Handling Culture Shock Effectively

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Culture Shock Video

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• Defining the Terms: Culture Shock and Country Shock

• Stages of Culture Shock• Managing Country and Culture Shock• The Role of Culture in Conflicts and Conflict

Resolution• A Leader’s Role in Handling Culture Shock

Overview

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• How would you define culture shock?• Reaction to psychological disorientation• Fish out of water feeling

What is Culture Shock?

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• Causes of Culture Shock• Being cut off from cultural cues and patterns• Living/working over an extended period of

time in ambiguous situations• Having your values questioned• Being expected to operate at maximum skill

and speed without fully understanding

“the rules”

What is Culture Shock?

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• Effects/Symptoms of Culture Shock• Intense discomfort• Resentment• Homesickness• Depression• Variety of physical

symptoms from psychosomatic illnesses

What is Culture Shock?

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• Country Shock– Physical

circumstances– The setting of the

culture– Occurs/resolves

quickly

• Culture Shock

– Interaction among people

– Behaviors that seem strange to others

– Takes longer to begin/resolve

Country Shock vs. Culture Shock

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• What can bring on

country shock?– Unfamiliar weather patterns– “Strange” foods– “Bugs” (insects, spiders, etc.)

that make life uncomfortable– Infrastructure differences

Country Shock

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• What can heighten the intensity of country shock?– New faces and communities – Getting physically sick

Country Shock

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• Honeymoon

• Irritability/Hostility

• Gradual Adjustment

• Adaptation

Stages of Culture Shock

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• Characteristics– Occurs at beginning of deployment– Positive mindset– High expectations– Focus on similarities between

home and host culture– Typically lasts 1-6 weeks

The Honeymoon Stage

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• Actions during irritability–Withdrawal from host culture– Interacting only with

other Americans– Interacting only with other military personnel

• Actions during hostility– Verbal aggressiveness– Physical aggressiveness– Stereotyping

Irritability/Hostility Stage

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• What it takes to get there– Time– Recognizing subtle cultural cues– Less isolation/greater comfort–More interaction with host culture

Gradual Adjustment Stage

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• How you know you’ve arrived– Greater enjoyment of local customs– Comfort with host culture

communication norms– Realization that you will miss

aspects of host culture when

you return home

Adaptation Stage

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• Ineffective responses• Returning to “mother culture”• Hide out (stay on base/compound)• Travel to areas of greater cultural diversity• Effective response• Establish new routines for basic life skills

Dealing With Country Shock

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• Effective responses• Realize almost everyone experiences a

certain level of culture shock• Develop self-awareness of your

behavioral expectations• Understand the local’s expectations for

your behavior

Managing Culture Shock

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• We inflict culture shock on others by…– being ethnocentric– not becoming “other”– failing to practice empathy– reinforcing the concept of

“the ugly American”

Managing Culture Shock

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Conflict Video

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• What is conflict?• Struggle over values and claims to scarce

status, power, and resources• Perceived divergence of interests• Our working definition: When two related

parties find themselves divided by perceived incompatible interests or goals, or in competition for control of scarce resources

Conflict

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• Causes of conflict?– Value differences

– Relationship clashes

– Disagreement over data

– Diverging interests

Conflict

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• Role of culture in conflict– It’s about who we are so it’s bound to impact conflict– It relates to what we think is important, and we often

respond strongly when that’s challenged– It can be the direct cause of conflict– It can be a contributing factor

Culture and Conflict

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• Culture affects conflict in how we…– Name (describe it)– Frame (conceptualize it)– Blame (assign fault for it)– Tame (resolve it)

Culture and Conflict

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• Think about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

– How does culture affect how it is described?– From what framework is it viewed?–Who is blamed?–What is the best way to resolve it?

Culture and Conflict: An Example

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• How would you define conflict resolution?– Eliminating the root cause of a conflict and

seeking the solution to the problems which led to the conflict

–Methods and processes of negotiation, arbitration, institution-building which promote the peaceful ending of social conflict and war

Culture and Conflict Resolution

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• Methods of conflict resolution–Mediation– Diplomacy– Negotiation (most commonly used)–War

Culture and Conflict Resolution

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• What is negotiation?– Striking a deal with someone– Bargaining– Discussing an issue with the hope of settling it–When two or more parties confer with one another

to reach a mutually accepted outcome

Negotiation

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• Situations requiring negotiation skills– Personal life–Within squadron–While deployed with local population and leaders–With joint/coalition/allied forces–With other organizations (governmental

and nongovernmental)

Negotiation

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• Impact of personality on negotiation– Some traits more conducive to

successful negotiation than others– Some traits counterproductive

to negotiation– Some traits are better suited to

other conflict resolution techniques, e.g., mediation, diplomacy, competing-forcing, etc.)

Personality & Negotiation

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• Military personality and negotiation– Typical Airman may not be predisposed to

negotiation– Hierarchical mindset (chain of command)– Leans more toward compliance than negotiation

Negotiation in the Military

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• When can negotiation skills be helpful to you?– Contingency ops– Peacekeeping ops– Humanitarian relief responses– Personal life

Negotiation in the Military

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• Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions– Power Distance– Uncertainty Avoidance– Individualism vs. collectivism– Long-term vs.

short-term orientation

Cultural Dimensions & Negotiation

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As an Air Force leader, what is your role in handling culture shock effectively?

Wrapping Up Our Discussion

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• Defining the Terms: Culture Shock and Country Shock

• Stages of Culture Shock• Managing Country and Culture Shock• The Role of Culture in Conflicts and

Conflict Resolution• A Leader’s Role in Handling Culture Shock

Summary

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