Cultural Adaptation

"Enculturation is the process whereby an established culture teaches an individual by repetition its accepted norms and values"

"Acculturation is the psychological and social counterpart to cultural diffusion"

"Deculturation is the process of unlearning a culture"

(Wikipedia)

Can we really loose our original culture by replacing it by a new one ?

After many years in a foreign society, it is sometimes difficult to come back in the country of origin (see Culture Shock article). The habits changed, friends changed, sometimes the language, even the non-verbal language and generally speaking the behavior changed.
Coming back in the country of origin can lead to a second culture shock.

But how do we adapt ourself to the new culture ?

"The person is faced with situations in which his mental and behavioral habits are called to question"

We are not necessary able to understand some new habits and behavior. Even open-mind, a person is extremely attached to its culture of origin, and unconsciously when a person will encounter a reaction (facing a specific situation) different from the one's of his culture, he will not understand and thinks it is "not normal". Here begins a long process of culture adaptation which can last many years. The person will get used of some habits and behavior and think more and more that this is "normal". This is the acculturation.

Coming back in his country, he will probably try to explain to people why they don't necessary react by the right way, and they will probably not understand... He was subjected to the process of deculturation.

If that person will completely not understand the way the persons from his country of origin react, we can say that he was subjected to an assimilation, which means he totally integrated the new culture...

But I think the assimilation is quite rare, and a person needs to cut all the contacts he has with his country of origin during many years to be totally assimilated to the new culture.


This video is about cross-cultural adaptation and culture shock. Foreign students share their perceptions of their experiences in the U.S. as each of them (plus one specialist in cross-cultural relations and a few American Students) is interviewed about living and studying in a new culture. The focus is on the arrival and immediate postarrival period and the culture shock which, for most of the interviewees, follows on its heels. It becomes clear that central to the problems encountered are major differences in values and behaviors between the foreign students and the Americans they meet. The documentary covers a range of basic characteristics of American culture: openness/directness, privacy, attitudes toward time, friendship patterns, informality, and competitiveness. Culture Shock is an excellent resource for any program wishing to help its participants better understand the cross-cultural adjustment process and the experience of being a foreigner in the United States. Useful in foreign student, refugee, and teaching assistant orientation programs; briefings for Americans dealing with foreign students; and orientation for exchange students.

This is a quite interesting video about culture shock and culture adaptation