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Culture Shock and Its effects on Expatriates

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Global Advanced Research Journal of Management and Business Studies (ISSN: 2315-5086)Vol. 4(6) pp. 248-258, June, 2015
Available online http://garj.org/garjmbs/index.htm
Copyright © 2015 Global Advanced Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Culture Shock and Its effects on Expatriates

Aisha Naeem1, Ali Bin Nadeem2, Irfan Ullah Khan3
1
Centre of Excellence in Technology and Engineering Management, Islamabad, Pakistan
2
Centre of Excellence in Technology and Engineering Management, Islamabad, Pakistan
3
Centre of Excellence in Technology and Engineering Management, Islamabad, Pakistan
Corresponding author Email: [email protected]
Accepted 03 June 2015

This research is a study about the phenomenon of culture shock and the influence it has on expatriates
who are deployed on assignments in countries all over the world. It talks about the psychological and
emotional effects of culture shock on these expatriates and their journey throughout their assignments.
The purpose of the study is to provide an in-depth view of the life of expatriates experiencing culture shock
and dealing with it on a day to day basis. The research makes use of qualitative research methods by
undertaking structured open-ended written interviews amongst expatriates from two groups. The first
consists of expatriates situated in countries all over the world, working for an international government
organization. The second consists of expatriates from a shipping organization in Glasgow, Scotland. Some
expatriates are still on assignment and talk about their experiences, while others talk about the overall
expatriate experiences of their careers. The expatriates make up a wide range of nationalities and the
research is diverse in its nature. The results of the research reveal that culture shock is a raging
phenomenon affecting almost every expatriate undertaking foreign assignment and has left them with both
positive and negative experiences for life. It highlights the attitudes and nature of people from different
cultures and shows how distinct people really are. The findings reveal the experiences of expatriates and
the facts they reveal about the effects of culture shock on them and their families. The research shows the
fundamental aspects of human nature and cultural values and the fact that human beings vary in every
different aspect of life, yet are so similar in so many others. It is an insight into values, social norms, ethics,
cultural aspects and religious associations of people from a wide range of countries and how expatriates
experience this variety, while also struggling to cope with the various effects that are associated with it

Keywords: Culture Shock, Expatriates, Organizations.

INTRODUCTION

This dissertation is a study of culture shock; what it is and interviews, like a questionnaire, filled by expatriates
how it is experienced by expatriates when they go to situated all over the world. Anonymity has been
work in foreign countries on assignments from their maintained throughout the research, however
organizations. Primary qualitative research methods were nationalities have been revealed. The research highlights
adopted to undertake this project. The research is based the phenomenon of culture shock and how it affects
on first hand data collected through structured written expatriates, what its symptoms are and how expatriates
 Naeem et al., 249

say it influences their daily life and that of their families • There might be vacancies in a foreign subsidiary
while they are abroad. and a company might dispatch an international assignee
The dissertation aims to project the facts surrounding to fill that vacancy.
the phenomenon of culture shock which is a sort of • International assignments are important as they
enigma to everyone. The literature contains rich facts serve a purpose of developing global competencies
about how and why this phenomenon happens and why it within a management team so that a company can
is so damaging and leaves behind after-effects which are achieve and strengthen competitive advantage. These
hard to deal with. Expatriates are usually the most prone assignments also enhance the career prospects of
to culture shock because their assignments are of the individuals, thus ensuring that the goals of both the
nature that require them to travel extensively to foreign expatriate and the organization are met.
countries and live and work with people from different • Assignments help in the process of knowledge
cultures, languages and backgrounds. A vast diversity of transfer within a company. This may involve the
nationalities participated in this research. Expatriates expatriate transferring knowledge to a subsidiary.
belonged to diverse countries like Indonesia, Macedonia,
South Africa, Mexico, France and Turkey, to name just a
few. Also, a number of diverse countries like Uruguay, Culture Shock
Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Kenya served as
the host countries for these expatriates. The term ‘culture shock’ was coined by the anthropologist
The research has also looked into the effects of culture Oberg in 1960, who explained the symptoms and the
shock on the families of expatriates. The expatriates process of adapting to a new and different culture (Marx,
interviewed say that their spouses and children are 2001). Oberg wrote his article based on his own
equally affected by cross-cultural transfers and they often observation of expatriate Americans (Mumford, 1998).
face many difficulties in adjusting. The literature devotes Working in a new culture can produce a number of
a major part of research that talks about the effects of reactions, including confusion, anxiety, frustration,
culture shock on the families of expatriates. The interview exhilaration, isolation, inappropriate social behavior and
questions seek to promote this aspect as well, by asking even depression. The experience of a new culture can be
expatriates, aiming to find out the proportion of families viewed as an unpleasant or unwelcome surprise or
out there, facing this reality. shock, which comes about when a person’s expectations
do not coincide with the reality.
Following Oberg, other researchers have tried to
Literature Review redefine the term culture shock. Guthrie (1975) prefers to
use the term ‘culture fatigue’ from studies of American
Expatriates And Organizations Peace Corps volunteers. Smalley (1963) focuses on the
difficulties in communication, hence the term ‘language
Expatriates usually differ from other people who travel shock’, Byrnes (1966) focuses on ‘role shock’ and Bock
such as tourists or migrants, in the length of time and (1970) describes culture shock as an anxiety reaction
reasons of travel (Cieri, Dowling and Taylor, 1991). due to not being able to understand, control or predict the
Expatriates usually spend between six months and five behavior of other people.
years at a place, with the intention to return home and Reviewing these different meanings, Taft (1977) talks
they normally have a motive or a purpose for being in a about six different aspects of culture shock: Strain; felt
specific country in the first place (Furnham, 1988). due to the efforts to adapt in a foreign culture; Sense of
One of the challenges organizations face as they try to loss and deprivation related to friends, status and
remain competitive in an increasing global economy, is professions; rejection by the people of the new culture or
the transfer of expatriates into foreign assignments (Sims rejecting them; confusion in identity, values and roles;
and Schraeder, 2004). Most of the literature focuses on anxiety, leading up to even disgust about various foreign
the competencies of expatriate managers (French, 2010). practices; feeling helpless when not being able to cope
Intercultural or cross-cultural competence has evolved as with the new atmosphere. This concept of culture shock
an area for study within business and management seems to be the best available consensus and has also
literature since 2000, even though some contributions been endorsed by Furnham and Bochner (1986). At the
evolved a few decades ago. The global nature of most basic level, culture shock is embedded within
business involves such competencies; the trend has uncertainty. Upon the arrival of expatriates in the new
resulted in many employees working in international culture, there is a general uncertainty regarding
assignments and particularly managers being sent on acceptable or unacceptable behavior. As they stay within
assignments abroad. According to Williams, Howe- that culture, there is a realization that certain behavior
Walsh, Scott and Brown (2009), companies use which is considered acceptable in their home culture
international assignments for the following reasons: might not be acceptable in the host culture and certain
250 Glo. Adv. Res. J. Manage. Bus. Stud.

behavior which is considered inappropriate or even • The third and the fourth phase are slightly
offensive in their home culture might be acceptable in the contested. According to Schneider and Barsoux (2003),
host culture (Black and Gregerson, 1991). According to in the third phase the expatriate experiences ‘fight or
Black et al. (1991), this is something very important flight’ symptoms. For example either complaining about
because when an expatriate or any individual as a matter the local culture and customs or withdrawing into a
of fact, leaves a familiar environment and enters an cultural ghetto. Whereas, according to Cieri, Dowling, and
unfamiliar one, old habits and routines are uprooted and Taylor (1991), the continuing development of
disturbed, hence creating a psychological uncertainty. psychological adjustment to relocation leads to the
This brings about a desire to reduce the uncertainty ‘turning point”..
intrinsic in the new environment, specifically regarding • The fourth phase according to Schneider and
behavior that might be required or expected. Certain Barsoux is one in which the expatriate falls in love with
factors increase or decrease uncertainty, also prompting the new culture, whilst rejecting the original culture; in
an increase or decrease in culture shock (Sims and other terms named ‘going native’. On the other hand,
Shraeder, 2004). Perkins and Shortland (2006, p. 64) Cieri, Dowling, and Taylor believe the fourth stage signals
claim ‘It is expected that most people will experience ‘healthy recovery’, as the expatriate accepts the new
culture surprise when interacting with other cultures, and lifestyle and adjusts to the new circumstances.
culture shock, to some degree, particularly when living
and working in another country. Culture shock is a normal
and predictable phenomenon, although those Psychological And Cultural Shock
experiencing it may feel that they are inadequate or
weak, even believing that they are suffering some form of Culture shock is both a psychological and cultural issue
mental illness’. Schneider and Barsoux (2203) when (Adler, 2003). Being a foreigner, it is normal to
talking about cultural adjustment, particularly focus on the experience a variety of strong emotions. These however,
experiences of expatriate managers and suggest that may lead to significantly depressive moods. This is what
culture shock does not just affect expatriates individually, is actually called “culture shock,” which starts usually a
Barsoux (2003) depict culture shock as a ‘U-curve’ in while after the person arrives in the host country and can
which they demonstrate that there is an initial positive last up to a year or two, depending on the individual.
stage followed by a downward spiral from which the Quite a significant amount of knowledge exists on
expatriate and his family may or may not come out several aspects of expatriate cross-cultural adjustment
feeling well adjusted to their new environment. According (CCA) (Sims and Schraeder, 2004). Surprisingly,
to Adler (2002) the recovery process may take place however, the same cannot be said for the term ‘culture
three to six months after arriving in the new country shock’ itself. Mumford (1998) observed that there have
whereas Perkins and Shortland (2006) believe that been no attempts to measure ‘culture shock’ or even to
according to evidence, all the stages of culture shock, corroborate the term empirically. This is a surprising bit of
including adaptation, take place within six to eight research because it is estimated that US organizations
months. spend approximately $80,000 preparing each expatriate
for his assignment and the imminent culture shock
(Harisson, 1994).
Phases of Culture Shock

• The ‘honeymoon’ period is the initial phase of Expatriate Failure

expatriation and the first stage of the U-Curve model,
which is accompanied by a sense of euphoria and Since expatriate assignments are significantly expensive
optimism, a general feeling of excitement associated with to carry out, it is extremely important for the organization
being in a new country. Expatriates report unrealistic and and the employee to ensure that they are successful
positive appraisals of their environment (Cieri, Dowling, (Simms and Schraeder, 2004). However, this is hardly
and Taylor, 1991).. This honeymoon stage lasts from a ever achieved. The rate of failure for expatriate mangers
few days or weeks to six months, depending on the is well recorded. According to research (Webb and
circumstances. This time period gives way to a phase Wright, 1996) around 40 per cent of all expatriate
which can be compared to the feeling of ‘the party’s over’ assignments fail, with an estimated rate of failure in host
(Cieri, Dowling, and Taylor, 1991). countries of up to 70 per cent (Naumman, 1992). The
• This stage is marked by negative appraisals of costs associated with expatriate failure are quite high,
the environment (Harris and Moran, 1979). Expatriates reaching up to $ 1 million dollars for each failure
begin to notice the sources of irritation in the host culture (Shannonhouse, 1996). The main reasons for failure are
when their own tried ways of behaving fail to achieve the related to problems arising due to the inability of the
required results (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003). family of the employee to adjust, disrupting the
 Naeem et al., 251

expatriate’s adaptation to the host environment; and the 462). Solomon (1994), similarly, described culture shock
lack of the expatriate’s interpersonal skills. However, the as “An emotional and psychological reaction to the
number one and two reasons for failure are the inability of confusion, ambiguity, value conflicts, and hidden clashes
the spouse and the employee to adjust to a foreign that occur as a result of fundamentally different ways of
culture. perceiving the world and interacting socially between
cultures: Disequilibrium” (p. 58).
The culture shock can involve such a situation where
Cross-Cultural Interaction the various frustrations felt by the expatriate build up,
leading to the explosion of emotions such as anger,
Due to increase in expatriate assignments, there has depression and homesickness (Black et al., 1999;
been a greater frequency and depth of cross-cultural Harrison 1994; Winkelman, 1994).
interaction (Webb and Wright, 1996). Cross-cultural
interactions are meant to bring those people together
who have different behaviour patterns and cognitive Factors Affecting Culture Shock
abilities for interpreting different things (Triandis et
al.1972). Those expatriates who are not familiar with the The literature suggests that there are five key factors
cultural norms and patterns of behavior of the host affecting expatriate culture shock. These are mainly: 1)
country cannot be happy while living abroad and as such training of the expatriate, 2) demographic characteristics
can become a burden to the organization (Webb and of the expatriate, 3) personality traits of the expatriate, 4)
Wright, 1996). International assignments and problems organizational support given to the expatriate and 5) the
relating to adjustment to a foreign culture can affect work technical competence of the expatriate (Sims and
performance. Other severe problems such as drugs, Schraeder, 2004). It is necessary to explain them all in
alcohol and psychological problems can occur which can order to get an idea of how culture shock can influence
underestimate the skills and abilities of an individual an expatriate and his stay in the foreign country.
whose career history has been otherwise quite
successful with a healthy social and family life.
Psychological research shows that there is a link The Impact of Training
between the number of life events that a person suffers
from (for example divorce, changing jobs, bereavement) The ability to adapt to new cultures is an important
and psychological disorders (Dohrenwend and element of a successful international assignment
Dohrenwend, 1974). International managers who move to (Forster, 2000). This is where cross-cultural training is so
a foreign country experience life changing events such as important. One of the main purposes of training programs
changing country, job and house. This leaves a high risk is to introduce to the expatriates the importance of culture
to their psychological well-being and a risk of a and to make them aware of cultural differences and how
performance deficit at their workplace. All this is to be sensitive towards them. They should also be made
ultimately a huge risk for the organization. aware of the psychological stresses that are liable to
occur while they are on assignment abroad, when they
try to adapt themselves to the living and working
Stress and Culture Shock conditions of the host culture. However, it is important to
remember that these are not a cure for everything. Their
Moving to a foreign country naturally means stress for success or failure depends on the willingness of the
the expatriate. International assignments generally fall expatriates to learn and develop new skills and attitudes.
into the category of stressful life events (Furnham and Also, the type of training provided to expatriates and their
Bochner, 1986). Stress is a major part of expatriate families can vary between different organizations.
assignments and can result in the initial months when the
employee is experiencing culture shock and must learn
how to deal with a new culture. It is to be noted that the Culture Shock and Expatriate Families
usual way of handling a situation in one’s own country
cannot be applied in the host country. This causes more It is one of the most important demographic factors with
frustration and hence forms a vicious cycle – the regards to culture shock amongst expatriates (Black,
expatriate tries to apply his own ‘home rules’ in the host 1988; Black and Stephens, 1989; Black and Gregersen,
country and ends up failing miserably, leading to 1991; Harvey, 1985; Shaffer and Harrison, 2001;
increased stress. Takeuchi, Tesluk and Yun, 2002; Tung, 1981, 1982). As
Theoretically, culture shock has been defined as the Rahim has said, ‘the effectiveness of overseas managers
“stress induced by all the behavioural expectation may be affected by the degree of adaptability and
differences and the accompanying uncertainty with which supportiveness of their families, especially the spouse’
the individual must cope” (Black and Gregerson, 1991, p. (1983, pp. 312). It is not possible that the experience of
252 Glo. Adv. Res. J. Manage. Bus. Stud.

an expatriate be in sync with the experience of his family, competencies possessed by expatriates which can result
mainly the spouse and children. According to research by in increased or decreased likelihood that they will be
Shaffer and Harrison (2001), it is easier for younger negatively affected by culture shock (Black, 1990; Black
children, who are in pre-schools, to adjust to a new et al., 1999; Harrison, 1994; Mendenhall and Oddou,
country and culture compared to relatively older children. 1985). The key traits identified in the literature include:
This increases the chances of culture shock amongst the a) Cultural flexibility, which involves an individual’s
older children. Expatriate adjustment is greatly dependent cognitive flexibility. It encompasses both openness to
on the family’s adjustment and vice-versa (Takeuchi et new and different behaviours and the flexibility to replace
al., 2002). This is referred to as the ‘spillover’ effect by the activities that were enjoyed whilst in the home
Takeuchi et al. These spillover effects will apply to the country, with new, different activities in the host country
culture shock experience, that is, the increase in (Black, 1990). This is a critical part of overcoming culture
expatriate culture shock would increase the family’s shock (Black, 1990; Harrison, 1994; Mendenhall and
culture shock and vice-versa. Oddou, 1985), otherwise the expatriate might experience
The wives or partners of expatriates are mostly the loneliness, frustration and isolation which will inhibit
ones prone to experiencing extreme stress whilst adjustment (Black, 1990; Church, 1982);
adjusting to their new environment and situation (Harvey, b) Ethnocentricity, which is influential in its affect on
1985). Various researchers have given their opinions on expatriate culture shock and cross-cultural adjustment.
this matter. According to Black and Stephens ‘the Ethnocentricity means the values and beliefs of one’s
adjustment of the spouse is highly correlated to the own culture are superior to those held by people in other
adjustment of the expatriate manager and the adjustment cultures (Wortzel and Wortzel, 1985). Research proves
of the spouse and the expatriate are positively related to that ethnocentric expatriates are more prone to culture
the expatriate’s intention to stay in the overseas shock – of ‘a severe and debilitating’ type, and are more
assignment’ (1989, pp. 529). likely to fail an expatriate assignment than those
individuals who are more tolerant and patient of their
circumstances (Caligiuri and Di Santo, 2001; Church,
Previous International Experience 1982; Furnham and Bochner, 1986; Stening, 1979).
c) Stress, the way an expatriate reacts to it can be
Another demographic factor which is linked to the an important factor in determining if the individual can
reduction in uncertainty is the expatriate’s previous work overcome culture shock and be successful in cross-
experience of living in a foreign country (Dawis and cultural adjustment (Black, 1988, 1990; Byrnes, 1966;
Lofquist, 1984; Nicholson, 1984; Torbiorn, 1982). Black et Church, 1982; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985; Oberg,
al. (1999) say that previous overseas experience can 1960; Tung, 1981,1982).
help expatriates with what to expect when moving to the d) Interpersonal skills; an over-view of the literature
new country and adjusting to the culture. Expatriates can (Hammer, Gudykunst and Wiseman, 1978; Hammer,
use and rely on past experiences regarding the 1987; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985) revealed that a
adjustment process and can rely on that experience to common cause of culture shock amongst expatriates is
reduce the uncertainty associated with the transition related to interpersonal conflict with the host country
(Louis, 1980). This can help lower culture shock and nationals.
quicken cross-cultural adjustment (Black and Gregerson,
1991; Black et al., 1991). Overall, even though previous
overseas experience does tend to make it easy to adjust Organizational Support Activities
the second time round but it is important to remember
that exactly how that happens or what factors hinder or Quite a significant amount of literature suggests that the
amplify the impact of previous experience, has still to be amount of organizational support that the expatriate
completely figured out by researchers in the field (Black, receives, during the course of the assignment, is crucial
Mendenhall and Oddou, 1991) in that it influences culture shock (Eisenberger, Fasolo
and David-LaMastro, 1990; Punnett, 1977). Higher levels
of perceived organizational support lead to a greater level
Personality Characteristics of The Expatriate of affective commitment to make the international
assignment successful. A greater level of affective
Many researchers have looked at the skills necessary for commitment by the expatriate would increase the
an expatriate to be effective in a cross-cultural probability that the expatriate would make the necessary
environment (Brein & David, 1971; Church, 1982; behavioural modifications that are required in order to
Mendenhall & Oddou, 1985; Stening, 1979). However, reduce culture shock and facilitate cultural adjustment.
few organizations recognize the role of chief traits and According to Punnett (1997), in-country social support
key competencies on expatriate culture shock (Ioannou, was very important once the initial culture shock was
1995). Research shows that there are certain traits and being felt. Organizational support such as with housing,
 Naeem et al., 253

schooling and travelling were of utmost importance when method undertaken for this research is qualitative, since
overcoming culture shock. Black et al. (1999) found that if the aim is to gather an understanding of human behavior
there are expatriate co-workers, they could provide and the reasons that govern such behavior. According to
information about the do’s and don’ts of the host culture Bryman (1988, p. 46), the qualitative approach of
to these fellow expatriates. This social support can research is “an approach to the study of the social world
decrease culture shock and uncertainty. which seeks to describe and analyze the culture and
behaviour of humans and their groups from the point of
view of those being studied.” This is the most apt
Technical Competence of the Expatriate portrayal of the method used to carry out this research.
Qualitative research is the kind of research design
As stated earlier, that expatriate candidates are usually which has many different emphases from quantitative
selected on the basis of their job skills or technical and research (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991). One of the most
job-based knowledge, it is still the case that an expatriate prominent and significant differences between qualitative
needs to have certain capabilities, experience and skill to and quantitative research is the priority given to the
undertake the tasks assigned to them. Job-related perspectives of those who are being studied rather than
abilities do impact culture shock (Baker and Ivancevich, the concerns of the researcher. Apart from that, a certain
1971; Black, 1990; Black et al., 1999; Mendenhall and kind of emphasis is on the interpretation of observations
Oddou, 1985; Miller, 1972, 1973; Tung, 1981; Vassel, in accordance with the subjects’ own understandings.
1983) and those expatriates who demonstrate higher The methods adopted for this research made use of
levels of technical or managerial competence are likely to structured, open-ended written interviews, instead of
experience lower levels of culture shock. Despite the face-to-face interviews. The reason for that was merely
importance of expatriate skills and abilities, evidence because of the difficulty in accessing the expatriates due
suggests that choosing candidates solely on the basis of to their geographical locations around the world.
job-related abilities is a mistake (Shilling, 1993). The Interviews would have been difficult to conduct over the
solution is to create a combination of the two – job- telephone due to the different locations of every
related skills and personality traits /competencies and expatriate. The most problematic issue in this case would
selecting candidates on the basis of these. Although it is be the time difference – since every country is either a
difficult to find expatriate candidates who possess both few hours ahead of UK or a few hours behind UK. It
these abilities, research shows that these expatriates are would have been almost impossible to interview each
most likely the ones better able to handle and overcome person at a time which would have suited both the
culture shock and adjust successfully (Black, 1990; participant and the researcher (keeping in mind the time
Caligiuri, 2000; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985; Shilling, difference). The issue of recording these interviews and
1993). then transcribing them would have proved time
Lastly, it is important to mention how the expatriate consuming and quite difficult.
experience affects performance at the workplace. Despite
its importance, many managers continue to base
candidate selection criteria only on technical expertise Preperation and Pre-Departure Training
and often employee (familial) willingness to go. This kind
of strategy not only results in a failure of expatriates to A majority of the respondents said that they were
adjust, but also inadequate on the- job performance informed of their assignment either two months or a few
(Caligiuri, 1997; Gregersen & Black, 1990; Shaffer & weeks in advance. Most of the expatriates were not
Harrison, 1998). When asked about the main causes of provided any form of pre-departure training whatsoever.
assignment failure, poor candidate selection was In response to the question, they wrote “none”. One
mentioned by 84% of companies participating in the French expatriate, now working in Italy, said: “Absolutely
GMAC GRS-NFTC-SHRM Global survey (2001). nothing. Even no support for the logistics: how to find an
Adjustment failure costs well above $150,000 (U.S.) per apartment, school for kids, etc, which is very different
person (Briscoe, 1995), in addition to an estimated cost from assignments from countries like the US or from the
of $80,000 for training, relocation, and compensation private sector”.
(Dowling, Schuler, & Welch, 1996). With such figures, This is interesting because none of the expatriates from
organizations cannot afford to continue making expatriate the US said that they had received any sort of pre-
selection decisions based on heuristics. departure training. He was also told that he would not be
allowed to travel alone. Another was a Japanese
expatriate who said that his organization provided him
METHODOLOGY extensive training before deploying him to every country
that he has lived in as an expatriate. Training included
The dissertation has made use of empirical methods to lifestyle learning of host country and cultural awareness.
study the effects of culture shock on expatriates. The Another Japanese expatriate also said he received
254 Glo. Adv. Res. J. Manage. Bus. Stud.

training before being deployed. This included lifestyle and about learning new techniques in engineering and to
security training, along with work-related training. On the know about new people.”
other hand, an American expatriate who has travelled
extensively around the world, currently based in
Indonesia, said that he was provided pre-departure The Phases of Culture Shock
training only on his very first assignment. Some
expatriates wrote “Not Applicable” in response to the The question about the phases of culture shock was the
question. most detailed. The responses were very interesting. One
American expatriate wrote that he experienced all the
phases of culture shock. Currently, he is working in
Emotions and State of Mind Indonesia and said that he worked in China, on and off
for eighteen years, as an expatriate and eventually left
The question based on this theme received varying because he felt that he was getting too cynical about
answers. The question was asked with regards to the things there. A majority of the expatriates say that they
emotions and state of mind of the expatriates when they experienced ‘the honeymoon phase’ and one American
first came to the host country. Generally, a vast majority expatriate, living in France wrote that it has been six
of the expatriates said that they were excited but slightly weeks since he came to his host country and he is still in
apprehensive at the same time. An Irish expatriate, who the ‘honeymoon phase.’ Phase one and two, ‘the
has lived in eleven countries, responded in these words: honeymoon phase’ and ‘the party’s over phase’ were the
“First appointment was a kaleidoscope of perceptions most common phases experienced by the expatriates.
and new sensory inputs; this can be quite overwhelming Some wrote that loneliness and homesickness were felt
until you recalibrate your own perceptions of ‘the norm’ but culture shock was not specifically experienced. One
and can reestablish some kind of emotional equilibrium. Turkish expatriate, living now in the United States, wrote
Of course all these new experiences were exciting and that she was homesick but she did not experience culture
could easily be overwhelming. I am particularly accepting shock per se. She believes that basically everything is
of change and enjoy new experiences and challenges, the same from lifestyle point of view, except language.
but this is not for everyone. Those who take comfort in An Italian expatriate living in Turkey said that he does
routine and stability would find the dislocation of living not recognize himself in any of the phases mentioned.
working and socializing environments very threatening.” And he also wrote that the country had a very religious
One Japanese expatriate said that although he was background, which he respected and tried to avoid things
excited to be in a new country, he was still a bit worried like drinking in public, which might have been considered
about crime and insecurity. Another Japanese expatriate, offensive. It was noticed that some expatriates did not
living in Pakistan, said that there was a mixture of respond directly to this question, such as this expatriate.
excitement and uneasiness in his mind. He went on to They wrote generally about culture and behavior. Another
say: “However, as is always, there was more excitement expatriate, an Iranian living in Italy, who replied in a
than fear or insecurity when I first came to Pakistan”. similar manner to the above mentioned expatriate, said
An Italian expatriate living in Pakistan wrote that that he believes that there are several things that have a
although she was excited about the new country and negative impact on a person when one travels in other
culture, she was a little concerned about accommodation areas and in different cultures, such as society, behavior,
“due to the bureaucratic procedure.” She did not explain it clothing, food, movement, style of talking and religion but
further. An Ethiopian expatriate wrote that he was excited after a while a person builds up tolerance.
but “somehow cautious” upon arrival in Pakistan.
Some expatriates wrote that when they first arrived in
their host countries, they were excited about the Symptoms Of Culture Shock And Interaction With
prospects of new opportunities with regards to their HCNs
specific fields. For example, scientists, researchers and
engineers, all working for a Governmental organization, Responses differed with every expatriate in questions
wrote that they were very excited about the opportunity of about ‘symptoms’ of culture shock and the interaction
learning from scientific facilities that their host countries with the host country nationals. Some expatriates wrote
were providing. A Turkish expatriate wrote that when she that they did not experience culture shock at all, writing
landed in America, she was very excited about the that they were well-prepared, confident and ready to
availability of scientific facilities that she would get to handle anything. Some wrote that they did not feel any
explore. A Pakistani expatriate wrote that he was different than they did back home and that there were no
genuinely excited to come to America, because he was surprises in the host country and that people are
seeking opportunities that he knew America could generally the same everywhere. While certain other
provide. Another Pakistani expatriate, who moved to expatriates wrote that the major symptoms of culture
Saudi Arabia, wrote: “I was excited and enthusiastic shock were feelings of loneliness, sadness, frustration,
 Naeem et al., 255

shock at the living conditions of people and their attitude. 2004). The findings have revealed that the phenomenon
A Japanese expatriate wrote that his biggest culture is experienced by a majority of expatriates who
shock in his host country Pakistan was that he felt the participated in the research and has affected them all in a
nationals complained about everything and he was different manner.
surprised about the people’s way of thinking and acting. Whilst talking about culture shock and its effects, it is
An American expatriate wrote about his culture shock seen that it affects expatriates as they travel extensively
symptoms in Saudi Arabia, saying that he was very upset to different countries around the world. It has
about the attitude of the local people and found them to psychological and emotional effects on expatriates and
be arrogant and disrespectful towards foreigners. (Adler, 2003) can result in change in behaviour of these
One Japanese expatriate wrote about his general expatriates. The literature talks about the fact that culture
experiences as an expatriate. He said that he was rarely shock is deeply rooted within uncertainty (Black and
shocked. He found similarity of mind and flow of feelings Gregerson, 1991) and many expatriates are uncertain of
in countries like Indonesia and Uruguay but faced how to react in an environment or situation that they are
difficulties in Bangladesh and Mexico initially, eventually not used to, that is new to them. This uncertainty leads to
worked it out by communicating with host country culture shock.
nationals. He wrote that he was able to then adjust
“naturally.”
CONCLUSION

Stress and Family Adjustment This dissertation mainly aimed to understand and explore
the phenomenon of culture shock amongst expatriates on
A vast majority of expatriates wrote that they were assignments abroad. It talked about many things that are
stressed out most of the times and this was due to associated with culture shock and highlighted the causes
homesickness, cultural adjustment, language barriers and effects of this phenomenon. The dissertation focused
and frustration at HCNs. All of those who were stressed at first on the literature based on culture shock and its
dealt with it in a positive way. Some expatriates confided stages and influences. It explored the facts and
in their spouses, some took it out by working out at the highlighted the already conducted research and its
gym or swimming, some turned to reading and some results of the studies on culture shock. The dissertation
resorted to silence. They all wrote that it is important to then explored the psychological, emotional and other
combat stress by doing positive things. An Irish expatriate aspects of culture shock through qualitative research
wrote that stress should be handled positively, not by conducted in the form of interviews conducted amongst
drinking. A Brazilian expatriate who is working here in UK expatriates from around the globe. This research involved
at a shipping organization, wrote that he has noticed that participation from various nationals, who gave their
he has been getting more stressed and tired as the job accounts of experiences of their expatriate assignments
becomes more demanding. and their views on culture shock and how it affected
One Japanese expatriate wrote that he did not them.
experience any stress at all. He said the trick is to ‘Do in The findings were analyzed through qualitative analysis
Rome as the Romans do.’ Some expatriates did not take to reveal the factors associated with culture shock and
their families with them. One expatriate said that he then discussed to highlight and contrast the themes that
would work longer hours to avoid coming home to an came out of the literature and the interviews. The results
empty apartment. An Irish expatriate, whose wife and of the study has given a remarkable insight into this
children accompanied him, said that his children had phenomenon and revealed certain eye-opening incidents
difficulties adjusting in Bangladesh but were assisted by which require the attention of international governments
their school which had a specific program designed to and human rights organizations. Issues such as hostile
help expatriate children adjust to the prevailing attitudes and ethnocentric behavior of nationals of certain
environment of the country. nations need to be investigated. The attitude of host
country nationals towards expatriates is important in
understanding and combating culture shock. It has also
DISCUSSION been understood from this research that there is too
much focus on training expatriates and their reaction to
One of the themes that the literature extensively talks HCNs. Some attention also needs to be given to the
about is the phenomenon of culture shock itself (Oberg, HCNs; where they need to be trained to welcome their
1960), its symptoms and the phases of culture shock guests graciously and not treat them as if they were
(Cieri, Dowling, and Taylor, 1991). All these, in effect, somehow inferior to themselves. The responses from
generally are about culture shock, its effects on some expatriates revealed that particular people in some
expatriates and the inter-cultural and cross-cultural countries need to be less arrogant and display some
competencies of these expatriates (Sims and Schraeder, courtesy towards people who have left behind their
256 Glo. Adv. Res. J. Manage. Bus. Stud.

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Management International Review, 30, 119-134.
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Black JS and Gregerson HB (1991). The other half of the picture:
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This research portrayed the honesty and openness of International Business Studies, 3, 461-478.
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comprehensive model of international adjustment: An integration of
It has been an essential learning experience for the
multiple theoretical perspectives. Academy of Management Review,
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