Adaptation

Adaptation occurs through direct and indirect contacts with an unfamiliar environment. The process of adapting to a new culture is an ongoing, interactive process between a person and his or her environment. As a new entrant into a new culture, one might first experience the stress of being unfamiliar with the environment and norms of the environment. Over time, a person is likely to adapt to those changes. However, with every adaptive experience, other situations may come along that will again cause stress. Nevertheless, through making regular adjustments to various experiences, a person is likely to achieve a sense of personal growth. The process of adjusting or adapting to one's environment and to new circumstances is a natural part of developing one's own identity. People come to know themselves better and come to define themselves differently as they cycle through varying adaptive experiences throughout their lives. This entry discusses predictors and challenges of adaptation.

According to intercultural communication scholars Stella Ting-Toomey and Gao Ge, the basic predictors of successful adaptation include the following: degree of “perceived” value similarity, degree of nonverbal pattern similarity, degree of verbal pattern similarity, second language competence, and private self-consciousness. The degree of perceived value similarity is the extent to which a sojourner perceives his or her new culture to have values that are similar to his or her original culture. The degree of nonverbal pattern similarity is the degree to which a sojourner perceives the behaviors of people within the new culture to be similar to those of people from his or her original culture. Likewise, verbal pattern similarity suggests that people of the new culture have a similar verbal style to that of people of the original culture. For instance, Ting-Toomey and Ge specifically [Page 7]examined the adaptability of low-context individuals (those who value explicit verbal communication) into high-context cultures (those who value silence and nonverbal communication). Another predictor suggests that a sojourner who is more familiar with the language of a new culture is more likely to experience positive adaptation; and finally, a person's confidence in his or her ability to adapt plays a significant role in whether or not adaptation is achieved.

Young Yun Kim's analysis of the theory of cross-cultural adaptation was based on an examination of American expatriates living in South Korea. Interestingly, most of the American participants in the analysis reported positive and genuine relationships or friendships with host nationals. This contributed to their positive and rewarding life experience overseas. Overall, they reported “warm and nice treatment” and receptivity toward Americans and meaningful relationships with local people. On the other hand, American expatriates expressed difficulty when it came to the verbal behaviors of South Koreans, particularly as related to their indirect or ambiguous communication style and the degree of formality in the Korean language. There were also different spatial rules in Korean culture that the American participants found frustrating. This may be due to the fact that, as previously noted, there is very little verbal and nonverbal pattern similarity between American culture and South Korean culture. Lastly, few of the American participants in the analysis had become well versed in the language of their host country; they spoke English during their entire stay in Korea. This suggests that there is a perceived power differential at work. In other words, Americans who travel abroad do not often feel the need to fully adapt to other cultures that are perceived as subordinate to American culture. As such, Americans often expect, and in many cases receive, accommodations and preferential treatment abroad. Hence, power or lack thereof also seems to be a predictor of adaptation.

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