Culture shock refers to the anxiety and disorientation experienced when encountering an unfamiliar culture. It was first defined in the 1950s as a "disorienting feeling" experienced abroad. More recently, culture shock has been viewed less as an illness and more as a process of self-development and cultural adaptation. References discuss culture shock as a transitional experience and an integral part of cross-cultural adaptation.

1. Culture Shock
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A Brief Background

2. Culture Shock
First Usage
Cora DuBois (1951):
[Culture shock is] “a disorienting feeling” felt when going to new cultures

3. Culture Shock
Popular Definition
Kalervo Oberg (1950’s):
Culture shock is an occupational disease with symptoms, as anxiety
from “losing all of our familiar signs”

4. Culture Shock
Recent Decades
David Hoopes and Gary Althen (1971):
Culture shock is “the way in which the individual reconfirms his or her
own identity in the face of new […] learning.”

5. Culture Shock
General Trend
Recently regarded more in context of self-development than treatment
and adaptation

6. 1. La Brack, Bruce. “Theory Reflections: Cultural Adaptations, Culture
Shock and the ‘Curves of Adjustment.’” NAFSA: Association of
International Educators. NAFSA, 2010. Web. Accessed August 21,
2017.
2. Kim, Young Yun. Becoming Intercultural: An Integrative Theory of
Communication and Cross-Cultural Adaptation. Thousand Oaks:
Sage, 2001. Print.
3. Adler, Peter S. “The Transitional Experience: An Alternative View of
Culture Shock.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 15.4 (1975): 13-23.
Web. Accessed August 21, 2017.
References