shaped curve

(Lesson 2) Developed by Sverre Lysgaard "adjustment is felt to be easy and successful to begin with; then follows a 'crisis' in which one feels less well adjusted, maybe somewhat lonely and unhappy; finally one begins to feel better adjusted again, becoming more integrated into the foreign community"

Cultural Contact

(Lesson 2) Falls into two broad categories: - Within society residents, such as in a culturally diverse nation - Between societies when a person enters a culturally diverse nation

Stages of Culture Shock

(Lesson 2) Honeymoon -initial exhilaration and excitement, enthusiasm about the new culture Frustration -may include periods of crisis, depression, disillusionment, harsh criticism and concern with health problems Adjustment -recovery and adaptation to the new culture, initial understanding of how the new culture works Mastery -competency in the new culture, understanding of both positive and negative aspects of the culture Reverse Culture Shock -the sense of loss upon reentry into home culture

Who first used the term culture shock?

(Lesson 2) Kalervo Oberg - noticed a pattern of behavior in adjustment in Brazil

Cultural Differences in Communication

(Lesson 3) - Did the message from the sender reach the receiver? - Codes differ in ways that one may not realize - Communication is handicapped by lack of information about conventions of the culture

Proxemics

(Lesson 3) - The use of the space for communications, varies from culture to culture and is a part of paraverbal communications Intimate space - 18'' Personal space - 4ft Social space - 12ft Public space - 25ft

What is Communication?

(Lesson 3) - To make common - A process in which the participants are negotiating their role, either consciously or unconsciously - The message can be sent to a single receiver or to multiple receivers

Non-Verbal Communication

(Lesson 3) -Body language -Gestures -Mutual gaze -Bodily contact -Appearance

Verbal Communication

(Lesson 3) -The words we use to communicate -The language in which the communication is transmitted from the sender to the receiver -The choice of words we use has an effect on the efficiency of communication -Verbal communication is only a small part of the exchange of information (7%)

Accommodation Process

(Lesson 3) Convergence - process in which people tend to adapt to the other person's communication characteristics in order to reduce the social differences and communicate successfully Divergence - process that contradicts the method of adaptation. - In this context, the individual emphasizes the social difference and nonverbal differences between the individuals.

Communication Styles Within the Cultural Context

(Lesson 3) Differences in ways people send and receive information, commands, wishes, and affect, according to cultural norms High context vs. Low context cultures: - low context: direct; rely on verbal communication - high context: indirect, ambiguous; convey limited information in coded messages, more influenced by situational cues

Cultural Variables in Communication

(Lesson 3) Etiquette Direct/indirect Requests Turn distribution Voice volume Linguistic forms such as 'Thank you' Gestures

Intercultural Communication Barriers

(Lesson 3) Perceptual barriers - thinking you will not be understood Emotional barriers - fearing that you will say something wrong Language barriers - lacking skills in the language Cultural barriers - lacking information on cultural norms of communication

Individualism v Collectivism Spectrum

(Lesson 3) Relationship between the individual and the group - Concerns the freedom of a person versus the restrictions placed on an individual to achieve common goals - European and North American countries: high on individualism - Asian and Latin American countries: high on collectivism

Communication Accommodation Theory

(Lesson 3) Theory developed by Howard Giles - Communication strategies, participant motivation, and group membership are all integrated to explain the dynamics of intercultural interactions. -Argues that people adjust their speech, vocal patterns and gestures when they interact in order to accommodate the other person (· Motives from CAT model, converge/diverge o Showing your willingness can change how this works o Speaking slower an accommodation, enunciate slowly)

Channels of Communication

(Lesson 3) Verbal - words (account of 7% of communication) Non-verbal - body language (55%) Paraverbal - voice, tone (38%)

Influences of I-C (individualism and collectivism)

(Lesson 3) at personal level- identity interpersonal and relationship level- preferred interactions and regulations of social relationships societal and intuitional level- association between the individual and the groups to which they belong

Paraverbal communication

(Lesson 3) communications is the tone, pitch, volume, and diction used when delivering a verbal message -Tone of voice, Pitch of voice, Pace of the communication

How Communication Works (these channels of communication)

(Lesson 3) *the graph* - The messenger: puts in information/input - the message, is a process, so the messenger has some coding, and through the channels of communication, the recipient must decode what the messenger was putting in (there is usually some code in common- usually the recipient understands at least some meaning of what the messenger is trying to say), and the recipient acts in whatever behavior/output they think is correct from what they understand

Cultural relativism

(Lesson 4) *The opposite of ethnocentrism* A view that behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another - The goal of cultural relativism is to be objective and sensitive to diverse cultures - It is not necessary to agree with every aspect of the culture, but rather, to accept that different perspectives exist

Ethnocentrism

(Lesson 4) - A nearly universal syndrome of attitudes and behaviors - A view that see ones own group (the in-group) as virtuous and superior - Sees the out-group as contemptible and inferior The attitudes also include seeing ones own standards of value as universal examples: - Those who drive on the left side of the road are on "the wrong side of the road" - Those who speak differently "have an accent" - People from "X" place are always... (rude, arrogant, racist, etc.)

Stereotype Threat

(Lesson 4) - A self-confirming belief that one may be evaluated based on a negative stereotype May cause a person to feel inferior The anxiety of confirming a negative stereotype is often the driving force behind stereotype threat Can affect the cultural adaptation process

Disadvantages of using stereotypes

(Lesson 4) - Cause us to ignore the differences in individuals - Lead us to make generalizations - Stereotypes may lead to feelings of prejudice towards a person or a group of people - Prejudice, on the other hand, is an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc., oftentimes not reasonable or logical

In-group and out-group

(Lesson 4) - Social identity is a person's sense of who they are based on their group membership - Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world. - Social identity theory states that the in-group will discriminate against the out-group to enhance their self-image!!!

Why do we use stereotypes?

(Lesson 4) - Stereotypes are cognitive frameworks that influence the processing of social information - They enable us to respond rapidly to situations because we may have had a similar experience before - Stereotypes help to simplify our social world - They reduce the amount of mental processing needed when meeting a new person

Out-group Homogeneity

(Lesson 4) - Tendency to perceive members of an out-group as "all alike" or more similar to each other than members of the in-group (older people, university students from another college). In-Group Differentiation: tendency to perceive members of our own group as showing much larger differences from one another (more heterogeneous) than members of out-groups In-group Homogeneity (occurs most among minority group members, gay vs. hetero). Social motives for occurrence of both

Gender Stereotypes

(Lesson 4) - like assigning traits we think women v men have - Gender differences may reflect the impact of stereotypes and their self-confirming nature. - There are some differences between males and females with respect to various aspects of behavior, but generally the magnitude is much smaller than prevailing stereotypes suggest - Can be exaggerations that reflect behaviors that are typical of the roles occupied by men and women!!!

Objectivity

(Lesson 4) In science, objectivity is the idea of elimination of personal bias. Objectivity requires us to step back from our personal beliefs and judgments and base our responses on what we observe

Objective vs. Subjective

(Lesson 4) Objective (of a person or their judgment) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts: historians try to be objective and impartial. Subjective (of a person or their judgment) based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions: his views are highly subjective | there is always the danger of making a subjective judgment.

Difference between pride and ethnocentrism

(Lesson 4) Pride in one's own culture means having a high opinion of one's own culture while also believing that other cultures also do things well, even though it might be done in a different way Ethnocentric thinking occurs when a person believes that their country does everything right and everyone else's country does everything (or most things) wrong - Ethnocentric thinking may be characterized by an unwillingness to learn about or identify the strengths in other cultural or national points of view

Social Identity Theory

(Lesson 4) Tajfel and Turner (1979) proposed that there are three mental processes involved in evaluating others as "us" or "them" (i.e. "in-group" and "out-group") Categorization Social identification Social comparison

Deceptive Correlation

(Lesson 4) The perception of a stronger association between two variables than actually exists - Ratings can be affected by group size - Ratings are affected by distinctiveness, such as infrequency of events or stimuli - Tendency of host nationals to overestimate crime rates among immigrants (minority group=high in distinctiveness, as are many criminal behaviors, which are relatively rare). like that case, where people think shark attacks happen all the time because whenever it happens it is on the news, but actually falling in the shower happens more but because it is not on the news people don't assume that, will guess wrong percentage

Prejudice

(Lesson 4) affective component of prejudice, the feelings we have about particular groups

Discrimination

(Lesson 4) behavioral component, or differential actions taken toward members of specific social groups.

Stereotypes

(Lesson 4) cognitive component of attitudes toward a social group consisting of beliefs about what particular groups are like. ---- A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing E.g. "the stereotype of the woman as the carer" - A common belief about a social group or individual - An inference that a person or group has certain characteristics - Most cultures have a stereotype we generally associate with the group - Can lead to assumptions about in-groups and out-groups

Dangers of Ethnocentrism

(Lesson 4) - We often use an ethnocentric perspective to judge different cultures - We can become so immersed in ethnocentric behavior that people of different cultures become unimportant This view prevents us from becoming culturally competent and responsive to others who have different cultural beliefs, traditions and practices

Berry's Framework

(Lesson 5) - Acculturative experience is major life event characterized by stress that demands cognitive appraisal of the situation and requires coping strategies -Processes and psychological outcomes are influenced by both societal and individual level variables

Personality

(Lesson 5) - Authoritarianism, rigidity and ethnocentrism may hold back cultural adjustment - Extraversion and sensitivity may help the adjustment process Locus of control may play a role in this

Core assumptions of stress and coping in the acculturation process

(Lesson 5) - Experience of intercultural contact and change occurs in an economic & sociopolitical context and is influenced by both societies (origin & settlement) - Changes are seen as precipitating stress that result in affective, behavioral and cognitive coping responses

Variables

(Lesson 5) - Societal Variables include society of origin and society of settlement: social, political and demographic factors such as ethnic composition, extent of cultural pluralism, and attitudes towards ethnic and cultural out-groups - Berry also distinguishes between variables prior to and during acculturation

Lazarus & Folkman's model of stress and coping

(Lesson 5) - Transaction (interaction) occurs between a person & the environment - Stress results from an imbalance between (a) demands & (b) resources Thus we become stressed when demands (pressure) exceeds our resources (our ability to cope & mediate stress) Thus the interpretation of the stressful event is more important than the event itself

Modes of acculturation

(Lesson 5) Acculturation is related to both more and less stress and depression Some researchers argue that the bicultural mode of acculturation is most adaptive. Others argue effects are moderated by variables such as age, gender and religion Research supports 'integration' over 'assimilation'

Friends and Acquaintances

(Lesson 5) Co-national vs. host national support Comparable others are those undergoing similar experiences who may offer knowledge or information about coping - Sinking Ship Morale

Primary appraisal

(Lesson 5) Considers whether the person has a personal stake in the encounter (are their goals thwarted) Evaluates the significance of the encounter - which either: - Has no significance for the person - Is a benign-positive encounter (desirable) - Harmful/ threatening/challenging - concerns relevance to our well-being Stressful situations are appraised as involving: - Harm/loss - that has occurred (so far) - Threats - i.e. potential future harm - Challenges - i.e. how can we learn/ gain confidence from this experience

Relationships with host nationals

(Lesson 5) Having host nationals as friends is associated with a decrease in psychological problems in immigrants Comfort and satisfaction with local contact is associated with greater general life satisfaction in foreign students Prerequisite for sojourner adjustment and learning cultural-specific skills

Secondary appraisal

(Lesson 5) Individual will then engage in secondary appraisal to work out how we can best deal with situation & concerns coping options to change undesirable conditions Evaluate internal/external coping options as well as more specifically resources to create a more positive environment: Internal options - e.g. will power, inner strength External options - peers, professional health *Thus it may become a reappraisal of stressor and our coping resources*

Factors that affect stress, coping and adjustment

(Lesson 5) Life changes: series of stress provoking life changes that tax adjustment resources and necessitate coping strategies - Potential stressors may be seen as challenging or threatening - Appraisals influenced by individual, cultural, situational and social factors - Appraisals and coping strategies vary due to differences in expectations

Cultural distance

(Lesson 5) Link between cultural distance and psychological disturbance Greater cultural distance is associated with increased intensity of life changes during transition and more acculturative stress

Acculturation of groups

(Lesson 5) Native peoples and refugees experienced highest levels of acculturative stress Immigrants and ethnic groups, the lowest levels of acculturative stress Sojourners intermediate levels of acculturative stress

Expectations

(Lesson 5) Overmet: situations in which experiences are more positive than expected Undermet: situations in which experiences are more negative than expected Coping styles are related to coping satisfaction

Social Support

(Lesson 5) Predicts both psychological adjustment and physical health -Family, Friends, Acquaintances - Marital satisfaction-dissatisfaction and adaptive-maladaptive coping may be associated in many ways

Knowledge & skills

(Lesson 5) Provide the foundation for effective intercultural interaction Facilitate psychological adaptation to new sociocultural environments (prior experience, training and educational programs) Adequate communication may be the key component to intercultural effectiveness Social skills very significant for adjustment

Cognitive dissonance

(Lesson 5) Theory that when a person holds two different thoughts about a situation, the psychological inconsistency will cause a state of incongruity that can have an effect on the outcome Can cause the person to make sense of the situation through reduction of the inconsistency between their thoughts and behavior - This can consequently cause a behavioral change to prevent reoccurrence of the inconsistency, or cause a change in feeling about the outcome of the behavior

Psychological adjustment over time

(Lesson 5) U-curve Stress & Coping literature: in contrast to 'entry euphoria,' sojourners and immigrants suffer the most severe adjustment problems at the initial stages of transition when the number of life changes is highest and coping resources lowest

Problem-based coping

(Lesson 5) Used when we feel we have control of the situation, thus can manage the source of the problem Possible strategies could include: - Defining the problem - Generating, evaluating alternative solutions - Learning new skills to manage stressor - Reappraising - attempts to change reducing negative emotions/ stress involvement

Culture Adjustment Curve

(lesson 2) describes the emotional adjustment process of cross-cultural sojourns over time. The 'U' shape suggests the sojourner's emotional level begins positively, then dips and eventually returns to positive levels of satisfaction. Slides show more W shaped curve, with level of comfort and satisfaction on Y axis, and time and place on X axis - native culture, foreign culture, then back to native culture - when first in foreign culture: honeymoon phase, everything new and exciting -after a short time, you become frustrated, annoyed at everyday differences -brief period of "surface adjustment", where you think you are starting to adjust - then you confront deeper cultural and personal issues -and finally you start to actually adapt and assimilate -until you go back home, and it goes back down

Outcomes of Cultural Contact (categories researchers use to study this)

- Satisfaction of sojourner - Changes of adjustment over time - Extent of interaction - Psychological consequences that occur when one is unable to adapt/adjust to new culture - Ability to "fit in" during the transition to the new culture - Ability to negotiate in the new culture as a part of culture learning

Emotional-Based Coping

Used when we feel we have little control of the situation, thus we can't manage the source of the problem. Selective attention attempts to reduce negative demands Involves gaining strategies for regulating emotional distress: Avoiding - 'I'm not going to school' Distancing yourself from the emotion 'I'm not stressed, it doesn't matter' Acceptance - 'I failed the exam, but I still have 4 other subjects' Seeking emotional support from others Selective attention Alcohol Venting anger demands

Crystallization‟ hypothesis

increased contact may sharpen intergroup perceptions