Causes of culture shocks - Essay Example

What are the causes of culture shock which is a big roadblock between success and failure of an individual in an unfamiliar environment? The main causes are“Strain caused by the efforts to adopt,sense of loss and feelings of deprivation in relation to friends, status, profession and possessions,feeling rejected by or rejecting members of new culture,confusion in role, values and self-identity, anxiety and even disgust/anger about foreign practices,feelings of helplessness,and not being able to cope with the new environment.

”(Marx,2001,p.5) The impact of these conditions, will indicate where an individual stands in a new situation and the relative causes of culture shock. Some causes are inevitable,and some causes are the creation of ones mind. For example, while moving overseas, one carries unrealistic expectations about the life-styles and paints a rosy picture. One imagines a life of individual freedom, free from the constraints of living in a joint family(should that be the case.) Once one comes face to face with the grass-root realities in a foreign land, one values the worth of living in a joint family, the joy in the praise and rebukes from the elders, the relative freedom enjoyed in those restrictions.

They say, a mountain looks beautiful from a distance. Once one goes near it, one sees how it is also covered by thick forests, thorny bushes and it is the abode of wild animals as well!Not alone big, but the small issues related to the day to day life produce cultural shocks and sometimes, their effect is long-lasting. Some of them are: “Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. These signs are the thousand and one ways in which we orient ourselves to the situations of daily life: when to shake hands and what to say when we meet people, when and how to give tips, how to give orders to servants, how to make purchases, when to