Culture Stress
Everyone has culture stress when they enter a new culture! (This is often called culture shock.) Even if you are American, you may be experiencing culture stress living among so many cultures at the Globe!
Culture stress is usually the worst around months 3-6 of living in a new culture, but culture stress can last for years. Many times, the longer you are planning to live in a culture, the longer culture stress will last. Culture stress is completely normal.
The Symptoms of Culture Stress:
- Anger
- Frustration
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Feeling helpless
- Blaming yourself for things
- Not caring about your goals
- Getting sick more often (lower immunity)
- Absent-mindedness
- Exhaustion
- Loneliness
- Homesickness
- Isolating yourself from others and from activities you enjoy
- Not caring about the way you look
- Distrustful
- Being impatient
- Feeling rejected
- Fear
- Feeling as if you don’t belong anywhere
- Upset stomach
- Headaches
- Skin problems
- Feeling like you are less valuable than others
…to name a few
Tips for Overcoming Culture Stress:
Practical Tips
Learn the Language
Language is so important for adjusting to a new culture…
- Even if you speak English in your home country, the language here is different – different meanings for the same words, different idioms, new words, slang…
- Body language is very important to learn! Ask locals about hand gestures, facial expressions, how close people should stand to each other, etc.
- Watch local television (including kids’ cartoons). These teach cultural values and language!
Build Relationships
Local friends can share cultural tips with you and help you overcome culture stress...
- Make friends with local students and professors. They can help you understand US classroom culture.
- Make friends with people you enjoy being with and who share your hobbies. It’s important to do activities you enjoy with people you like.
- Make friends with local families. They are an important part of your new culture!
- Make friends with people from your country to help you keep your ethnic identity and to learn how they adapted to the new culture, but be careful! Spending too much time with them can keep you from ever getting used to American culture.
Learn
There is so much to learn about your new culture…
- Travel around the country. You learn even more if you travel with locals.
- Take part in local festivals. These are things like Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Superbowl, etc.
- Learn about the values and beliefs of the people in your new culture. These values influence everything.
A Few More Tips to Help You Succeed
You can do it!
- Talk about cultural differences that make you uncomfortable. Talk about this with locals and with your friends and family back home.
- Learn more about cross-cultural communication. This TED Talk is a good place to start.
- Don’t be offended. People will offend you and you will offend them because you don’t understand each others’ cultural rules. Try not to take this personally.
- Talk to a counselor. Changing cultures is stressful (that’s why it’s called culture stress)! See the Resource page for links to counselors.
Theoretical Tips
- Everyone believes (to some level) their culture is the best culture! This is called ethnocentrism.
- Every culture has good parts, and every culture has bad parts.
To adjust to your new culture:
- Have cultural empathy – try to look at things the way that people in your new culture would look at them.
- Be open-minded – don’t judge (until you learn more).
- Take social initiative – talk to local people, ask questions, and accept invitations to activities.
- Be flexible – things won’t happen like you expect. Be open to the changes.
- Be emotionally stable – check out the Resource page for practical tips to have better emotional health.
What has helped you with culture stress? Comment on the intro page to help others!
Culture stress quiz adapted from: Mumford D. The measurement of culture shock. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 1998;33:149–154. doi:10.1007/s001270050037
Reference: Mustafa Y. A review of culture shock: attitudes, effects and the experience of international students. Journal of Intercultural Communication. 2021;21(3):14-25. doi:10.36923/jicc.v21i3.18