Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
9,013
result(s) for
"Culture shock."
Sort by:
Culinary Culture Shock: How Tourists Cope with Unexpected Flavours
Culinary culture shock (CCS)—the discomfort and ambivalence travelers feel when encountering unfamiliar foods—remains underexplored from a short-horizon, trip-bounded perspective. While prior work notes both attractions and impediments of food in tourism, a process-oriented account of how ordinary travelers experience and navigate CCS during brief trips is still limited. This study examines CCS in Guangzhou, China and delineates how it shapes travelers’ evaluations of place. We adopt a qualitative design, combining 30 semi-structured interviews with in situ ethnographic observations across markets, street-food settings, restaurants, and guided food tours, supplemented by document analysis (e.g., visitor materials and menus). Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identify three recurrent coping trajectories—avoidance, gradual adaptation, and immersion—that unfold nonlinearly as travelers recalibrate expectations, manage sensory dissonance, and renegotiate comfort boundaries. We integrate expectancy–disconfirmation theory (EDT) with an embodied view of tasting to develop the Palate Adaptation Spiral Model (PASM), which explains CCS as recursive cycles of appraisal, strategy enactment, and re-appraisal within the span of a trip. Social influence (peers, guides, and service staff) operates as a cross-cutting mechanism that can accelerate adaptation or entrench avoidance depending on cue valence and credibility. The study clarifies the scope of CCS as general travel encounters (not restricted to culinary-motivated tourists) and specifies contextual conditions under which negative reactions are reversible. Theoretically, we connect EDT to short-term culinary adaptation through PASM; practically, we outline design levers—pre-trip expectation management, pictorial/transparent menus, and guide-mediated tasting sequences—to reduce anxiety and support constructive exploration.
Journal Article
Reverse Culture Shock among Saudi Students Returning from the US to Their Homeland
This study examines reverse acculturative stress among Saudi students returning to their home country after studying in the USA. A study on Saudi students is particularly important due to scant empirical attention on Middle Eastern students. Given the population size of returning Saudi students, it is worth analyzing their adaptation to their home country, especially as the KSA has renewed its efforts at \"saudification of the workforce, \" a goal that relies on a highly educated population. 96 university students participated in the study. Because of the gap in values between Saudi Arabia and the USA, the study hypothesized that Saudi returnees who reported higher levels of reverse culture shock would report lower life satisfaction and quality of life. Additionally, the study posited that students' identification with their Saudi heritage would correlate negatively with reverse culture shock. A novel tripartite intervention model is proposed to reduce reverse culture shock.
Journal Article
International medical learners and their adjustment after returning to their countries of origin: a qualitative study
Introduction
International medical trainees, including residents and fellows, must cope with many challenges, such as differences in cultural hierarchical systems, languages, and acceptance. Nonetheless, the need for adjustment perpetuates even after training is completed abroad. When some international trainees return to their countries of origin, they continue to face adjustment challenges due to reverse culture shock. Others must make many further readjustments. This study presents an exploration of the adjustment and coping strategies of international medical learners after returning to their countries of origin upon completion of their programs.
Method
This study employed a qualitative approach grounded in interpretivism and utilised inductive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s method. Semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews were employed to explore the participants’ coping strategies. Participants included international medical learners who were (1) international medical graduates who had already returned to their countries of origin, (2) non-Canadian citizens or nonpermanent residents by the start of the programs, and (3) previously enrolled in a residency or fellowship training programme at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Results
Seventeen participants were included. Three main themes and seven subthemes were created from the analysis and are represented by the Ice Skater Landing Model. According to this model, there are three main forces in coping processes upon returning home: driving, stabilising, and situational forces. The sum and interaction of these forces impact the readjustment process.
Conclusion
International medical learners who have trained abroad and returned to their countries of origin often struggle with readjustment. An equilibrium between the driving and stabilising forces is crucial for a smooth transition. The findings of this study can help stakeholders better understand coping processes. As healthy coping processes are related to job satisfaction and retention, efforts to support and shorten repatriation adjustment are worthwhile.
Journal Article
Organizational Culture Shock and Knowledge Transfer Behavior Among Newly Hired Engineering PhDs in Firms: A Self-Determination Perspective
Engineering PhDs are expected to act as key knowledge brokers between universities and firms. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), we examined the associations among organizational culture shock (OCS), SDT motivations, and knowledge transfer behavior (KTB) of newly hired engineering PhDs in Chinese firms. We also explored whether these associations varied across subgroups defined by gender, career goal at PhD entry, prior industry collaboration experience, and dissertation orientation. Data were collected from 466 engineering PhDs within one year after they entered firms. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that OCS was negatively associated with KTB, including indirect associations through the three types of SDT motivations. Autonomous motivation was positively associated with KTB, whereas controlled motivation and amotivation were negatively associated with it. Multi-group SEM analyses further indicated that the strength of the structural pathways varied across subgroups defined by gender, career goal at PhD entry, industry collaboration experience, and dissertation orientation. These findings suggest that OCS may represent a micro-level barrier to university–industry knowledge transfer. They also indicate that firms and universities may help support knowledge transfer by facilitating PhDs’ adjustment and autonomous motivation.
Journal Article
From east to west and back again: the effects of reverse culture shock on female Saudi Arabian university students studying abroad
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of Saudi Arabian university students returning home after having spent time away studying internationally. The investigation focused exclusively on female students who for diverse reasons were unable to complete their studies abroad.
Design/methodology/approach
A thematic analysis was applied to analyze the seven in-depth interviews conducted by the authors. By using an open coding method analytic patterns across the entire data set were identified and then analyzed.
Findings
The findings suggest that the students experienced reverse culture shock reintegrating and assimilating into their former lives in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its conservative culture. This was especially surprising considering not one of the participants experienced culture shock when they first traveled to their host country – the USA, Canada or England.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to a small group of seven female undergraduates who are comparatively well educated and come from a middle and upper socioeconomic demographic. As a result, without additional research, the findings cannot be extended to groups outside of this demographic.
Practical implications
Students who have studied abroad need improved academic and social support networks when they return home, according to the findings. The authors want to raise awareness about the difficulties that students face upon their return. Teachers, counselors, and advisors need to be on the lookout for the symptomatology associated with these types of problems.
Social implications
Female Saudi students returning home after an extended period of study abroad face a variety of problems. They must fit into a restrictive, partriarchal culture in which they are not legally equal to men.
Originality/value
To date, there are no studies that shed light on reverse culture shock for students who returned to Saudi Arabia without a degree. Due to the large number of Saudi scholarship holders who study in English-speaking countries with government support, the study is the first attempt in this direction.
Journal Article