“Media. Til va madaniyat. Tarjima” talabalar ilmiy-amaliy konferensiyasi - 2023
113
THE PHENOMENON OF CULTURE SHOCK, IT'S
SYMPTOMS AND METHODS OF OVERCOMING IT
Stanislav PYATAK
Student of International Journalism faculty, UzSWLU
Abstract.
This article will discuss the topic of cultural shock. The article will also
cover topics related to his symptoms and their overcoming.
Key words:
cultural shock, stereotypes, society, stereotyping, social, intercultural
communication, methods, overcoming.
The experience of cultural shock is caused by relocation to a different
environment, as a result of which people develop a reaction resembling grief, in other
words, a person experiences strong excitement due to the loss of former ties. At the
same time, moving does not always have negative consequences, and therefore the
degree of severity of such a loss will be individual in each case. Subjects who find
themselves in other cultural conditions associate the manifestations of their own shock
with fatalism and insolvency.
Cultural shock and adaptation are accompanied by psychological negative
manifestations - a sense of loss of position, familiar surroundings, discomfort from
understanding the disparity of cultures, social and personal disorientation. At the same
time, the source of such feelings is in the person himself, since it is his aspirations that
do not correspond to reality. At the same time, it is impossible to conclude
unequivocally that there is a clear link between poor adaptation and the level of
dissatisfaction with expectations.
A common cause of cultural shock is considered to be the dissimilarity of values,
which gives rise to all kinds of disagreements arising from misunderstandings, leading
to further confrontations. At the same time, values can be conditionally divided into
those that are easy to adapt, and those that are much more difficult to adapt.
The imperfection of the ability to socialize can generate a culture shock. People
who have weak communication skills or have fewer social interaction skills are more
difficult to adapt to the changed conditions.
The determinant of the phenomenon under consideration may be limited support
of society. The range of symptoms of culture shock is very wide — from mild
“Media. Til va madaniyat. Tarjima” talabalar ilmiy-amaliy konferensiyasi - 2023
114
emotional disorders to serious stress, psychosis, alcoholism and suicide. In practice, it
is often expressed in exaggerated concern for the cleanliness of dishes, linen, the quality
of water and food, psychosomatic disorders, general anxiety, insomnia, fear. According
to the duration, one or another kind of culture shock can develop from several months
to several years, depending on the individual characteristics of the individual.
Stages of experiencing culture shock: The first stage is called the "honeymoon":
most migrants, once abroad, aspired to study or work, were full of enthusiasm and hope.
At the second stage, the unusual environment and culture begin to have their negative
impact. Psychological factors caused by misunderstanding of local residents are
becoming increasingly important. The result can be frustration, frustration, and even
depression. The third stage is critical, as the culture shock reaches its maximum. This
can lead to somatic and mental illnesses. Some migrants give up and return home to
their homeland. At the fourth stage, an optimistic attitude appears, a person becomes
more confident and satisfied with his position in the new society and culture.
Adaptation and integration into the life of the new society are progressing very
successfully. At the fifth stage, full adaptation to the new culture is achieved. The
individual and the environment from this time correspond to each other.
Depending on the factors mentioned above, the adaptation process can last from
several months to 4-5 years. Thus, a U-shaped curve of cultural shock development is
obtained, which is characterized by the following steps: good, worse, bad, better, good.
The internal factors of adaptation and overcoming cultural shock also include the
circumstances of a person's life experience. The most important thing here is the
motives for adaptation.
The experience of a new culture is unpleasant or shocking because it can lead to a
negative assessment of one's own culture, as well as because it is unexpected. Recently,
many Russians have had to experience the impact of this shock. These are "shuttle"
merchants; students/scientists, athletes, businessmen, tourists. People traveling abroad
for permanent residence feel it especially strongly. As a rule, Russians living abroad
note that they live incomparably better financially than in Russia. In developed
countries, a person who occupies a low social position lives better financially than an
“Media. Til va madaniyat. Tarjima” talabalar ilmiy-amaliy konferensiyasi - 2023
115
outstanding person in Russia. However, morally, Russians living abroad experience a
sense of nostalgia, longing, and inferiority. Many people note that at home, in Russia,
they would have achieved more. After all, the high material level is common, and
against its background, migrants are always second-rate. integration with indigenous
people. According to N.M. Lebedeva, culture shock occurs not only and not so much
because the environment suddenly becomes unpredictable and there is a danger to life
due to inappropriate behavior.
Most often, culture shock has negative consequences, but attention should also be
paid to its positive side, at least for those individuals whose initial discomfort leads to
the adoption of new values and behaviors and, ultimately, is important for self-
development and personal growth. Proceeding from this, the Canadian psychologist J.
Berry even suggested using the concept of "acculturation stress" instead of the term
"cultural shock": The word "shock" is associated only with negative experiences, and
as a result of cross—cultural contact, positive experiences are also possible - assessing
problems and overcoming them. As a rule, the problem of culture shock is considered
in the context of the so-called adaptation process.
There are several ways to overcome cultural shock, regardless of the degree of its
manifestation in different people. Here are the tips of psychologists that will help you
adapt faster and fully enjoy this invaluable experience:
Creating a blog or keeping a diary. Try to keep records every day about what
phenomena you encounter, what kind of reaction occurs to them. This will help you
understand and evaluate the situation as a whole, and not get hung up on the little things.
A year later, it will be terribly interesting for you to read your notes yourself, to
remember the emotional state at the very beginning of this path.
Communicate as much as possible. Try to make friends with a bearer of a culture
that is alien to you. The so-called "informant" will help you understand and accept the
new norms. Well, if this person is interested in the peculiarities of your own culture,
then you can mutually learn and comprehend the peculiarities of different worlds. Also,
try to be friends with compatriots at the same time, with whom it will be interesting to
discuss common difficulties and it will be easier to go through difficult periods.
“Media. Til va madaniyat. Tarjima” talabalar ilmiy-amaliy konferensiyasi - 2023
116
Think of yourself as a tourist. Do not try to immediately imagine yourself as a
citizen of a new country - this will worsen the situation. Go to tourist places to return
to the state of tourist euphoria at least for a short time.
Don't give up hobbies and habits. Arrange evenings of national cuisine as often as
possible, attend meetings with representatives of your native country, watch movies
and read books in your own language. Sometimes it's enough just to remember, feel,
see something familiar, so that homesickness lets go and it becomes easier.
In conclusion, for some people, the cultural shock is compounded by the fact that,
in addition to processing new traditions and social experience of another country, in
parallel you have to deal with disappointment in yourself and an increasing sense of
failure when you repeatedly try to figure something out, unsuccessfully communicate
with the local population, constantly encountering misunderstanding or even refusal to
communicate.
"Parting with the motherland, relatives, friends, familiar places was very difficult.
And the "civilization" was not at all surprised, since she traveled to "advanced" cities
and countries before emigration and managed to look forward to it at the time".
References
1.
Grushevitskaya T.G., Popkov V.D., Sadokhin A.P. Fundamentals of
intercultural communication: textbook for universities. // edited by A.P. Sadokhinl.- M.:
UNITY-DANA Publishing house, 2002. 449 p.
2.
Smolina T.L. Social support as a strategy for overcoming cultural shock //
Sociosphere. Scientific-methodical and theoretical journal. No. 1, 2012. - pp. 2934.
URL: http HYPERLINK "http://www.humanpsy.ru/"
3.
Ionin L.G. Sociology of culture. — M, 1996, pp. 17-20, 34-37.
4.
Russian information and educational portal Veni Vidi Vici, 2008-
2013."http://www.vevivi.ru/"ru (accessed: 01.11.2013).bg
5.
Тешабаева, Дилфуза Муминовна. "ҲАРБИЙЛАШГАН ТАЪЛИМ
КУРСАНТЛАРИГА ХОРИЖИЙ ТИЛЛАРНИ ЎҚИТИШДА КОММУНИКАТИВ
КОМПЕТЕНЦИЯНИ ШАКЛЛАНТИРИШДА АКТНИНГ ЎРНИ." Journal of
Universal Science Research 1.4 (2023): 235-242.
6.
Дадабаева, Хаётхон, and Дилфуза Тешабаева. "Роль акта в формировании
коммуникативной компетентности при обучении иностранным языкам курсантов
военного образования." in Library 3.3 (2023): 235-242.
7.
кизи ВАЛИЕВА, Наргизахон Замир, and Зафар Нурматович
АБДУСАМАДОВ. "КЛАССИФИКАЦИЯ ДИАЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ РЕЧИ И ЕЕ
АНАЛИЗ В ПРОИЗВЕДЕНИИ ХАЛЛЕДА ХОССЕЙНИ «БЕГУЩИЙ ЗА
ВЕТРОМ»." (2022).
