Culture Shock Midterm

Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group; belief that the home country does everything right; seeing ones own standards of value as universal; unwillingness to learn about or identify the strengths in other cultural or national points of view

Non verbal communication

Body language, Gestures, Mutual gaze, Bodily contact, Appearance

Axiom 3

Communication involves messages coming from all directions, especially with non-verbal messages; The "punctuation" referred to is the process of organizing groups of messages into meanings This punctuation can sometimes alter the meaning considerably

Accommodation Process(communication)

Convergence - adapting to the other person's communication characteristics to reduce social difference Divergence - individual emphasizes the social difference and nonverbal differences between the individuals

Axiom 2

Every communication has a content and relationship aspect such that the latter classifies the former and is therefore a meta-communication; Each person responds to the content of communication in the context of the relationship between the communicator

Social identification

Examines how a group affects an individual's identity; Concerns the relationship between self-esteem and social categorization/social comparison; Relies on how social categorization and social comparison affect social identification

Axiom 5

Inter-human communication procedures are either symmetric(parties involved behave as equals from a power perspective) or complementary(unequal power), depending on whether the relationship of the partners is based on differences or parity

acculturation strategies

John berry; Theory of how an individual approaches a new culture through different strategies for adaptation; integration, assimilation, separation, marginalization

Causes of Culture Shock

Lack of familiar cues Difficulties in interpersonal communication Identity crisis

Behavioral Factors(Culture Shock)

Lack of knowledge about these norms and systems of rewards and punishment in the new culture; unable to use own cultural references to convey and validate central aspects of their identity in the new culture

Effects of Culture Shock(positive)

Learning experience Increases intercultural understanding Enhancement of self-efficacy Teaches you that the world is a small place and that we are all interconnected despite differences

Cognitive Factors(Culture Shock)

Misinterpretation of the norms of the new culture ;Often caused by judgments that are based on our own standards of behavior ;May be increased when there are societal conflicts between individualist and collectivist cultures

acculturation of host society

Multiculturalism, melting pot, separation, exclusion

U Curve critique

Oversimplification; Assumes: There is one main pattern of adjustment that all people experience The model applies to all sojourners There is a fixed time in which the stages occur There is just one pattern of adjustment Everyone experiences all of the phases

Communication Accommodation Theory

Howard Giles; Communication strategies, participant motivation, and group membership are all integrated to explain the dynamics of intercultural interactions; people adjust their speech, vocal patterns and gestures when they interact in order to accommodate the other person

Axiom 4

Human communication involves both digital and analogic modalities; Digital refers to discrete, defined elements of communication; Analogical describes a type of communication in which the representation to some extent evokes the image/ concept/thought/ideas to which it refers

Kalervo Oberg

In Brazil, he often assisted Americans with the cultural adjustment process; Noticed a pattern of behavior during their adjustment ;The term Culture Shock is first used by him in 1960

In group homogeneity

(occurs most among minority group members, gay vs. straight) Social motives for occurrence of both

Reasons to use U curve

- Helps to establish a "normalness" in the cultural adjustment process - Helps to create realistic expectations of how the transition and adjustment process works - Helps to prepare for the adjustment prior to departure - Creates a vocabulary to describe the feelings that may come up during the acculturation process

Stereotype

A generalized belief about a group of people; can lead to in groups and out groups; inference that a group or person had certain characteristics; cognitive component of attitudes toward a social group

communication

A process in which the participants are negotiating their role, either consciously or unconsciously

Stereotype threat

A self-confirming belief that one may be evaluated based on a negative stereotype; may cause sense of interiority; The anxiety of confirming a negative stereotype is often the driving force

Subtypes

A subset of a group that is not consistent with the stereotype of the group as a whole; stereotypes are not compromised

ABC Framework

Affect, Behavior, Cognition as salient aspects of the acculturation process; More comprehensive insight into cultural adaptation from various perspective; Includes three salient concepts: cultural learning, stress and coping, and social identification

Acculturation Strategies Critique

- Shows acculturation to be static, rather than a dynamic process - Too generalized to show a diverse range of intercultural strategies - Marginalization as a strategy is questionable

Perceived Discrimination

Associated with less willingness to adopt to host culture identity; Related to negative outcomes like increased stress, identity conflict, depression and social skills deficits; strategies for coping include assimilation, attempting to pass as members of the dominant society, selecting alternative groups for social comparison, reevaluating in-group stereotypes, social action for group betterment

Disadvantages of stereotypes

- cause us to ignore differences in individuals - lead to generalizations - can lead to prejudice -

Reasons for Stereotypes

- cognitive frameworks that enable rapid response - simplify our social world - reduce the amount of mental processing necessary when meeting new people

John Berry

- created acculturation strategies - redefined culture shock as cultural stress or acculturative stress because - the term stress better matches the concept of acculturation, as cultural adjustment is a process comprising both positive and negative experiences - There is no psychological or cultural theory behind the term shock, while stress has a developed theoretical frame -Cultural adaptation is a process of interactions between two cultures, while culture is a concept which has a mono context

Prejudice

Prejudice is the affective component, the feelings we have about particular groups

Meta communication

Secondary form of communication Includes clues about how the communication is to be interpreted May or may not be congruent, supportive, or contradictory of verbal communication May be expressed consciously or unconsciously

Culture Shock

The feeling of disorientation experienced by someone when they are suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes; May be caused by immigration, change in social environment, or by travel

U Curve Scientific Perspective

The model is not supported by empirical evidence but is based on a single study by Lysgaard Does not take into account personal and previous experiences that may impact adjustment (and confound results)

Acculturation

The process of cultural and psychological change that comes from the meeting of cultures ;Second culture learning

In group differentiation

The tendency to perceive members of our own group as showing much larger differences from one another (as being more heterogeneous) than members of other groups.

Proxemics

The use of the space for communications, varies from culture to culture; intimate, personal, social, public space

paraverbal communication

Tone of voice Pitch of voice Volume Prosody Pace of the communication

Phenomenalogical Factors(Culture Shock)

Transitional experience from a state of low self- and cultural awareness to a state of high self- and cultural awareness; A person may not be able to convey and validate aspects of self- concept in a different culture in the same way as in their own culture

Axiom 1

Walzlawich; one cannot not communicate; every behavior is a type of communication

Multiculturalism

a society which fosters and values diversity

SIT multicultural(society)

assimilation is natural, desirable and inevitable; limits options for maintenance of cultural identity; prejudice, discrimination and conflict are inevitable; in group favoritism/out group devaluation enhance self esteem

mastery phase

competence in the new culture, understanding of both positive and negative aspects of the culture

Socio Psychological Factors

cultural dissimilarities and reactions; can be expressed as sadness, depression, loneliness

Behavior

cultural learning; Behavioral aspects of intercultural contact and cultural learning; Regards social interaction as a mutually organized and skilled behavioral performance; Conflicts or stress caused by intercultural contact are largely due to lack of social skills of the new society

Multicultural Assumption

development and maintenance of a secure in-group identity can lead to greater intergroup acceptance and tolerance; sociopolitical context in which intercultural relations occur and highlights ethnocentric biases in models that feature assimilation as natural outcome acculturation; limitations of acculturation and SIT model

Low context communication

direct; rely on verbal communication

In/out groups

groups give us a sense of social identity; we vs they

Collectivism

high in asian and Latin American countries

Individualism

high in western countries

Phases of Culture Shock

honeymoon, frustration, adjustment, mastery

Crystalization Theory

increased contact may sharpen intergroup perceptions instead of improving perceptions and relations

out-group derogation

increases when identity in under threat; Migrants and minorities are often subjected to negative stereotyping and prejudicial attitudes by members of the majority

high context communication

indirect, ambiguous; convey limited information in coded messages, more influenced by situational cues

In group Favoritism

individuals are more likely to make internal attributions for positive behaviors by in-groups (kindness, honesty and intelligence) and external attributions for the same behaviors by out- groups (circumstances)

honeymoon phase

initial excitement about being in a new country

Cultural Identification

involves the recognition, categorization or self- identification of oneself as a member of an ethnocultural group, and includes a sense of pride and a positive evaluation of one's group; attitudes, values and behaviors

self identity

is part of the self concept, requires awareness of membership in a group, evaluative and emotional significance x

Sverre Lysgaard

norwegian sociologist; developed theoretical framework of the U or W curve 1955; W or U shape represents adjustment to new culture: honeymoon, frustration, adjustment, mastry

Assimilation trends

occurs more smoothly/quickly in younger people and boys

Cultural Relativism

opposite of ethnocentrism; A view that behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another; goal to be objective and sensitive to diverse cultures

Illusory Correlation

perception of a stronger association between two variables than actually exists; Ratings are affected by distinctiveness, such as infrequency of events or stimuli

Intercultural communication barriers

perceptual barriers; emotional barriers, language barriers, cultural barriers

frustration phase

periods of crisis, frustration, disillusionment, harsh criticism and concern with health problems

Effects of Culture Shock(negative)

physical stress, cognitive fatigue, psychological discomfort, cultural disconfirmation

adjustment phase

recovery and adaptation to the new culture, initial understanding of how the new culture works

Objectivity

requires us to step back from our personal beliefs and judgments and base our responses on what we observe

Outcomes of contact(cultural)

satisfaction of sojourner, changes of adjustment over time, extent of interaction, psychological consequences of inability to adapt, ability to "fit in", ability to negotiate in new culture as part of cultural learning

Social Identity

sense of who one is based on group membership; identity is based on the natural process of grouping involved in grouping based on similarities and differences; involves social identification, categorization, and comparison

Cognition

social identification; Examines the ways in which people ethnically and socially identify themselves; perceive themselves and others, as well as how they establish relationships with their own ethnic group (in-groups) and other ethnic groups (out-groups)

Acculturation and Identity

sojourners' identity changes in the process of intercultural contact; those from more homogenous cultures have a harder time processing and identifying their identity

Social Identity Theory

states that the in-group will discriminate against the out- group to enhance their own self-image; significance of group membership for individual identity, and the role of social categorization and social comparison in relation to self- esteem

Affect

stress and coping; view that stress is inherently caused by life changes in the process of cross-cultural transitions; Both stress and coping strategies correlate with the characteristics of the situation and the characteristics of the individual, and in turn, affect the adjustment

Self serving bias

tendency to accept credit for success and deny responsibility for failure (also at the group level)

out-group homogeneity

tendency to view all individuals outside our group as highly similar

Discrimination

the behavioral component, or differential actions taken toward members of specific social groups

Verbal Communication

the language in which the communication is transmitted from the sender to the receiver; choice of word effects efficiency; only 7% of how we exchange info

separation

the society forces segregation

exclusion

the society imposes marginalization

Melting pot

the society seeks assimilation

Paul Walzlawich

theorized 5 axioms of communication, also know as the Interactional view of communication Based on the idea that miscommunications happen because the parties involved are not "speaking" the same language

Communication Channels

verbal, non verbal, paraverbal

Biculturalism

weak model of acculturation; middle-ground between assimilation and separatism (has replaced unidirectional model where immigrants/refugees were regarded as having to choose between identification with either heritage or contact cultures)

Categories of Culture Shock

within societies in a culturally diverse nation or between societies when a person enters a culturally diverse nation