ABSTRACT
The phrase ‘culture shock’ was coined by the anthropologist K.Oberg in the late 1950s to describe the distress experienced by a sojourner in another culture as a result of being cut loose from the familiar signs and symbols of social interaction. It included features such as (a) the strain due to the effort required to make necessary psychological adjustments; (b) confusion over roles, values, feelings and self-identity; (c) surprise and unease at local cultural features; (d) a sense of impotence at not being able to cope with the new environment; (e) a sense of loss in relation to the friends, status and possessions enjoyed in the home culture; and (f) feelings of rejection by members of the new culture. 1 Classic candidates for culture shock include volunteers abroad, exchange students and international business men and women. A related phenomenon, ‘re-entry shock’, is often experienced when those who have become thoroughly acculturated abroad return home (N.J. Adler 1981).
