As people move from one society to another and begin to deal with cultural differences, experience has shown that there are specific stages that they encounter in their adjustment process. Indeed, it would be amazing if people could leave their communities, their families, and their homes and go abroad for a period of time without feeling some anxiety. The severity and length of adjustment and the number of adjustment phases that a person will go through depends upon the length of time that he will be away from home and the support he is given. Nevertheless, regardless of how short the time a person is a foreign visitor, you can be relatively certain that s/he will feel many of the emotions outlined in the intercultural adjustment cycle in the figure below. This cycle describes a long-term adjustment process - usually over a one-year period. If you are involved in a program that hosts people on a short-term basis, it is still important to recognize the dynamics of this process, because research has shown that the same basic pattern will occur, though perhaps less severely in a short-term visit.

 

The human psyche adjusts itself to the time it has available. In most cases, the visitor will experience a dip in Stage 3, about one-third of the way through his/her experience, and another dip in Stage 5, about two-thirds of the way through. The extent, depth, and length of these dips will depend on the amount of support the visitor receives from people around him/her and the degree that s/he can be helped to understand the reasons for his/her feelings of frustration and concern.

 

1. Application Anxiety. When waiting for an opportunity to go abroad, people experience anxiety over their chances of selection and their ability to handle their new opportunity. During this time many anticipate cultural differences but have only a superficial awareness of potential adjustment problems.

2. Selection/Arrival Fascination. When a person hears that s/he will be going abroad, s/he experiences tremendous elation. This excitement continues (with some small exception just before departure, when anxiety may crop up again) until some time after the individual arrives in the foreign country. During this stage, expectations for the visit are high and the predeparture proceedings, as well as the arrival introductions, are overwhelming and blissful in their newness. Especially on arrival, the visitor tends to be the focus of attention and activity. S/he is shown respect and concern that s/he may seldom receive in his/her own home community.

3. Initial Culture Shock. The initial fascination, along with the rounds of introductions and parties, will soon fade for a visitor who is remaining in a community over a period of time, especially for periods as long as six months or a year. Even with visitors coming to the United States on tour, or for Americans going abroad for a similar experience, the novelty of a foreign culture wears off after a few weeks and most people enter a period of decline, known as initial culture shock. Characteristics of this period are possible changes in sleeping habits, disorientation about how to work with and relate to others, and language difficulties and mental fatigue from speaking and listening to a foreign language all day.

4. Surface Adjustment. After this initial "down," that usually does not last more than a few days to a few weeks, an adjustment takes place. The visitor settles into the situation around him. His/her language improves, so that s/he can communicate basic ideas and feelings without fatigue, and s/he learns how to navigate within a small group of friends and associates.

5. Mental Isolation. At some point, however, the novelty wears off completely and the difficulties remain. Frustration increases, and a new and more pervasive sense of isolation can set in. Many times, this period is accompanied by boredom and a lack of motivation as the individual feels little stimulus to overcome the deeper and more troublesome difficulties s/he may be facing. There may be unresolved conflicts with friends, hosts, or peers, or basic language problems that continue to cause difficulty long after initial language adjustment.

6. Integration/Acceptance. When the visitor is finally at ease with his professional or school interests, as well as with language, friends, and associates, s/he is able to examine more carefully the new society in which s/he is living. Deeper differences between him/her and others become understandable, and s/he finds ways of dealing with these differences. S/he may complain of the lack of true friendships, but s/he has come to recognize that this may not be deliberate on the part of his/her associates. Eventually, s/he becomes more integrated into his/her surroundings and comes to accept both his/her situation and himself/herself in it. Acceptance of these two realities will allow him/her to relax and feel at home in his/her new surroundings.

7. Return Anxiety. Once a person is well settled in, the thought of leaving familiar friends, faces,   and his/her new community raises anxieties similar to those the visitor felt during Stage 1, before his/her departure. S/he begins to sense how much s/he has changed because of his/her experience, and apprehension grows at the thought of leaving and returning home to people who will not understand him/her and his/her new feelings. S/he may even feel guilty for wanting to stay and not return home, because s/he knows that there will be many people waiting for him/her. This is a time of great confusion and considerable difficulty. If the visitor has come from a great distance there is the fear that the friendships formed may never be experienced again. This can be a period of great pain. But the greater the pain, the deeper was the experience, and over time, the more lasting may be the benefits.

8. Shock/Reintegration. Once the former visitor is back home, the contrast of old and new may come as a shock. S/he will probably have changed a great deal while away, and it will be difficult for family and friends to accept many of the changes. Likewise, having been the center of attention in another country for a period of time, the returnee will be forced after a few days to realize that s/he has lost his/her glamour. S/he then faces the problem of adjusting to being one of the crowd again, while longing for the friends s/he has left. S/he often finds that no one is as interested in the details of his/her stay abroad as s/he would like. S/he experiences conflicts in re-adjusting to family members and old friends, and is frustrated by his/her inability to describe adequately the depth and nature of his/her life abroad. All of this makes his/her surroundings even more depressing.

Final resolution of this stage involves a shift in perspective and an understanding of one's own society and one's future development. The returnee must begin to become involved in new activities at home and to plan a life that is built upon the future, rather than the past. Once this is achieved, he or she will be able to integrate the experiences and learning of the recent past and be productive in his "new" old life.