Culture Shock: The U of Acculturation

It goes without saying that many cultures exist throughout the world. Individuals are born into a certain cultural context, and as such have to conform and adapt accordingly. Be that as it may, there are those who do not stick to one cultural environment. Some, for many reasons, feel the need to navigate to a new cultural environment. Once this has been done, the individual must learn about and adapt to the new culture. This process is known as acculturation.

When one is in the process of acculturation, a U shaped pattern typically presents itself. The individual typically experiences a "high" from the new environment, reacting to the new cultural practices, and the people of that culture, with enthusiasm and excitement. This is what is referred to as the "honeymoon" phase. Eventually however, the individual experiences a crash, where they become stressed and frustrated by this new adaptation process, find it difficult to adopt the practices and learn the language of the culture, and begin to miss their heritage culture and the individuals within it. This is  known as "culture shock" and is typical among immigrants. Finally, the individual begins to emerge from this state and finds they are beginning to become adjusted to the new host culture.

What is interesting is that if the individual returns to their culture of heritage, the same phenomenon typically presents itself, where they are happy to return home, but become distressed by re adaptation to the culture. Then finally regain that "home" feeling as these distressing experiences begin to fade.

Adjustment to a culture appears to be contingent upon the individuals personality and the similarities between the heritage and host culture, what is referred to as "cultural fit" and "cultural distance" respectively. Individual personalities may be more suited to the practices and rituals of certain cultures than others. As such, immigrants may be more suited to the environment of their current host culture than their birthed heritage culture. Furthermore, immigration to certain cultures may produce a more severe culture shock syndrome, should the culture be more qualitatively distinct from the host culture.

The phenomenon of culture shock is one that is experienced by many immigrants throughout the world. This syndrome may fall under various DSM-5 diagnoses, such as adjustment disorder, or specific culture bound syndromes. As such, treatment may be contingent on several factors unique to the individual. As such, treatment for the condition is most likely contingent upon the individual who is experiencing it. However, with time and research, we may learn more about this condition and produce better treatment for immigrants experiencing it.