The Psychology of Culture Shock, Ward et al.

1. Stress, Coping and Adjustment
 Affective components of intercultural
contact
 Conceptual frameworks are now guided by
psychosocial rather than medical models
 In contrast to culture shock and
psychopathology, current approaches
discuss intercultural contact and change in
terms of dealing with stress

2. The Stress & Coping Framework
 Highlights life changes during cross-
cultural transition, the appraisal of these
changes, and the selection and
implementation of coping strategies to deal
with them
 Fits neatly within Acculturation
Framework

3. Core Assumptions, S & C Framework
 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
results in affective, behavioral and cognitive
coping responses

4. Berry’s Framework (see pg 72, Ward)
 Considers acculturative experience as
major life event characterized by
stress, which demands cognitive appraisal
of the situation and requires coping
strategies
 Processes and psychological outcomes are
influenced by both societal and individual
level variables

5. Societal Level Variables
 Includes 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.

6. Factors affecting Stress, Coping and Adjustment
 Life changes: series of stress provoking life
changes that tax adjustive resources and
necessitate coping strategies
 Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS): a
functional index of life changes
-Holmes & Rahe (1967)
 Cultural Readjustment Rating Scale
-Spradley & Phillips (1972)

7. Appraisal and Coping Styles
 Individual differences in cognitive appraisal
of changes. A potential stressor 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 migrants’ expectations
(realistic expectations may facilitate
adjustment)

8. Overmet & Undermet Expectations
 Overmet: situations in which experiences are
more positive than expected (some studies
point to overmet expectations as increasing life
satisfaction (Black, 1990)
 Undermet: situations in which experiences are
more negative than expected, such as when re-
entry is more difficult than expected the result
is higher levels of depression (Rogers &
Ward, 1993)
 Coping styles are related to coping satisfaction

9. Psychological Adjustment Over Time
 U-curve: honeymoon—crisis—recovery—
adjustment (model appealing yet supporting
evidence is weak)
 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.
 Longitudinal studies more appropriate

10. Personality
 Authoritarianism, rigidity and ethnocentrism may
impede psychological adjustment during transition
(Locke & Feinsod, 1982)
 Extraversion and sensitivity embody the ‘universal
communicator’ and may facilitate adaptation
(Gardner, 1962)
extensive theorizing but few documented
investigations of how personality affects adjustment
- ‘cultural fit’ hypothesis (person x situation)

11. Social Support
 Significant factor in predicting both
psychological adjustment and physical
health
 Family, Friends, Acquaintances
 Marital satisfaction-dissatisfaction and
adaptive-maladaptive coping may be
associated in many ways

12. Friends & Acquaintances
 Controversial topic when considering the merit of
co-national vs. host national support
 ‘Comparable Others’: those undergoing similar
experiences who may offer knowledge or
information about coping
 ‘Sinking Ship Morale’: commiseration among those
experiencing stress under unstable conditions

13. Relationships with host nationals
 Having host nationals as friends has been
associated with a decrease in psychological
problems in immigrants.
 Comfort and satisfaction with local contact has
been associated with greater general life
satisfaction in foreign students, both academic and
non-academic.
 Research points to this contact as a prerequisite for
sojourner adjustment and learning cultural-
specific skills.

14. Social Support Scale for Sojourners
 Based on research with both international students
and business people in Singapore.
 Highlights the availability of social support and asks
respondents to indicate if there are persons (no
one, someone, a few, several, many) who would offer
a variety of supportive behaviors
 Socioemotional and instrumental support
(Ong, 2000)
-see page 89, Ward

15. Knowledge and Skills (coping resources)
 Provide the foundation for effective intercultural
interaction and facilitate psychological adaptation
to new sociocultural environments
 prior experience
 training and educational programs associated with
positive effects on well-being, interpersonal and
cognitive skills, adjustability and work
performance

16. Knowledge & Skills (cont.)
 Adequate communication may be the key
component to intercultural effectiveness (a
number of studies link language fluency to well-
being and adjustment).
 Inverse relationship also observed (increased
fluency in Japanese led to decreased satisfaction
in foreign students r/t higher expectations for
friendship (Takai, 1989)
 Social skills very significant for adjustment

17. Modes of Acculturation
 Acculturation is related to both more and
less stress and depression. To explain
inconsistencies, 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’

18. Acculturation status and demographic factors
 Berry et al. (1987) compared level of
acculturative stress (psychological and
psychosomatic symptoms) in
refugees, sojourners, immigrants, native peoples
and ethnocultural groups within a multicultural
society.
 Native peoples and refugees experienced highest
levels of acculturative stress; immigrants and
ethnic groups, the lowest level, sojourners
intermediate.

19. Demographic factors (cont.)
 Stress and coping research is
mixed and ambiguous on gender
differences, age and adaptation
across generations.
(pg 94, Ward)

20. Cultural Distance
 Concept first introduced by Babiker, Cox
and Miller in 1980.
 In recent sojourner research the link
between cultural distance and psychological
disturbance has been further substantiated.
 Greater cultural distance is associated with
increased intensity of life changes during
transition and more acculturative stress

21. Prejudice and Discrimination
 A number of researchers speculate that attitudes
held by members of the dominate culture strongly
influence patterns of immigrant, sojourner and
refugee adaptation.
 Racism is the most serious risk factor for
immigrants
 ‘perceived discrimination’ also a factor