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Cultural Adjustment Discussion

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A common thing among people who move far away from their home to establish themselves in
their new environment is the factor of cultural, mental, physical and emotional adjustments due
to many new impressions, people, unfamiliar surroundings and activities. This is a psychological
reaction/feeling of being a little lost. This entails the stages that an individual needs to go
through so as to work effectively and live comfortably in an unfamiliar place. They are as
follows:
1. Honeymoon Period
This is the first stage and it is characterized by an interesting feeling that is extremely positive -
excitement, anticipation and exhilaration. Here, people are being fascinated with everything that
is new and exciting - new cultural differences, misunderstandings, language, people and food in
their new surroundings.
2. Confusion and Frustration
This stage is often characterized by discomfort, anger, slight depression, anxiety, and sadness.
This stage comes after the first stage. People in the new environments are confused and
frustrated because they seem not to understand the inhabitants and the language very well; the
accents, lifestyle and attitudes are foreign to them. This could lead to anger over minor
frustrations, mistrust of locals, lack of interest and motivation, fear, absenteeism, complete
withdrawal, miscommunication and failure to understand gestures and signs.

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3. Fight or Flight
At this stage, the person feels that the situation is very worse, annoying and depressing such that
the person is homesick. He or she now hates the host environment and cannot find anything good
about it. He wants to leave the setting, with a belief that the problems will be gone once he or she
packs up and go home. After awhile, one might give himself or herself a little pep talk or join a
society or club in order to feel better. Confidence starts to build at this moment.
4. Settled Adjustment
Here, the person begins to develop a new sense of direction and he or she starts to feel more
comfortable and familiar with the food, people, surroundings and culture of his or her host
environment. Everything starts to get in order and navigation seems more easier as communities
of support and strong friendships are being established.
Hall’s Theory
Edward Twitchell Hall developed the theory of Proxemics in a book titled The Hidden
Dimension (1996). Hall claims that the human perceptions of space even though are gotten from
the sensory apparatus which all humans share, are patterned and molded by our cultures.
Hall argued that the various cultural frameworks which are used for defining and organizing
space are internalized in everyone at an unconscious level. This can lead to series of serious
failures of communication and understanding in any cross-cultural setting.
In his theory, Hall used ideas from the psychoanalytic theory, linguistic relativity, traditional
anthropology and biology. He claimed that there is a connection between context and meaning

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A common thing among people who move far away from their home to establish themselves in their new environment is the factor of cultural, mental, physical and emotional adjustments due to many new impressions, people, unfamiliar surroundings and activities. This is a psychological reaction/feeling of being a little lost. This entails the stages that an individual needs to go through so as to work effectively and live comfortably in an unfamiliar place. They are as follows: 1. Honeymoon Period This is the first stage and it is characterized by an interesting feeling that is extremely positive excitement, anticipation and exhilaration. Here, people are being fascinated with everything that is new and exciting - new cultural differences, misunderstandings, language, people and food in their new surroundings. 2. Confusion and Frustration This stage is often characterized by discomfort, a ...
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