Stewart L, Leggat P A
Victorian Institute of Animal Science, Melbourne, Australia, formerly School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
J Travel Med. 1998 Jun;5(2):84-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1708-8305.1998.tb00469.x.
As travel has become easier and more affordable, the number of people traveling has risen sharply. People travel for many and varied reasons, from the business person on an overseas assignment to backpackers seeking new and exotic destinations. Others may take up residence in different regions, states or countries for family, business or political reasons. Other people are fleeing religious or political persecution. Wherever they go and for whatever reason they go, people take their culture with them. Culture, like language, is acquired innately in early childhood and is then reinforced through formal and complex informal social education into adulthood. Culture provides a framework for interpersonal and social interactions. Therefore, the contact with a new culture is often not the exciting or pleasurable experience anticipated. When immersed in a different culture, people no longer know how to act when faced with disparate value systems. Contact with the unfamiliar culture can lead to anxiety, stress, mental illness and, in extreme cases, physical illness and suicide. "Culture shock" is a term coined by the anthropologist Oberg. It is the shock of the new. It implies that the experience of the new culture is an unpleasant surprise or shock, partly because it is unexpected and partly because it can lead to a negative evaluation of one's own culture. It is also known as cross-cultural adjustment, being that period of anxiety and confusion experienced when entering a new culture. It affects people intellectually, emotionally, behaviorally and physically and is characterized by symptoms of psychological distress. Culture shock affects both adults and children. In travelers or workers who have prolonged sojourns in foreign countries, culture shock may occur not only as they enter the new culture, but also may occur on their return to their original culture. Children may also experience readjustment problems after returning from leading sheltered lives in expatriate compounds. This readjustment back to their own culture after a period of time abroad has been termed "reverse culture shock, a condition which has been studied in both corporate managers and Peace Corps volunteers. With culture shock and many other processes of psychological adjustment, people tend to suffer alone, thinking that they are the only ones not coping well with their new circumstance. The objective of this paper was to bring the phenomenon of culture shock to the awareness of travel health advisors, who can in turn advise travelers, especially longer term travelers, about having realistic expectations of their travel and life in new cultures.
随着旅行变得更加便捷和经济实惠，出行人数急剧上升。人们旅行的原因多种多样，从执行海外任务的商务人士到探寻新奇异国目的地的背包客。其他人可能因家庭、商务或政治原因在不同地区、州或国家定居。还有些人则是为了逃避宗教或政治迫害。无论他们去往何处，出于何种原因，人们都会带着自己的文化。文化如同语言，在幼儿期就与生俱来，并在成年前通过正式和复杂的非正式社会教育得到强化。文化为人际和社会互动提供了一个框架。因此，接触新文化往往并非如预期那般令人兴奋或愉快。当沉浸在不同文化中时，人们面对不同的价值体系时往往不知所措。接触陌生文化可能导致焦虑、压力、精神疾病，在极端情况下，还会引发身体疾病甚至自杀。“文化冲击”是人类学家奥伯格创造的一个术语。它是对新事物的冲击。这意味着新文化体验是一种不愉快的惊喜或冲击，部分原因是它出乎意料，部分原因是它可能导致对自身文化的负面评价。它也被称为跨文化适应，指进入新文化时所经历的焦虑和困惑时期。它在智力、情感、行为和身体方面影响着人们，其特征是心理困扰的症状。文化冲击对成年人和儿童都会产生影响。对于长期旅居国外的旅行者或工作者来说，文化冲击不仅可能在他们进入新文化时出现，在回到原文化时也可能发生。孩子们在从外籍人员聚居区的庇护生活中返回后，也可能会经历重新适应的问题。在国外一段时间后重新适应自己的文化被称为“逆向文化冲击”，企业经理和和平队志愿者都对这种情况进行过研究。与文化冲击以及许多其他心理调整过程一样，人们往往独自承受痛苦，认为自己是唯一无法很好应对新环境的人。本文的目的是让旅行健康顾问了解文化冲击这一现象，这样他们就可以反过来建议旅行者，尤其是长期旅行者，对他们在新文化中的旅行和生活抱有现实的期望。
