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Culture Shock of an American in Europe

This research considers the culture shock experience of an American in Europe. As a part of this consideration, the term culture shock is defined, and causes of, adjustments to, and implications of culture shock are reviewed.

Culture shock is the term applied to the trauma of bewilderment, and anxiety which is, at times experienced by individuals who, voluntarily or involuntarily, find themselves isolated in an alien culture, or, as a consequence of war, find an alien culture imposed on them (Storti, 1989). The more common symptoms of culture shock are apathy, and withdrawal. More severe cases of culture shock may be characterized by behavioral disorders, such as obsessional hand washing, and, in the most extreme cases, overt xenophobia may be manifested by the affected individual.

An extreme example of culture shock may be illustrated by the case of an early day explorer from a western culture, who is informed by the host that the dinner being consumed is an old lady to whom the explorer had talked with the previous day (Berger, 1987). A less extreme example of culture shock could be the feelings experienced by a firstyear college student 1

2whose takenforgranted beliefs about religion and society are challenged by intellectual probings for deeper understandings (Berger, 1987). A third example of culture shock may be the feelings of indignation experienced by an American woman visiting a rural village in Mexico, who is treated as a prostitute as a consequence of wearing only shorts and a halter top in public; perfectly acceptable dress in a shopping mall in the United States, but completely unacceptable in a remote Mexican village.

While culture shock may, and usually does, produce feelins of disapproval or disgust, it may also, and often does, create a sense of excitement (Berger, 1987). At times, of course, perceptions of disgust and excitement are experienced simultaneously by the individual affecte...

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Culture Shock of an American in Europe. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:16, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1683844.html